How foodpanda is creating a smart q-commerce ecosystem

Bangladesh is changing radically. As the country leaps forward in the digital era, its people are embracing the smart, tech-savvy way of life, day in and day out. Today, technology has not only made our lives easier, but it has also made our lives smarter. Today's Bangladeshis make smart choices every day, and this technological revolution has transformed every aspect of our daily lives—from daily transportation to the simplest of chores such as ordering food or groceries.

In this digital transformation, several payers have been leading from the front. One of them is foodpanda. With only a team of 4, foodpanda Bangladesh was founded in December 2013 by Ambareen Reza and Zubair B A Siddiky. A global startup that was founded by a group of passionate entrepreneurs joining hands around the world, foodpanda is now Asia's leading on-demand delivery platform, dedicated to bringing consumers a wide range of food, groceries, and more, quickly and conveniently.

How does foodpanda aid the smart transformation of Bangladesh? Here's how.

Ordering food and groceries online is a concept that is thriving and growing into a trend, which will further intensify in the future. And foodpanda has, in fact, changed the way Bangladeshis consume food and groceries.

The pioneer of quick commerce in Bangladesh, foodpanda is getting everything a customer wants delivered within 30 minutes and clocking the highest number of deliveries completed per day compared to any other platform in the country.

Powered by technology and operational excellence, foodpanda is spearheading the growth of food and grocery delivery and quick-commerce (q-commerce) across the region with its network of restaurant and retail partners, as well as pandamart darkstores, to provide more on-demand options beyond the millions of food varieties.

Now with a presence in 64 districts across the country, foodpanda has expanded business units and created over one million direct and indirect earning opportunities in the tech-based delivery ecosystem. The company has empowered thousands of restaurant and retail partners by digitising businesses and serving millions of customers.

Being the fastest delivery service in the country, foodpanda has evolved into an ecosystem that offers goodness to its community of customers, restaurant and shop partners, and riders over the years.

foodpanda has created a platform for restaurants and shops and enabled them to have digital footprints without the risks of high investments for expansions. The restaurant industry has flourished in the last 8 years, bolstered by the marketplace that the platform has cultivated.

Thanks to foodpanda, restaurants now have a channel of incremental business; not having to rely solely on walk-in customers and benefitting from the brand equity that foodpanda drives in the Bangladesh market. foodpanda provides training programs for restaurant partners when they sign up and focuses on the importance of food safety, hygiene and sustainable packaging.

foodpanda has also recently launched a cloud kitchen feature that helps vendor partners expand their business through foodpanda. This allows vendors to focus on their food, which makes expansion easier into new areas. The option of rent-free space, promotions, and logistics in exchange for a commission on orders is an added benefit for growing restaurants.

Apart from these, foodpanda, over the years, has also taken numerous initiatives to foster the growth of women entrepreneurs. The Home Chef program has 3000+ homechefs currently active on the platform, of which 70% are women. Recently, 22 Home chefs from foodpanda participated in the ICT MInistry's "Smart Women Entrepreneurs Grant Giving Ceremony 2022" and received grants of Tk 50,000 each.

An integral part of foodpanda's ecosystem is its vast rider fleet. foodpanda connects freelance riders to deliver orders through their tech and app to create additional income opportunities. A large portion of foodpanda's fleet consists of students working part-time for additional earnings.

In fact, in the last 8 years, over 100,000 rider partners have found an opportunity to earn with foodpanda. Beyond just delivering food and groceries, foodpanda has launched pandago - a courier service aimed to help rider partners utilise their free time.

Rider-partners also have access to medical insurance at a subsidised rate, and access to the e-learning platform Shikho to enable advancing their skills. Overall women's ridership also increased compared to previous years. Approximately 5-7% of female riders are actively working on the platform daily. Digitising earning opportunities has helped enhance the livelihood of thousands of youth across Bangladesh.

Looking beyond the horizon, foodpanda has now expanded its business units to have shops, pharmacies, and small specialty stores and launched darkstore groceries business–pandamart. foodpanda also launched pick-up - a service for seamless takeaways; dine-in - where customers can enjoy discounts when eating at their favourite restaurants.

Earlier this year, foodpanda introduced pandapro, a subscription service to allow customers to get a 360 experience associated with all the services on the platform: free delivery, dine-in discounts, additional discounts on pandamart, delivery, and pickup.

foodpanda has also invested in developing virtual brands in partnership with third parties that are franchised to restaurant partners, such as Fries and More, Whattabowl, and Jackson Fried Chicken. These delivery brands are franchised to restaurants that can increase their revenue with zero investment in menu development, R&D and marketing costs, and increase the cost efficiency of their kitchen equipment and staff.

Through its recently launched vertical, panda ads, restaurant and grocery brands can also leverage foodpanda's social media channels and enter collaborative partnerships that help brands build visibility, and allow performance tracking and monitoring.

When most of the delivery industry reduced their business due to the Covid-19 pandemic, foodpanda grabbed the opportunity to expand operations and business units to serve the stakeholders - riders, customers, restaurant and shop partners, employees and investors. This helped restaurants manage their fixed costs and cash flow. Low-income wage earners who lost their jobs during the pandemic, become riders, and could have an income stream during the harsh covid times.

In an effort to minimise food waste, foodpanda Bangladesh has also partnered with Bidyanondo Foundation. Foodpanda also partnered with UNDP for plastic waste management in a program called "Circular City Project." Furthermore, the company has taken initiatives to encourage restaurant partners to create eco-friendly packaging, and promotes food security.

From the very beginning of its journey, foodpanda has taken active participation in the digital transformation of the country. The future of Bangladesh remains hopeful, as businesses like foodpanda aim to bring about more radical, smarter changes through their innovative, tech-driven solutions.