Eatsy plans to stop operations in Indonesia starting next month

Singapore-based food ordering service startup, Eatsy plans to cease operations in Indonesia starting next month. Gojek and Grab’s competitors stopped because the corona pandemic in the country is expanding.

The company, supported by East Ventures, said that the corona pandemic affected all business lines. “With a heavy heart, we decided to stop the operations of Eatsy Indonesia,” Eatsy was quoted as saying by Tech In Asia, Thursday (3/27).

Eatsy officially penetrated the Indonesian market last November. In Indonesia, the company has collaborated with financial technology startups (fintech) OVO payments and Moka’s point of sales (POS) system providers.

Eatsy was founded by Shaun Heng in 2016. He has a mission to empower micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the food and beverage industry, and help them improve competitiveness.

They offer a platform that allows users to order food from restaurants without having to queue. That way, businesses can reach more consumers. Based on Crunchbase, Eatsy has collected funding of US $ 1 million or around Rp 16.1 billion from East Ventures and Quest Ventures.

Eatsy Competes With Food Delivery Services from Gojek and Grab

In Indonesia, Eatsy competes with Gojek and Grab which have similar services, namely GoFood and GrabFood. Shaun had said, his service benefited users and sales partners. The reason, restaurant owners, especially those who have narrow spaces, can reduce the queue and manage the order flow well.

“This is a win-win situation,” Shaun said in a press release last November (11/19). In Singapore, Eatsy had more than 400 sales partners.

The company claims to have increased sales of its partners up to 1.5 times. The e-order process is also claimed to reduce the risk of human error (human error) and prevent complaints or returns.

Shaun admitted, there are many food delivery services in Jakarta such as GrabFood and GoFood. Therefore, Eatsy focuses on culinary or mobile dine-in bookings. This scheme is similar to the Fore application, which allows users to order products and then take them to the store without waiting in line.

This concept is known as grab and go. Based on internal company research, the average customer queued in 15 minutes. Then, waiting for the order to be processed is also around 15 minutes. This waiting time can be doubled during peak hours. Eatsy saw that there was market potential for this condition.

Meanwhile, Gojek and Grab Call GoFood and GrabFood Orders Increased despite Corona

Gojek and Grab noted, ordering food-delivery services such as GoFood and GrabFood increased amid the corona pandemic. In addition, visits to health features in their applications, called GoMed and GrabHealth surged.a

Only, Gojek Group Shinto Nugroho’s Chief Public Policy and Government Relations were reluctant to detail the increase in GoFood service requests or visits to the GoMed feature. Whereas the GoSend freight forwarding and GoPlay entertainment service traffic is stable.

Requests for ride-sharing services such as taxis and motorcycle taxis online have decreased due to the coronavirus. Mainly, since the government has urged people to learn and WFH, aka Work from Home.

Therefore, the company is committed to providing incentives in the form of money, treatment, and other dependents for the driver partners who are infected with co-19. “Until they recover. The amount (incentives) is available for online motorcycle taxi partners and online taxis,” Shinto said during a video conference in Jakarta, yesterday (23/3).

The same thing was felt by Grab. Grab Head of Public Affairs Tri Sukma Anreianno noted that GrabFood and GrabHealth service requests have increased since the emergence of the corona pandemic in the country. In addition, the demand for GrabFresh groceries shopping services has also increased dramatically. Only Grabbike and Grabcar transportation services are sloping.