Grab Revenues are Recovered during the Pandemic

The revenue of the on-demand service provider, Grab, has almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels. One of the supports is food delivery services. “Our business recovery continues, with group revenue in the third quarter up more than 95% compared to their pre-Covid-19 position,” said Grab President Ming Maa in an email update to the newsletter about the company’s business.

The data was agreed by a spokesperson for Grab Indonesia but did not specify the increase in business for each service. With this increase, Grab’s valuation is also said to have increased from US$ 14 billion to more than US$ 15 billion.

In order to survive the pandemic, the Singaporean decacorn laid off 360 employees or nearly 5% of the total last June. The company promised not to repeat this action until the end of the year.

Layoffs were made because the main business of sharing rides (ride-hailing) was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. However, GrabFood’s food delivery service contributes 50% more to Grab’s revenue. “By laying this foundation, we will focus on expanding our financial services and merchant businesses throughout the rest of this year and beyond,” said Maa.

Grab Indonesia is Aggressively Attracting MSME Players

In Indonesia, for example, Grab is aggressively engaging Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Since the beginning of the year, Decacorn has partnered with 350 thousand business people and is targeted to reach 400 thousand by the end of 2020.

The jumbo-scale startup also routinely launches new features that support the businesses of UMKM partners. Most recently, holding an online bazaar and adding the GrabAds Ad Manager feature to make it easier for partners to manage advertisements in the application.

In June, Grab’s Co-Founder and CEO Anthony Tan said he would strengthen GrabFood and its freight forwarding services. The personnel in these two products were also strengthened. In addition, it focuses on digital payment services.

These three products are considered potential during a pandemic because they support health protocols. Meanwhile, the Two-Wheeled Action Association (Garda) noted that the demand for online taxi and motorcycle taxi services in Indonesia fell by 20-30% as of September compared to before the pandemic. In fact, it contributes to about half of total revenue.

Presidium Garda Igun Wicaksono said requests for food delivery and delivery of goods had indeed increased. However, their share of income is only 30% and 15%. “The rest comes from other services,” he said, two weeks ago (13/10).

Grab Claims Mitra’s Income Increases by 20%

Grab hooked up 350 thousand new Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during the corona pandemic. Decacorn from Singapore also claims that its partner’s revenue has increased by 20% thanks to the advertising feature. Based on data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (Kemenkop UKM), 60% of the income of 64 million MSMEs decreased due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Country Managing Director of Grab Indonesia Neneng Goenadi said digital platforms help them increase their income. “We want to ensure that more people can enjoy the benefits of the digital economy,” Neneng was quoted as saying in a press release, Friday (23/10). Grab targets to attract 400 thousand MSMEs by the end of the year.

To ensure that its partners’ income increases, Grab is implementing several strategies. Most recently, Decacorn held an online bazaar for 52 thousand GrabFood, GrabExpress, GrabKios, and GrabMart partners in 14 cities, from 26-28 October.

The jumbo-scale startup also launched the GrabAds Ad Manager feature to make it easier for partners to manage advertisements in the application. Previously, the company provided free advertising services to thousands of MSME partners during the last three months.

The advertisement is claimed to reach more than 15 million Indonesians, thus boosting partner income by up to 20%. In June, the company provided GrabMerchant to integrate partners’ businesses. This platform presents several features such as self-registration, owner profile management, store manager, cashier, wholesaler, marketing, and business progress reports.