SINGAPORE: True to its goal, foodpanda has recently made e-commerce amazingly quick! Aiming for instantaneous and tailored delivery solutions to its clientele, it is now systematising its storage and retrieval structures at its retail warehouses. The company also employs robots and makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) to boost demand predictions, inventory management, and order processing in Singapore.
In a statement to Retail Asia, Kevin Zagolin, Director of Quick Commerce at foodpanda, said, “Technology and data intelligence enable us to enhance the experience for our customers, merchants, and delivery partners while improving the efficiency of our internal operating processes.”
Pandamart, foodpanda’s cloud grocery store, functions as a grid of micro-fulfillment hubs, backing up on-demand delivery of groceries and household necessities. Zagolin said the company employs data insights to stock each cloud store with custom-made inventory for local demand.
“For example, if a particular product category, like certain vegetables in certain zones, sees high demand in a specific city, Pandamart adjusts both the assortment and quantity of inventory in that location to ensure availability and better meet customer needs,” Zagolin further emphasised.
In Singapore, a number of cloud stores now keep over 5,000 distinct foodstuffs to accommodate the range of buyer preferences, he added.
Likewise, foodpanda evaluates shopper actions and behaviour on its app and provides targeted discounts based on browsing and ordering habits.
Since foodpanda owns its inventory, procurement is faster, and key products, including meats and vegetables, are always available. Its 24/7 warehouses guarantee continuous fulfilment.
“We are adapting our fleet to support this shift,” he said. This includes adding cars and vans to complement its existing two-wheeler network.
“As we expand our quick-commerce offerings, our focus is on making grocery delivery as big as food delivery,” Zagolin said.
Complaints
While foodpanda has been doing its share of making its services quick with first-rate quality, criticisms abound.
One Reddit user said that he boycotted foodpanda two years ago. According to this former FP user, “The food was missing, and the delivery attitude was bad. No refunds, poor customer service, lack of disciplinary action on bad riders. Overall, the platform IMO is bad. Will stick to Grab, period.”
Another netizen said that on “Two different occasions, I ordered food, but something didn’t come, and when reported, they couldn’t issue a refund or help me in any sort of way. I was left to bear the cost of what I did not receive. Decided never to use foodpanda again and just use Grab now.”
One more customer confided his negative experiences with foodpanda. According to them, the ordered items were not completed, and when he ordered sushi, everything came smashed and spilt out of their containers, and foodpanda refused to do anything, saying, “The food items all arrived complete in the bag.” After that, this buyer deleted the app and never ordered from foodpanda again.