Foodpanda launches on-demand delivery for consumer goods

Online food delivery startup Foodpanda has officially launched in Singapore its on-demand delivery service for convenience products, beauty essentials, and other consumer goods.

Image credit: Foodpanda

The new service, called Pandamart, was piloted in October 2019, where it tapped over 1,000 retailers across the city-state to offer products such as beauty essentials and baby care items. Some of its partners at the time included Caltex Starmart, TigerNow, Mothercare, and Toki.

According to Foodpanda, orders for groceries and household items more than quadrupled with Pandamart’s pilot. The company also saw an increase in demand for a more diverse offering.

The expansion of the service sees existing partners such as Hao Mart increase its inventory to include over 2,000 products, Foodpanda said. New partners such as FairPrice Xpress and Cheers have also been onboarded for the service.

In addition to Pandamart, the Delivery Hero-owned company also launched a brand-new service called Pandanow.

The platform offers the same service as Pandamart, but products can be ordered even after all the shops have closed. According to the startup, Pandanow is operated and supplied through its own inventory at its five warehouses across the city-state. Deliveries are also handled faster with Pandanow – it takes an average of 15 minutes, compared to Pandamart’s 25 minutes – the startup said.

Since its establishment in 2012, Foodpanda’s on-demand food delivery service has grown to more than 30,000 partner restaurants in more than 120 cities globally.

With the launch of its new services, it seemingly fills a void left by Honestbee, which halted its food delivery service in Singapore and temporarily suspended its on-demand laundry service across Asia in May 2019. After three months, it filed an application with the city-state’s High Court to start a court-supervised restructuring process and get a reprieve from repaying its debt.