AirAsia expands into grocery deliveries with commission perks

Claudia Chong

Published Mon, Jun 14, 2021 · 05:43 PM

AIRASIA is entering the hotly-contested grocery-delivery space in Singapore while dangling zero merchant commissions for the first month and a low 5 per cent commission thereafter.

The company is a late entrant to the delivery market currently dominated by tech companies such as Grab, foodpanda and RedMart. In February, it launched its food delivery service amid heightened consumer demand for such services due to Covid-19.

The Business Times reported that the company will charge merchants flat-rate plans instead of the typical percentage-based commissions. These commissions caused a stir last year after some restaurant owners said they eat heavily into the already thin margins of their struggling businesses.

airasia on Monday said it is inviting merchants to list their fresh produce, groceries and sundry daily necessities on its e-commerce delivery platform. The company has said that it wants to build a "super app" - a term used by companies such as Grab and Gojek to describe an all-in-one everyday digital platform for consumers.

Lim Ben-Jie, head of e-commerce for airasia super app, said: "The super app is underpinned by the robust ecosystem of AirAsia Group, as well as Teleport's logistics infrastructure . . . We truly believe in supporting small businesses in digitising their operations and diversifying their revenue stream."

Last month, competitor Grab said it has partnered with supermarket chain HAO to offer over 10,000 products with next-day delivery. The service, called GrabSupermarket, expands Grab's grocery offering to cater to consumers who prefer bigger baskets of groceries with next-day delivery.