Xiaomi teams up with foodpanda to drive 'quick commerce' of electronics in Singapore, Thailand

FOODPANDA users in Singapore and Thailand will be able to shop for Xiaomi gadgets on the food delivery app and have their purchases delivered within 30 minutes, under a new "quick commerce" partnership.

As part of the collaboration, the foodpanda app is also pre-loaded in new Xiaomi mobile phones in 10 Asian markets: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, both companies announced on Friday (Nov 19).

The partnership marks how both Xiaomi and foodpanda are increasingly focused on "quick commerce" (q-commerce) - or e-commerce with rapid delivery times - as a growth driver.

Xiaomi will list products including smart devices, audio and mobile accessories and household appliances on "foodpanda shops", the section of the foodpanda app featuring groceries and other non-food items.

Xiaomi's q-commerce ambitions come as it scales up outside of China, and aims to become the world's biggest smartphone maker in the next 3 years. In Singapore, more than 100 Xiaomi items will be available for islandwide delivery, while twice as many products will be available in Thailand from 6 stores.

foodpanda, which is owned by Germany's Delivery Hero, has been doubling down on q-commerce involving consumer electronics. It added over 1,000 electronics stores in Asia to foodpanda shops this year, offering over 289,000 products from brands such as Huawei and Logitech.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Monday, 3.30 pm

Garage

The hottest news on all things startup and tech to kickstart your week.

Sign Up

"Beyond traditional e-commerce, brands are now already looking for the next phase of growth - with quick-commerce, foodpanda shops provides a new way for retailers to deliver their products to customers almost instantly... We're proud to be Xiaomi's first quick commerce partner in Asia," said Abhishek Sahay, senior director of new verticals at foodpanda.

In its Q3 trading update on Nov 11, Delivery Hero reported a 52 per cent year-on-year increase in q-commerce orders.