Online shopping for groceries has become a norm in Singapore, especially for those who want to avoid the crowd and panic-buying shoppers at supermarkets. As many have come to discover, the benefits include not having to lug heavy or bulky items such as cartons of drinks or packs of toilet rolls home on your own, or having to spend time trawling the aisles to accomplish your grocery shopping list.
What’s not so great, however, is finding out upon checkout that you’ll have to wait for your items, as the soonest available delivery slots are in a day or two or even a week later, especially in times when there’s a surge in demand for online grocery deliveries. So, what if you discover you’ve run out of ingredients for a bake, or that baby’s just used up the last diaper and it’s past midnight?
Enter quick commerce, also known as q-commerce, which is touted as the next stage of evolution of e-commerce. And with pandamart, food delivery app foodpanda is moving into this space to ensure you get your grocery orders delivered to you 24/7, whenever the need arises.
Quick commerce to the rescue
Regular midnight baker Brandon Goh, 22, is all too familiar with that desperation. The SAF regular enjoys whipping up confections in the wee hours to relieve stress, and with tightened pandemic restrictions, found himself with even more time to spend baking.
Mr Goh admits, “Even though I’m supposedly more experienced after so many batches of bakes, I still find myself running out of key ingredients and scurrying to the nearest mart late at night, which ruins my mood and motivation afterwards. ”
With foodpanda’s pandamart service, shoppers like Mr Goh will be able to enjoy all the benefits of online grocery shopping, with the faster delivery times and on-demand service that typifies q-commerce, where delivery within 30 minutes is the gold standard. This may be expected of a food delivery platform, but foodpanda aims to bring the same ASAP convenience of food delivery to groceries delivery, with 24-hour availability.
Simply log in to the foodpanda app and select the pandamart button to choose from over 5,000 products, including meat and seafood (currently available at four pandamart outlets, with more on the way), fresh fruits and vegetables, snacks, alcohol, cleaning supplies, pet food, and even baby essentials.
Unlike the foodpanda shops service also available on the app, which offers island-wide delivery of daily necessities from retail partners such as Guardian or Marks & Spencer, pandamart is available round the clock as it has its own warehouses strategically located around the island. With a minimum order of only $7, this means you can order just what you need and get it delivered almost instantly. Delivery fees apply, and will vary based on your location.
In Mr Goh’s case, delivery fees were just $2.49. He shares, “I was baking a cake for my mother’s birthday when I realised I didn’t have eggs and vanilla essence. I was so tired of running to the nearest mart at 3am, by then. I placed my order on pandamart, along with some snacks to keep me going. Thankfully, the rider arrived in just 30 minutes.”
Apart from fulfilling his baking needs, Mr Goh adds, “I now also purchase my weekly groceries and snacks on pandamart. The fruits and vegetables are actually quite fresh each time I order, plus it’s just so convenient.”
Besides focusing on freshness and convenience, pandamart is also working to provide customers with exclusive products such as Absolut Vodka Lime & Grapefruit, $51.80* (UP: $57), and Seleco Roasted Rolled Crispy Seaweed, from $3.50*.
* Prices are correct at the time of writing.
