From restaurants to groceries, revisit this insightful webinar where alumnus Joshua Tsui shared the expansion of foodpanda’s business in quick commerce.
On July 28, BBA alumnus Joshua TSUI, Head of Marketplace/Shops of foodpanda, joined our alumni community online and shared his experience leading a startup product line for the food delivery giant. The event was moderated by Prof Jiewen HONG, Head of Marketing Department.
foodpanda is expanding beyond food delivery and tackles the quick commerce grocery sphere with foodpanda mall – a new delivery platform for online groceries.
Despite a slow take-off, Hong Kong’s e-commerce market has seen exponential growth in recent years. Aside from the pandemic, Joshua pointed out that consumers’ behaviors were rapidly changing: “people want things quicker.” While many grocery delivery platforms can, at best, offer same-day delivery if orders are placed at a certain time, foodpanda mall achieves the 30-minute delivery time thanks to its fleet of riders.
Competing against other global and local players, “more competition means making the pie bigger and we can get a bigger slice out of it,” explained Joshua. Prof HONG also commented on the lack of competition among Hong Kong retailers in the past and “consumers always welcome more competition.”
Behind the scenes, Joshua revealed that starting a new product line within an established company comes with several challenges. Internal relationship management is a crucial part of his job as well as collaborating with the established part of the company to adapt to his team’s needs.
Not only is foodpanda adapting to its online mall business, but consumers are also adjusting their lifestyle choices to shop via foodpanda’s app. Where bulk buying from the shops once seemed like a bargain, consumers now prefer shopping for groceries in smaller quantities and enjoying short delivery times as most people live in small flats in Hong Kong and the city is known for its time sensitivity.
Additionally, foodpanda mall is gradually shifting industry standards for online grocery shopping. The app boasts one of the highest traffic rankings in Hong Kong, helping the mall step up as a one-stop platform for individual brands to reach more consumers and fulfill their everyday needs.
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