Comparison of Malaysia Top 3 Food Delivery Apps /Service

Now with Covid 19 Corona Virus, most of us are scared to go out and eat. We need more delivery services to be safe. With this article, we did some comparisons on pricing and the service quality. It is right for us to know which one to choose for and not to be blindsided by what these companies offer secretively. We should do what’s right for all of us and only spend wisely to live a more healthy lifestyle while always saving.

Top 3 Food Delivery Services in Malaysia. 

Grabfood

Grab ventured to Grabfood only recently. However with their funding they were able to spread through fast. They went from starting off at 300 merchants during launch to now over 1000+ merchants in many states all over Malaysia. Famous for Grab e-hailing, they could easily venture into food with their infrastructure built up in Malaysia.

Pros: 
-Services is good as riders do come on time and are well mannered. They have bags but don’t wear their grab shirts.
-They also have wallet systems integrated, thus able to settle all payments without touching our physical wallets. ( No sure if that’s good though to spend less).
-Rewards are still there. On and Off promotions for Free delivery service.
-They also deliver during bad weather.
-Ordering for a single person is reasonable compared to ordering for more than 1.
-Reasonable amount of restaurants. Mainly the big outlets are there.

Cons:
-Expensive food price. The cost of a food items is sometimes almost double the dine in price. Looks like merchants are hiking their prices because of the high commission taken by grab on each menu item. Although delivery fee is only Rm5 or sometimes more, the cost of each item is not worth it. Especially when ordering multiple items, not worth the price. The cost of going to a restaurant becomes cheaper even with toll and petrol included.

-When first launched, got lots of rewards and points, however nowadays it has reduced much more. Very difficult to get free delivery and points are hardly able to be used because of the value of each point has been degraded.

-Very few local restaurants and stalls. 

– Not able to find favorite delights easily in many areas. 

-Very small radius of delivery distance. Only can get food from nearby shops. 

Conclusion :
1. Use only when you want to buy for a single person. It is cheaper than buying for multiple people. 

2. Cost is too expensive. Service is good. Only purchase for multiple persons if you prefer service over cost. 

3. Service is good and reliable, thus you don’t have to worry about not getting your food or not getting your refund.
4. Customer service is trustable and and reliable. 

5. Cashless is good and easy to pay with. Got rewards as well sometimes. 

Bungkusit

Bungkusit started only around late 2018. 2019 was the year we saw them rising and getting better with their service. They are hyperlocal, and a social enterprise trying to help the B40 riders out and the SME’s by breaking the digital barrier. Main aim to provide as much as possible income for the B40’s by taking the least commission in the industry and to be able to bridge the gap of digital barrier to allow SME’s to upload their menus and stores for FREE. 0% Commission charged to all of them. Thus no price hike up on menus as well.

Pros: 

-Unlimited restaurants, the freedom to order from anywhere. This is good because they are not limited to only those who they’ve collaborated with. Bungkusit Roadies act like runners. They can literally buy you anything, as long as you know the location and it can fit on a bike.

–Most Importantly : Price is much cheaper compared to all 3 apps. No price hike up, delivery fee based on distance. You get the same price as to what you get by dinning in. 

-Not only restaurants, but also street stalls, warungs and gerais you can get your favorite pisang goreng and kuih from. 

-Multiple stops allowed, which lets you buy different things from different locations all at one go. Saving time and money. 

-500km radius delivery. Can order from far away. You can actually get viral noodles from Johor all the way to kl on the same day instantly. 

-An app to keep, because even during emergencies such as petrol ran out, they can help you deliver petrol right to your car. 

Cons:

-Still new, app UI is being improved and worked upon. 

-Not all roadies wear shirts & bags from Bungkusit. 

-During Rainy season it is difficult to get a rider immediately.  

-Cash based. They do this because they care for riders, and want best for riders which is instant cash. B40’s need the instant cash to support their families. Which is why they are still stuck on cash basis until they find a way to solve instant gratification for riders.
-Referral code still being worked on.
-Manual bank in to riders if want to use cashless. Can use boost, touchngo to transfer to riders. Cash is normal procedure. 

Conclusion :

1.Price is cheaper & not increased on menus compared to all other apps out there. 

2.When buying for more than 2, Bungkusit seems to be more reasonably priced as they only charge a small delivery fee for their services.

3.Provides cash on delivery model, where it is very good for small and new business to leverage on for providing faster cod basis in Malaysia.

4.Radius of 500km is good for flexibility and freedom to order from Anywhere and Anytime since they are 24/7 operating.

5.Riders are few during Bad weather like rainy season.  

7.Good for Sme’s and online sellers on Instagram to market their products.

6.Still new so changes are coming in fast.

Foodpanda

Foodpanda was one of the first to start in Malaysia for food delivery. They are here for almost 8 years now and thus have a large database of restaurants on their platform. Almost 5000 or so, more towards high end restaurants and big chain outlets. They have always been aggressive with their promotions and price cuts. Even today for some chains they do offer discounts on events happening in Malaysia. Recently though there were some backlash because they didn’t care about their riders, however things have seem to have calmed already. 

Pros: 

-Riders always wear their shirts and bags. Its seen everywhere riders are all over the place especially in kl. Thus they do provide hot meals in the bags provided. 

-Lots of choices available in the app.

-Able to do website ordering as well for corporate companies. 

-Pizza gets delivered nicely surprisingly, they have some methods of carrying it carefully. 

-Promotions happening randomly. Especially during event days they promote to influencers regularly to show their promotions happening open heartedly. 

-Good to get discounted food at times. Delivery fee is also reasonable. 

Cons:
-Price of menu is almost double compared to dine in. 

-A recent check showed estimated Rm19.90 for ayam penyet compared to their dining price only at RM9.90.

-Customer service is awful, many have complained all over the net about not receiving refunds and starving for hours for their food to arrive. 

-Rainy days, very difficult to get an accepted order. 

-Some riders are found to be very rude with no customer respect at all. 

-Very small radius, cant order from far away only nearby.

Conclusion:

1.Food is much more expensive compared to dine in. 

2.Discounted offers match the price when dining in, thus that’s good. 

3.Riders are rude and that’s a big concern in terms of overall satisfaction.

4.Customer service takes too long to solve a case. Getting a refund is almost impossible.

5.Special demands are missed out most of the time for example no ice or more chili sauce.

All in all, the main conclusion here we can set is that before you place an order, think carefully whether are you doing the right thing for the society, for the riders ,for the economy and for yourself. Save Money the right way by researching before taking an action.

Some Have also taken a comparison of pricing on Social media:

Next time it’s always best to do research and choose wisely before spending cash unnecessarily. Take the time to see which suits you the best and go for that , it will be more satisfying.

This article is a guest post by XphX.

Author:
XphX

A blogger with a hobby to write on trends happening in Malaysia.
10.03.2020