Dine-in customers made up 90% of his business at Charlie’s Cafe & Bakery, and while he was a Grab merchant, he feared it would not be enough to sustain his business.
But the food delivery platform did not just turn out to be a lifeline but a window to new opportunities.
Now the Sabahan sees such platforms as “virtual malls”, where food and beverage operators like himself pay rent in exchange for visibility and access to a wider market, allowing them to position themselves next to larger brands which have a nationwide presence.
He said that during the MCO, he had customers as far away as Puchong, Wangsa Maju and Gombak.
“These are people who I think that even before the MCO would not travel all the way here for a meal,” he said.
Desonny said he could relate to the grouses some restaurants had with having to pay commissions to food delivery platforms as they ate into profit margins, but said it was important to keep in mind how these commissions facilitated deliveries.
Some platforms, he said, imposed minimal delivery fees and some even had offered free deliveries for short distances.
“Sometimes, whatever we see in the app, the RM2 or RM3 (delivery fee), the riders don’t just get that amount, they get more.”
He said the delivery fee would be supplemented by a portion of the commissions paid by merchants to the platform.
Economic Action Council executive director Noor Azlan Ghazali said people should understand that food delivery platform operators take risks by investing their time and money in setting up such ventures which then brings value to the economy.
Apart from helping keep food and beverage operators afloat, he said, the platforms provide a valuable source of income for delivery riders, especially with unemployment figures on the rise during the pandemic.
However, Noor Azlan said it is crucial that these platforms should charge fairly, stressing that there should be no instances of abusive pricing.
“The idea is that from an economic perspective, what we want to make sure is that they (platform owners) are fairly rewarded,” he said.
“It cannot be excessive. Beyond the amount of risk they are taking, it has to be fair. This is the concept of fair pricing we need to promote.”
Leong Shir Mein, co-founder of Penang-based food delivery service DeliverEat, felt that such commissions are justified as it would be too expensive for an independent food operator to have their own fleet of riders and maintain a viable online presence.
She said the hefty logistics costs associated with hiring a fleet of riders would amount to more than the 35% commission some delivery platforms are charging, which is, ultimately, proportionate to the revenue these F&B operators are generating.
“So I guess we’re giving convenience, not only from the customers’ perspective but also from the restaurant’s perspective, because now they can now truly focus on what they do best, which is to prepare great food.”
Leong noted that for an independent operator to want to go at it on their own, they would need to incur all these set-up costs without knowing how much sales they would be making, a risky proposition to say the least.
