Southeast Asia ride-hailing app Grab expands into services in quest to be ‘everyday app’

Grab, the ride-hailing app that recently took over Uber’s Southeast Asian operations, on Monday started offering food delivery services in Singapore as it looks to become an “everyday app” in the region.

The company’s GrabFood app replaces Uber’s now-defunct Uber Eats, which was shut down on Sunday as Grab took over Uber’s operations. Thousands of merchants in Singapore have signed up to be on its platform, Grab said. Before the end of June GrabFood will also be available in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The food delivery service is the latest in a growing list of offerings from Grab, as it looks to build an ecosystem of services including payments, food delivery and transport to emerge the dominant mobility player in Southeast Asia.

Grab currently operates its own GrabPay payments service, which allows customers to pay for rides and even purchases at retail partners, in return for reward points as it seeks to increase user stickiness in ride-hailing and mobile payments.

“As we build out an everyday app that offers transport, food and package delivery and mobile payments, Grab is focused on creating a seamless experience and unlocking value for our customers by offering complementary services on one platform,” Lim Kell Jay, head of Grab Singapore, said in a statement.

“You can plan and book your entire journey across different transport modes in one tap, shop and receive discounts on-the-go, and have your favourite foods and shopping delivered right to your doorstep – all enabled by one mobile wallet, within one everyday app.”