Food delivery platform gross merchandise value in Southeast Asia grew at a “modest” 5 percent year-on-year , reaching $16.3 billion in 2022, mainly driven by relatively smaller markets of Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam, according to a report by Momentum Works.
According to the Singapore-based venture outfit, with mounting pressure to reach profitability, existing and new food delivery players have continued to cut back on their food subsidies and compete based on service quality. “New entrants such as Shopee and AirAsia have gone back to focus on their core sectors, while incumbent players adopt a much more conservative expansion strategy. With profitable growth being the biggest focus now, food delivery players are experimenting with a variety of strategies to improve delivery margins and strengthen consumer loyalty via advertising, subscription programmes, and more. We believe profitability is attainable with volume, density and operational efficiency,” Li said.
For the part of riders, the report stated that with the exception of Singapore, reopening has “no visible impact on rider supply.”