The latest Grab’s consumer report, Southeast Asia Food and Grocery Trends 2023, has identified shifts in how Vietnamese shoppers are ordering food and groceries online in the post-pandemic era. The report found that while Southeast Asian consumers are ordering more than before, they are increasingly relying on the GrabFood platform for more than just deliveries.

91 per cent of the surveyed consumers in Vietnam said they have used the Grab app to discover restaurants and shops that are new to them. Food delivery apps are also now the most popular way Southeast Asians are discovering new food and beverages (F&B) outlets, ahead of food blogs, their friends and family, and social media platforms.

The report, which combined survey insights from Southeast Asian food and grocery delivery users, as well as data from Grab’s platform, also found that consumer food journeys are increasingly a blend of online and offline experiences.

More than 90 per cent said they read reviews online, over 60 per cent pre-purchased vouchers online, and over 70 per cent placed their orders digitally at tables in restaurants. 9 out of 10 consumers surveyed in the region said they prefer food and grocery brands with an integrated online-to-offline experience, with digital platforms now a vital part of the consumer journey.

Ma Tuan Trong, country commercial head of Grab Vietnam said, "Delivery platforms like Grab are playing an increasingly integral role in the everyday food journeys of Vietnamese consumers. We know that we’re more than just the app they choose when they want to order in. We help them discover new F&B outlets and grocery stores, offer reviews to guide them on their choices, and we’re increasingly finding new ways to create value for them in dine-in settings as well."

"Our aim is to leverage the reach, influence, and insights we have to drive even more demand back to our merchant-partners. We hope the findings from our latest report can help them better understand their online customers and how to engage with them."

The report also highlighted the following consumer trends and recommendations for food and mart merchants. Firstly, subscriptions drive more and larger orders. In Vietnam, a fifth of Grab's top spenders are those who subscribe to GrabUnlimited – a subscription plan that offers amazing monthly benefits and bonus promotions across Grab services.

GrabUnlimited subscribers spend three times more per month and order two and a half times more frequently per month compared to non-subscribers. Merchants looking to tap into these big spenders should consider engaging them by participating in GrabUnlimited Promo Campaigns.

Group Orders are on the rise with more of the workforce back in the office. Group Order is a feature on Grab that allows multiple people to add food items into a shared cart and split the delivery fees. In Vietnam, the number of orders using this feature were four-fold higher in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Most popular at lunchtime and for deliveries to workplaces, merchants can benefit from this office lunch crowd by offering bundled deals during this peak time.

While lunch may be the most popular time for orders, tea time orders between 3 and 6pm have the highest basket value, as people tend to order snacks in groups. In fact, 93 per cent of respondents in Vietnam said they are likely to snack during this time. Merchants can offer bundled snack deals or boost traffic to their stores during these hours through dine-in deals.

Another finding is growing eco-consciousness. 47 per cent of users in Vietnam say they are willing to pay more for sustainable brands, and 93 per cent are more likely to support brands with sustainable practices.

Opt-ins for Grab’s Carbon Offset feature, which invites consumers to pay a top-up a fee for each ride and delivery have increased by 12 times from 2022 to 2023. As consumers make more eco-conscious choices, brands can get a head start by reducing packaging, whether by removing extra layers or opting for natural materials such as banana leaves.

In addition, merchants should capitalise on the latest food fads and sweet cravings. In Vietnam this year, trending food orders included Bun dau mam tom and Ca phe muoi, while Tra sua and Com tam topped the search charts. Knowing what food people are searching for and picking the right keywords can help merchants maximise their discoverability on the Grab app, especially as half of the users in Vietnam browses the app without a specific merchant in mind.

Grab continues to find ways to improve merchant discovery on the app and deliver more value to GrabFood and GrabMart users. This includes a revamped Group Order experience with new functionality such as bill-splitting and Dine-In Deals that allow consumers to discover new restaurants and pre-purchase attractive in-store deals.

Merchants can also leverage GrabAds Marketing Manager, accessible via the GrabMerchant app or website, to build entire campaigns quickly and easily and reach new customers.

The GrabMerchant app also features new tools such as menu translations in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore. Menus are auto-translated into English to help merchants better appeal to tourists. Merchants can review their translated menu in-app and update any incorrect translations. Busy Mode allows merchants to activate it when they need more time to prepare their orders, so that the assigned driver-partners arrive just in time and consumers get more accurate delivery timings.

Trong added, “We take the merchants’ needs seriously. It’s crucial for them to have useful market insights to make well-informed business decisions. Also, they require a helpful merchant app that equips them with easy-to-use tools to manage online orders better and grow revenue. This report provides such needed insights, and we will continue to innovate the GrabMerchant app to further our support for our partners’ businesses.”