Travel booking firm Klook diversifies revenue model pushing into food delivery

Travel booking firm Klook has expanded its services to provide food delivery services on its app in Malaysia. The service aims to help consumers get their meals, as well as assist small businesses to continue serving customers during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period. The travel services booking platform tied up with courier delivery services Pickupp and MrSpeedy in Malaysia to help consumers get their meals. To use the service, consumers can choose their preferred food package on the Klook app, select a pick-up time, make payment at the checkout page, and wait for their food to be delivered to them. Consumers can choose a preferred date to receive the food orders as well.

In a statement to A+M, Emily Tan, marketing lead of Klook Malaysia said its food delivery service was planned and launched within two weeks. She added that Klook has been promoting its food delivery services by providing informative details on its blog and curating interactive content on social media channels. It has also launched a dedicated campaign page with extensive listings of new products as well as disseminated email newsletters and push notifications to its existing customers. Tan also said it is currently in the midst of activating media and influencers to increase awareness amongst consumers.

The move to run the initiative in Singapore and Malaysia comes shortly before the platform announced that it is streamlining its workforce globally either through temporary leave or headcount reduction. In a statement to A+M, CEO and co-founder Ethan Lin said this will impact 10% to 20% of its headcount for most functions. As of March this year, the company had more than 2,000 employees across 29 offices globally, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The streamlining is the next step of cost-optimisation measures undertaken by Klook, which Lin said was "a very difficult decision". "After very careful and painful consideration, we have decided to take the appropriate and responsible action now to ensure that we can weather this storm and protect the long-term success of our organisation," he explained. 

As of 23 April, more than 30 F&B merchants have signed up on Klook’s platform, with the team working to onboard more F&B merchants. Some of the participating F&B outlets are Ding Tai Fung, Paradise Dynasty, Beauty in the Pot, Devi’s Corner, and VCR. According to Tan, providing F&B options is a natural extension for Klook Malaysia as its website and mobile app were already poised for customers to book products and experiences. Klook merchants also do not have to worry about logistics as it is managed by Klook and its logistic partners, leaving them to focus their efforts on enhancing their core services.

Tan told A+M that Klook created a task force when the MCO was announced to look into ways to help local F&B businesses and customers, since businesses were not able to garner sales through walk-in customers while customers have limited access to food offerings. The online platform was then required to speed up the outreach, negotiation and onboarding process with the F&B businesses virtually to ensure the food delivery service was launched timely on its platform while Malaysians are looking for various F&B options. It also had to make sure to partner with trusted logistic companies for this service. 

The delivery service will be launched in Thailand as well. Last month, Klook also partnered with Lalamove to launch its delivery and takeaway service in Hong Kong.

Klook's delivery service was also launched in Singapore to get meals delivered to consumers during the circuit breaker period. It has partnered with hawker food delivery service WhyQ for its island-wide deliveries, and currently has merchants such as Founder's Bak Kut Teh, Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice, Aloha Poke, and The Connoisseur Concerto onboard its platform. Additionally, Klook Singapore has also launched takeaway services, segregating its merchants based on different areas in Singapore (North, South, East, West, and Central). The platform is also running weekly one-for-one takeaway deals for the month of April. 

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