Delivery app sustains business by empowering merchants     

Grab PH senior director for deliveries Anton Bautista kicks off GrabNext Conference 2023.
—CONTRIBUTED

Grab Philippines delivers and makes sure it has something to deliver.

The mobile application operating across deliveries, mobility and digital financial services sectors conducted recently a master class to improve the skills of its partner merchants in branding and advertising through digital marketing.

The initiative aims to further strengthen micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and help them weather disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a continuation of its efforts to “future-proof” MSMEs that make up a substantial portion of its delivery clientele.

Anton Bautista, Grab Philippines senior director for deliveries, says, “We remain steadfast in our commitment to empower MSMEs and businesses in the Philippines. By continuously reinventing business models, tailoring innovative solutions, and introducing industry-leading tools, we help safeguard the scalability and sustainability of our merchants.”

Grab remains at the forefront of championing technology enablement for MSMEs to enhance their adaptability to the evolving market landscape, with consumers now embracing a hybrid lifestyle, easily shifting from dining out to food delivery. The mobile app helped Thai Mango, for instance, move from being a one-product (mango shake) enterprise based in Malate before the pandemic to a more diversified food service that has now eight branches, with plans to open two more before the end of the year.

Chef Kim Baquiano-Hit and Jashmine Baquiano-Rufo, the sister founders of Grab Signatures merchant-partner, say GrabAds and the actionable data on the app’s platform helped them strategically increase their brand awareness and market reach.

For its merchant-partners, Grab not only provides delivery service when needed but helps them grow and expand by providing data on potential areas for expansion. It also extends microfinancing.

Find & Dine

Among the new digital consumer touch points Grab launched this year is the discoverability platform Find & Dine, an in-app virtual restaurant guide for dine-in consumers, and the Marketing Manager, a merchant-partner exclusive portal that allows MSMEs to manage their digital marketing with no added cost.

Marketing Manager helps nontechnology-savvy MSMEs have better control and easier access to ways to amplify their online presence. It can create a single ad campaign that reaches all store locations, streamlining marketing efforts and maximizing reach.

A forecasting widget within the Marketing Manager gives merchants real-time information on the potential outcomes of their advertising campaigns based on selected audiences and allocated budgets.

At the recent master class, a capacity-building program to enhance the digital skills of MSMEs across various dimensions of their enterprise, Grab Philippines head of operations CJ Lacsican discussed branding and advertising through digital marketing

The master class, under the skills development initiative of the GrabAsenso Program, covers topics such as digital advertising, cost-efficient digital marketing and accessible microfinancing. It has conducted face-to-face sessions in Manila, Bacolod and Iloilo with more than 250 merchant-partners.

Episodes of Grab Merchant Master Class are also available online through social media channels and Grab’s dedicated Merchant App.

In the latest session, Frances Cruz of social entrepreneurship and human resource development organization Bayan Academy, and Erica Suerte of Grab Finance focused on branding and advertising through digital marketing and enterprise financing with business loans.

Lacsican points out that the MSME sector sustains the livelihoods of thousands of Filipinos and invigorates commercial activity in local communities and neighborhoods.

“Beyond nurturing a robust marketplace, our commitment extends to ensuring MSMEs have access to cutting-edge technology and the critical knowledge for them to thrive amid the increasingly digital business environment,” she says.

Foodcart owner Arnold Pagulayan Jr. stresses the importance of capacity-building programs for MSMEs like his.

The Grab Merchant Master Class will resume in January.