Grab has unveiled what it describes as Southeast Asia’s “first everyday superapp”, GrabPlatform which makes its debut in Singapore and Indonesia today on iOS.
The app will go live on Android on July 18 and the program will be expanded to markets including Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia by the third quarter of this year.
GlabPlatform will combine services such as ride hailing and payments with third-party solutions.
“Customers will have a brand new Grab experience where the Grab app provides not only services but also information, relevant to exactly when you need it,” the company said in a statement.
“Grab’s new home screen features single tap access to payments and easy navigation to all everyday services, complemented by a news feed that helps users discover their city with location reviews and useful seasonal information, such as where the nearest mosques are during Ramadan or even the latest football scores at the World Cup.”
Grab has developed a suite of APIs which allow partners to access components of Grab’s technology, such as logistics, payments.
“GrabPlatform amplifies economic value for all of Southeast Asia. Even more than what we could ever create by ourselves,” said Grab CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan.
The company also announced the launch of GrabFresh, an on-demand grocery delivery service in partnership with Southeast Asian grocery delivery startup HappyFresh. It launches as a beta service in Indonesia this month, expanding into Thailand and Malaysia later this year. More markets will follow.
Offering more than 100,000 grocery products from more than 50 supermarket chains and specialty grocery chains, HappyFresh uses trained personal shoppers to pick the right items like fresh produce, and can respond to specific instructions. Customers can reject items that are not satisfactory at the door.
“Grocery delivery is a huge opportunity in Southeast Asia. From our research, 70 per cent of grocery delivery app users shop at least once per week, and they like to shop from the stores that they are familiar with,” said Guillem Segarra, CEO of HappyFresh.
“What they want is for their preferred items to be available and ready, when they want it. GrabFresh already has the widest selection of products compared to other grocery delivery services.”
Meanwhile, Grab surpassed the 2 billion rides milestone last weekend and is on track to become the first Southeast Asian company to achieve revenues of US$1 billion by the end of this year.
