Featured art by Bhernn Saenz. With images courtesy of Grab Philippines.
MANILA, Philippines—Year after year, before a sea of journalists gathered in what appears more as a town hall for grievances (some, more specific and deeply personal to the inquiring journalist than the others) than a media briefing, Grab Philippines continues to stand its ground—both with pride on how far it has come approaching the busiest time of the year and with humility and an understanding of the breadth of improvements that should and eventually would be employed to the app for the benefit of its ecosystem of ‘partners’ not limited to the consumers it services.
On this, one thing that Grab doesn’t fail to recognize is that in itself, the app, in adapting to the rapid growth and evolution of the needs of its consumer base, is and will never be in its best, final form. In fact, even in talking about their Holiday campaign, Grab is very careful in making finite promises. It doesn’t give out blanket statements of being the best. Instead, with the concerted efforts of its army of tech and customer service professionals, the brand, through its app, seeks to constantly be better than its last upgrade.
And it is this sense of brand awareness that make it even more commendable than maybe announcing it foolproof and iron-clad in its invincibility. After all, dubbing itself as a superapp entails immense responsibility—as it is ever-changing and evolving. And it has to be remembered, following the seismic shift to everything online and mobile brought by the pandemic, Grab as a one-stop everyday life ally, also had to find ways to make it adept in understanding its ecology of onboarded users, from customers, merchants, and riders.
Grab Philippines Country Head Ronald Roda (center), together with Director for Mobility EJ Dela Vega (left) and Director for Deliveries Greg Camacho (right). Image courtesy of Grab Philippines.
“Let us do the work,” Grab Philippines Country Head, Ronald Roda tells Rank Magazine on the brand’s continuing thrust in improving the app’s overall user experience on a grander scale especially on the Holiday season. He highlights, “Typically demand rises up to 40-45% for transport during the Holiday season and therefore Grab needs to do something in order to address this incoming issue. And so for the past 10 months, we have worked with our regulator, the LTFRB to bring in new cards into the platform and make sure the supply is there, at the same time, launch a lot of new tech features, such as allowing more people in a car, or scheduling bookings right in time for the Holidays.”
Data shows that Grab Philippines experiences at least a 19% increase in daily transacting users for its ride-hailing services every last quarter of the year, with the number of ride bookings growing by up to 45% in the second and third weeks of December. As such, its deliveries business, spikes by 20% on key holiday dates, with a recent survey by the brand revealing that 44% of Grab Philippines users rely on the app for their festive meal deliveries.
In a press statement shared shortly after the briefing, Roda, continues, referencing its Holiday Trends study notably indicating that Filipinos attending an average of four gatherings for the season. The statement writes, “Our data and studies all lead to a singular insight: Filipinos just wish to be present this Christmas – fully engaged with families and friends as they celebrate the most beloved holiday. Grab aims to bring our kababayans much closer to their loved ones, and help them create special moments this holiday season.”
Director for Mobility EJ Dela Vega. Image courtesy of Grab Philippines.
In cooperation with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Roda reports the release of new TNVS slots in August, where the platform has been onboarding new driver-partners, taking up to three to five months.
In response to the challenge of demand and supply imbalance, Grab is also looking after the potential impact of holiday-induced traffic congestion on the earnings and productivity of driver-partners, especially with data of the platform showing drivers, on the average, having the need to spend 14% more time for the same trip distance for most of the December holiday rush.
“While we continue to prioritize the accessibility of our services, we are also closely monitoring the fairness of our fares to ensure that our driver-partners can earn sustainably and viably this holiday season. By ensuring this, we hope to encourage more drivers to continue serving our passengers in spite of the traffic situation, helping maintain service reliability on our platform,” Roda notes.
On these efforts, Grab assures that fares will stay fair, in line with the regulatory matrix implemented by the LTFRB. This is then complemented by maintaining the accessibility of its ride-hailing services, with the expansion of the coverage of its GrabUnlimited subscription service, which now includes an everyday 8% discount on GrabCar rides. What’s more, Grab has also launched GrabCar Saver, an affordable mobility solution that is less costly than a standard GrabCar ride. It has also launched its Group Rides feature, which not only maximizes the utilization of its fleet through the carpooling model, but also efficiently lowers down fares by allowing groups of four to share their ride’s base fare.
Grab Philippines Director for Deliveries Greg Camacho. Image courtesy of Grab Philippines.
On the road to the holidays, Grab has since shared the introduction of an array of new features that improve access to rides and food deliveries for Filipino consumers. Included in these new technologies is the rollout of the Advance Booking, which guarantees on-time rides to the airport that can be booked up to seven days in advance.
More than these mobility features, the GrabFood Group Order feature facilitates collective meal orders for families and friends, offering escalating discounts that can go as high as 15% as the number of participants increases. GrabFood Saver then helps users save on delivery fees, while the Large Orders option allows for ordering larger quantities of food and essentials for group celebrations, complete with special deals. These features are designed to effectively manage the expected growth in delivery demand during the Christmas season.
Championing the concerted efforts of the platform, no small thanks to the cooperation with partners and collaborators, Grab Philippines also released its Holiday ad campaign geared towards creating a smoother Holiday experience for users, riders, and merchants alike.
“Many of our kababayans are looking forward to spending the Holidays with their loved ones, and we are aware of their expectations of us during this season. With that, we have devoted our time, effort, and expertise to elevate their Grab experience – allowing every Filipino to be more present this yuletide season,” Roda said.
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