Deliveroo rides on 'new retail' wave to open unmanned dining store in Singapore
Food delivery start-up Deliveroo has used its online capabilities to create a digital experience for its customers the opening of a physical store in Singapore.
Deliveroo and Honestbee’s offline strategy mirrors what China e-commerce giants like Alibaba pioneered in China.
The move by the London-based company comes after its local rival, Singapore-based online marketplace Honestbee, launched a 60,000sq foot space in 2018 that houses a grocery and dining retail store, to show off the best of innovation in retail, including ‘autocheckouts’ and ‘RoboCollect’.
Deliveroo and Honestbee’s offline strategy mirrors what China e-commerce giants like Alibaba pioneered in China with its Hema stores through its ‘New Retail’ strategy and JD.com with its 7Fresh stores.
Deliveroo’s new offline space is called Deliveroo Food Market and like Alibaba’s Wu Fang Zhai stores, functions as a semi-automated store where digital payment kiosks and lockers allow customers to pay and pick up their food without any interaction with staff, who are stationed in the kitchen.
The 463sq ft Food Market is the third of Deliveroo’s Editions site in Singapore and is the only one with walk-in and dine-in area serving the kitchens on site. It has 10 kitchens and 11 dining concepts produced by seven restaurant operators.