Revealing the strategy for “selling well” on the Robinhood food app, with the idea of not collecting GP, to meet the needs of small-scale restaurants
Just a quarter after the launch of Thai food delivery platform 'Robinhood', the food delivery application that was born from a CSR project of Siam Commercial Bank has grown every day.Up to now, there are more thanPeople with a distinctive feature that is clearly different from other applications available in the market.
The person who will tell the origins, point out the differences of Robinhood, share in-depth information, give advice on delivery marketing that will be most useful for entrepreneurs is'Mr. Toon-Suteeraphan Sakrawut, Assistant Managing Director, Marketing Department, Siam Commercial Bank'A key figure in the development of Robinhood from day one
Thai food delivery app…for little people
“The beginning of ‘Robinhood’ came from the idea of Mr. Athit Nanthavitaya, CEO of Siam Commercial Bank, during the Covid lockdown last year when everyone had to work from home and order food through various applications.Mr. Athit also felt that there were no Thai apps.And I feel that Siam Commercial Bank has the potential to do this. The first question that Mr. Athit set was:“I would like to ask not to charge GP (Gross Profit = the commission that restaurants have to pay to food ordering apps)” because I sympathize withsmall restaurants that are having problems with foreign apps charging GP.”
“It took months to develop, and we launched Robinhood in late October 2020, but it has grown every day, and now has over 700,000 users in just four months.Now, there are no less than 13,000 orders per day from more than 66,000 stores. This is only in Bangkok. In the future, we also have plans to expand to major cities such as Chonburi, Chiang Mai, and Khon Kaen.”
“If you ask how Robinhood is different from other delivery apps, we tried to find many different points. But in the end, we found the most important thing, which isRobinhood is a platform for small businesses and individuals.”
Robinhood's Differences and Highlights
No platform usage fees (GP)To help every entrepreneur access delivery sales channel opportunities.
It is a Cashless Platform.It is cashless and will clear cash into the store immediately within 1 hour. This is considered very cool because while many apps take 24 hours or several days, Robinhood uses the advantage of SCB's strengths in using the solutions that are available to benefit entrepreneurs in clearing money for stores quickly so that stores have Cash Flow to operate their businesses, including the riders themselves who also receive quick clearing of money.
Help support shipping costs during Off Peak periodsTo help boost sales, because it is seen that the period before noon or in the evening is the peak hour when shops are likely to sell well anyway, so it helps boost sales during the period when sales are not good by subsidizing the delivery fee to make it cheaper so that customers can decide to order food more easily, while the rider still receives the full delivery fee.
There is a feature called LS (Logistic Subsidy).When restaurants do not have to pay GP, they are given the opportunity to offer discounts to customers themselves. They can choose to offer discounts of 3, 5, 8, 10, 15 or 20 percent. This is a way to use the portion that the restaurant does not have to pay to the platform to create discounts to stimulate sales for the restaurant.
There is a support team for stores using the app.Small business owners, especially those without tech knowledge, often have trouble accessing opportunities and delivery markets. Robinhood has prepared a team to help entrepreneurs. Just walk into a Siam Commercial Bank and ask the staff to help you. Everything is done, from registering for the service to teaching you how to post food photos, edit menu photos, to thinking of catchy captions.
There is a Marketing Team of experts who help with marketing to increase sales. The app will use DynamicDelivery Data helps analyze and encourage customers to order food, such as creating content or organizing playlists of restaurants on different topics, rotating to help promote sales for various restaurants.
Playlists and content are created regularly to help increase sales for stores both on the page and on the platform.
Unveiling Robinhood's Delivery Marketing Strategy
1. The cover photo must look as good as the shop owner's appearance.
“Entrepreneurs should pay attention to food photography, which is one of the first important factors that customers decide to visit our restaurant and order food or not. Because in the app, there are many other restaurants as options. If the photos are not attractive, our restaurant may miss out on opportunities to generate sales, which is a pity.Stores that present interesting pictures of their food are more likely to sell.But the important thing is that the picture and the food must match the cover because it is a contract between the restaurant and the customer.”
2. Promote your store in groups.
“Leaving your shop in groups on social media is a technique that many people might not expect, but I must say that it has very good results.Because most people tend to trust people who have a presence in online communities more.Nowadays, there are many groups related to different types of food and styles of shops, such as the croissant group, salmon group, Japanese food group, Chinese food group, cafe group, etc. It can be said that it covers almost every type of food group. We can take our shop to promote in these different groups. And if there is a special discount if it comes from this group, it can create another incentive to stimulate sales.
3. 'Secret, deceptive, and disguised' pricing strategies
“This technique is called 'Ugly Brother' by Westerners. It is a pricing technique to stimulate sales.For example, the same type of food is available in 3 sizes: S, M, and L. The small size S starts at the normal price, but if the price of the M and L sizes are not too far apart, customers will switch from ordering the medium size to the large size, which seems much more worthwhile, helping the shop to increase sales.”
4. Create an online presence
“Some shops that sell well in front of the store but it turns out that they don’t sell well on online delivery platforms. It may be because most of the people who use delivery platforms are people who live their lives on social media. Therefore, your shop must have a presence on social media and online as well.
Please be diligent in using social media in all channels, whether it's Facebook or Line, and most importantly, if you open Google Map, you'll see it.When there is a pin on the map, you must claim that pin as the shop's official pin because it will make it look like we have a page and another channel. It can be used as a channel for effective public relations and marketing. If you don't know how to pin or claim an existing pin as the shop's official pin, you can go to Siam Commercial Bank and ask the staff who provide services specifically in this area to help you."
5. Invite customers to order online. It is more convenient and they will order more often.
“When you have an online presence,You have to be diligent in creating content that invites customers to order to generate sales, or be diligent in creating promotions and offering discounts.There are some stores that can effectively increase sales by using discount codes that are used with all applications to promote through the store’s page and various channels regularly to provide special privileges and stimulate sales for regular fans of the store, which is considered an easy, smart method that can be done by yourself.”
6. Pay attention to quality. The first purchase may be because of marketing, but the second purchase must be because of the impression.
“However, doing promotions to increase delivery volume is not something that will make you have a sustainable business. The important thing is to control the quality of how to do it.To meet safety standards, how can customers get delicious food that is as close to eating at the restaurant as possible?We have to think about the customer experience. The packaging has to be functional. The quality of food delivery and the taste of the food has to be good. We also have to consider building a credible and memorable brand. We have to give good things to customers. These are the most important things and nothing can be missing.”
