Grab said today that it is piloting a new grocery delivery service, GrabMart, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s biggest urban area. The company is joining a growing number of supermarkets and startups that have been offering online delivery amid a rising tally of COVID-19 infection cases in the country.
The number of merchants on GrabMart is still limited, but Grab said it is looking to expand the number of supermarkets, convenient stores, and small shops on the platform. To save time, orders will be sent directly to the merchants, and Grab drivers only need to pick up the compiled groceries.
The service is expected to add an additional income source for drivers, many of whom reportedly have seen their daily earnings from Grab plummet, as people now opt to use their private vehicles due to a fear of contracting the virus.
Grab previously launched GrabMart services in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
The market for grocery delivery in Vietnam already includes a number of startups, such as Chopp.vn, HeyU, LoShip, and Now.vn. These companies, as well as popular supermarket chains such as Vinmart, offer similar services. Earlier this month, Grab’s local competitor Be also started delivering groceries in all nine cities and provinces in which it operates.
As of March 23,Vietnam has recorded a total of 121 COVID-19 cases with no deaths, according to official statistics.