Just prior to the end of July, Grab Thailand announced it had established a new e-commerce arm entitled GrabExpress, basically a rebranding of its previous delivery service which had been known as GrabDelivery.
Grab Thailand chiefs decided they needed to capitalize more effectively on a growing demand for instant delivery services within the e-commerce landscape and hence restructured and relaunched GrabDelivery into GrabExpress. The new setup is designed to combine all delivery fleet options with some new features which will fulfill the needs of both businesses and individuals.
The country head of Grab Thailand was quoted as saying that GrabExpress was just one part of what is intended to become a so-called superapp which not only serves users but also creates an ecosystem of related services via technology.
As an on-demand parcel and document delivery service, GrabExpress combines the distribution network of Grab Thailand’s varied vehicular fleets, from motorcycles to cars and pickups, and means it is capable of attending to the growing demand for items weighing from 15 to 300 kilograms.
For items which can be transported easily by motorbike, the delivery fee in Bangkok will be 50 baht, rising to 150 baht for cars and 250 baht for pickups. The service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can offer bookings of up to 10 deliveries at a time.
GrabExpress will also have real-time tracking both on its website and in its mobile app via a secure platform. Users will be provided with a photo e-receipt upon the completion of each delivery so that customers can see straight away that their parcels have been sent to the right place and person.
The company also offers insurance of up to 10,000 baht on items in case of damage or loss via a pickup or car and 5,000 baht for motorbike deliveries.
At the time of writing, GrabExpress was only available in Bangkok and its satellite provinces of Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan as well as Chiang Mai, although it is expected to be rolled out in other provinces soon.
In August, Grab Thailand also launched the GrabMart app, an on-demand concierge service for purchasing goods at convenience stores.
GrabMart lets users indicate a particular convenience store and fill out a shopping list for orders up to 500 baht in a ‘notes to driver’ field. Once the customer has booked, the job will be accepted by a nearby delivery partner who will call to confirm the job and before making a final payment at the convenience store will confirm the final price via GrabChat.
Continuing its expansion, Grab Thailand will also launch GrabFresh, an on-demand grocery delivery service, later this year. This will be an integration with Happy Fresh, the biggest Southeast Asian grocery delivery provider.
