Singapore's hawkers are getting financial help and other support to go online, including plans for a pilot to that will tap a centralised ordering platform. This scheme will involve major food delivery operators FoodPanda, Deliveroo, and Grab, which customer orders will be funnelled to the common platform managed by WhyQ, a digital network operator for hawkers.

Often helmed by elderly stall owners who were less digitally inclined, hawker centres had been slow to adopt online platforms. This left them unable to tap food delivery services amidst several lockdowns in the country amidst the pandemic. 

Government agencies Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and National Environment Agency (NEA) are looking to change this with plans to offer support aimed at hawkers, including creating a set of best practices and a digital support group, as well as running a pilot to tap a centralised ordering platform. 

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Singapore retailers must reassess digital strategy post-pandemic

Retail organisations that neglected to build a robust online infrastructure now should realise digital can no longer be an optional sideline and look to move forward by tapping digital technologies to support their physical stores.

For instance, NEA was working on a "step-by-step" digital support guide detailing best practices for hawkers. Slated to be released by year-end, these guidelines could be used to help hawkers tap digitalisation opportunities. A digital support group for hawkers also would be set up, comprising individuals from the community of hawkers to offer peer support to guide less digitally savvy hawkers digitalise. 

The group's initiatives would include creating a Facebook page for each hawker centre, facilitating group buys through the social media platform, and managing partnerships with organisations to make bulk meal orders. 

To date, 30 hawker centres including Chinatown Market, Amoy Street Food Centre, Chong Pang Market & Food Centre, and Golden Mile Food Centre have expressed interest in setting up the digital support group. 

In addition, a digital ambassador from the SG Digital Office would be assigned to each hawker centre to coordinate efforts and launch initiatives. 

Plans also were underway to pilot a "common acquirer model" that would pull together orders from FoodPanda, Grab, and Deliveroo customers. Users of the three delivery services operators would place their order on the respective platform, which then would be funnelled to and managed by WhyQ. Hawkers also would not incur any additional commission fees. 

When orders come in from the various ordering platforms, WhyQ's "hawker captain" assigned to the hawker centre will manage the transaction and collect the food when ready. Food orders will be brought to a distribution point at the hawker centre and handed over to delivery riders. The captain will manage payments and hand these to the respective hawkers. 

The common system would allow hawkers to have access to customers across the three online ordering platforms, NEA and IMDA said in a joint statement Thursday. The pilot would kick off by year-end with 14 hawker centres currently slated to participate, including Adam Food Centre, Chomp Chomp Food Centre, and Zion Riverside Food Centre.

NEA and SG Digital Office previously introduced an awareness campaign to help stallholders in 113 hawker centres, managed by NEA and appointed managing agents, grasps ways to supplement physical transactions with online ordering options. Digital ambassadors from the digital office interacted with 5,500 between June and September, said NEA, with participating industry partners offering incentives such as one-time discounts to enable hawkers to subscribe to online ordering platforms. 

The initiative brought some 660 hawker stalls online for the first time, pushing the percentage of such stalls on to online ordering platforms to 47%, from 34% at the start of the campaign. 

Anthony Low, chairman of the hawker division at Federation of Merchants' Associations Singapore, said: "It is important for hawkers to keep up with digitalisation, especially during this period where dining-in is restricted. As a hawker myself, I understand the hesitation fellow hawkers have when it comes to tapping on digital platforms as not all of us are digitally-savvy. This workstream brings hawkers together to create a support system where they can exchange ideas and stay updated on the various digital initiatives available."

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