Jakarta-based grocery delivery service HappyFresh is pulling out of the Philippines and Taiwan, reports Inside Retail Asia.
HappyFresh CEO Markus Bihler told the publication that the decision to withdraw from the two countries is due to the company’s “crucial goal” of focusing on its core markets.
HappyFresh’s decision to consolidate in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand came just six months after it entered the Philippines and less than a year after it launched in Taiwan, Inside Retail Asia said.
In a recent interview with Asiafruit magazine, HappyFresh managing director Johan Antlov reiterated the company focus on existing markets.
“Some 99.9 per cent of consumers still buy their items from the supermarkets, so in order to change an age-old habit and educate the masses on the benefits of online groceries, we need to focus our resources and time to the markets that matter the most,” he told Asiafruit. “As we have done with Indonesia, we will continue to expand outside of the capital cities, to tier-2 cities that would benefit from our service.”
Antlov added that the challenge for online grocery services is that customers do not trust others to pick their fresh produce.
“This is something that will be slowly overcome through educating the market and delivering a consistently exceptional service, which we are leading at HappyFresh,” he said.
Read the full Antlov interview in Asiafruit’s September issue.
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