Contact-free food online ordering has become important for travelers during the pandemic.
Demonstrating that airport, airline and online partnerships can reap rewards during a crippling pandemic, e-commerce platform Grab has taken its airport online orders from zero to five million in five years, but expects that figure to double to ten million within another two.
Software company Grab, founded in 2014, has been providing contactless ordering and payment services in airport restaurants and other outlets in the U.S. since 2015 when the Houston-based start-up launched at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Grab’s five millionth order was transacted this summer at TGI Friday’s in Dallas Fort Worth Airport by a customer using American Airlines’ app. The next five million will take far less time.
Grab CEO Mark Bergsrud tells Forbes.com: “It’s taken over five years to get to five million orders. It’s hard to say with the fluidity of travel in the near-term, but we would expect to hit ten million within two years.”
Both the pandemic and Grab’s expansion at airports will enable this exponential rise in usage. The service is live—subject to current statewide Covid-19 restrictions—in 32 airports across the U.S. today, with five more gateways expected to partner up over the coming months. Grab is also in use at another 21 airports worldwide.
Grab ad covering a closed storefront next to luxury brand Coach at Philadelphia Airport.
At these various locations, including Dallas Fort Worth where the platform has been present since June 2017, users can order from multiple outlets in the terminals using their own device—a feature that has become essential to many since the devastating onset of Covid-19.
Digital services are taking off
The Texas gateway’s EVP of customer experience and revenue management Ken Buchanan says: “Now more than ever, we are working hard to enable as contactless an airport experience as possible. Through the recent expansion of our Grab program into retail and the launch of DFWOrderNow.com, we look forward to serving more guests through our digital programs.”
The airport’s e-commerce site allows shoppers to order beauty products and candy from two airport retailers—3Sixty and Natalie’s Candy—as well as food and drinks from an array of dining outlets. The Grab app does not need to be downloaded to use the service.
Grab’s chief experience officer Jeff Livney comments: “Our goal has always been to provide efficient and stress-free ways to order food and beverage. We are pleased that Grab is helping airports address additional challenges at this difficult time. With American Airlines being our first airline partner and Dallas Fort Worth Airport the first to launch Grab’s Marketplace, this is a great achievement for us all.”
In the calendar year to September, Dallas Fort Worth showed good resilience to the general air travel downturn. Passenger numbers were 49% below the same period in 2019 at 28.6 million though there were improving stats between August and September with respective traffic declines of 53% and 45%. This compares with an average U.S. fall of 70% for scheduled passengers in August according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
With far fewer travelers around, Grab’s platforms including its mobile marketplace, the Grab app, and order-at-table services, are being seen by airports as a good way to increase commercial spending by offering convenience.
Airlines make a difference
The fact that Grab’s five millionth order came via an airline app is significant. “American was our first airline partner and launched Grab inside its mobile app as well as through LocusLabs Maps (indoor wayfinding). We have several additional airlines in the works yet to be announced,” says Bergsrud who was for 16 years the SVP for marketing programs and distribution at Continental Airlines and then SVP marketing at United Airlines for another two years, post merger.
Grab CEO Mark Bergsrud: “We are still an early-stage scale-up. We will continue to raise additional … [+]
He adds: “For frequent travelers, the ease of having the airline app as your go-to digital channel on the day of travel is clear. There’s no need to know about, or download, a separate proprietary app when it can be embedded into your preferred day-of-travel app—and the experience can be tailored to you.”
For example, a traveler on American going from Los Angeles to Dallas to Miami would have a ‘Get food on the go at LAX’ promotion pinged to them on their app home screen prior to departure from LAX. This sends them straight into the Grab feature at their departing airport and terminal. Once they depart Los Angeles, the feature will update to show options on their connecting journey at Dallas Fort Worth for order and collection. When departing Dallas, they’ll again be offered available outlets for their arrival at Miami International Airport.
By offering this ubiquity and distribution across different players in the travel arena Grab hopes to stay ahead of competitors. “Ubiquity achieves buy-in from concessionaires of all sizes to build a comprehensive marketplace, and distribution through partners like American, DFW and others in the travel ecosystem drives awareness,” says Bergsrud. “We strongly believe in the trinity of airlines, airports and concessionaires/brands coming together.”
Getting the contactless ordering message out at LaGuardia Airport.
Grab is privately held by its founders and individual investors but it has a key strategic partner too. U.K. company Collinson—better known for its Priority Pass airport lounges—made a major financial investment in Grab in 2018, also taking a seat on the software company’s board. Collinson has since helped to accelerate Grab’s global roll out and develop new services. The company can leverage its large international footprint and relationships in many markets, particularly Europe.
Most recently, Grab has expanded outside of airports to hospitality venues such as stadiums and arenas, as well as downtown restaurants with its self-order technology. In Australia, Grab has established itself as Servy, ahead of an upcoming rebrand, according to a social media post.
Grab is yet to become profitable but, as with many tech start-ups, the focus remains on developing the market, and retaining or expanding market share. Bergsrud comments: “We are still an early-stage scale-up which has invested heavily into its platform and breadth of products. As our self-service technology becomes more widely used—now more than ever before through the paradigm shift and market factors related to Covid-19—we will invest in new products and capabilities. We will continue to grow and raise additional funding through private investment until we reach profitability.”
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