How SmartBite is tapping into AI to optimize food delivery

DIGITAL on-demand platforms have taken Southeast Asia by storm lately as consumers in the region are rapidly moving online — even to order food.

Spurred by a sizeable millennial population and high internet penetration, food ordering apps have further boosted the regional food industry.

According to one study, the global food delivery app market will be worth US$16.61 billion by 2023 and the APAC is projected to witness the fastest growth within that period at a CAGR of 29.8 percent. By value, the APAC already holds half the global market share.

The exponential growth has resulted in heated competition between the different apps vying to for a bigger chunk of the market. While most providers have focused their efforts on aggressive marketing campaigns, one company decided to take a more innovative approach.

Malaysian food delivery platform, SmartBite claims it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify the way working professionals eat in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur.

In an exclusive interview with Tech Wire Asia, SmartBite Founder Gabriele Fadda said that technology has allowed the platform to understand customers’ preferences and behaviors, enabling them to curate the best possible meal options, among other things.

By doing this, the company saves time and maximizes productivity, and is also able to optimize logistics in bulk by delivering at a fixed timeslot, he added.

The benefits of tech in food

For instance, by deploying technology to optimize its supply chain, the company guarantees the best prices for is customers. It also does not impose any delivery charges or minimum order requirements.

However, there is a lot of valuable data that are being underutilized currently, according to Fadda. He thinks this is a missed opportunity for the food industry.

“We use data to curate the best possible meals for our customers. We’re able to identify the quality, proximity of the users, customer feedback and monitor deliveries and services that we offer for the customers,” he explained.

SmartBites predicts the best possible offerings by using AI algorithms to analyze customers’ order history, preferences and similar users.

In addition, they are also able to forecast demand and plan their resources accordingly, which saves costs and time.

Furthermore, SmartBite also shares its insights with its restaurant partners. This allows restaurants to stock up and prepare for orders in advance.

“This enables us to keep the cost low and ensure delivery,” claimed Fadda.

Continuous improvement

Launched in 2017, SmartBite has grown 250 percent in revenue since and boasts a user base of 20,000. And it is growing in popularity.

“We are proud to say that some of our restaurant partners also experienced an increase of 30 percent in monthly revenue after coming on board of SmartBite,” said Fadda.

He added that the company has more innovative solutions in the pipeline, to further improve its operations.

However, the key, according to him, lies with properly leveraging technology.

“Technology is the key to scale and minimize human operational costs. If you have the right market fit and the market is ready for your product or service, then technology can help you scale your business quickly and efficiently,” Fadda said.

From the looks of it, SmartBite is succeeding in its mission to be an alternative within a heavily saturated market.

Most probably, it is because the company has figured out that that only way to stay competitive is by delivering better customer value. And the best way to do that is to use technology.

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