In a bid to strengthen its omnicommerce strategy, Grab Philippines is pivoting to an approach that sees the app put equal priority to both dine-in and food pick-up and delivery.

Although Grab’s food delivery arm GrabFood has been known throughout the years for its food pick-up and door-to-door services, Grab is working on also enhancing the dine-in experience. This aligns with Grab’s even bigger goal of meeting the needs of both consumers and MSME merchant partners.

So why dine-in “using” Grab?

As discussed during the GrabNext 2024 conference, Grab is pivoting to support the shift in consumer preferences, while integrating digital convenience to in-person dining. This move is largely due to the resurgence of dine-in culture after the pandemic.

Grab’s hybrid service model incorporates both physical presence and digital efficiency, so Grab’s restaurant partners can capitalize on the increased foot traffic.

Pay With Grab, Instant Deals

To cater to both diners and its MSME partners, Grab has rolled out two new services: Pay With Grab and Instant Deals.

Pay With Grab allows diners to pay using the Grab app for contactless transactions. They may connect bank accounts or other e-wallets that they already have used for Grab to complete the transaction.

On the other hand, Instant Deals allows restaurants to offer customizable and timely promotions to attract more customers. These deals can be adjusted in real-time to reflect trends or even weather conditions. The deals will be shown on the restaurant’s GrabFood page.

How do I exactly dine-in with Grab?

Look at it this way: Grab is trying to have more consumers search for restaurants using the Grab app itself. Say for example you’re undecided where to eat or what to eat, Grab will help with that.

Oftentimes, Filipino diners ask out loud, “Saan puwede kumain (Where to eat)?” and “Saan ba masarap kumain  (What’s a good place to eat at)?” With Grab’s new approach, they can simply open the app and see for themselves. If you end up finding an interesting restaurant that suites your cravings for that moment and also happens to have promos at the time, that’s a win for both you and the restaurant.

This is why Grab is incorporating particularly the Instant Deals service. As a return, their partner restaurants also benefit from more sales. After all, Grab isn’t the “all-in-one super app” for nothing.

Better support for MSMEs

Grab has also strengthened its support for MSME partners with enhanced omnicommerce that focuses on seamless integration.

First, Grab has unified the dine-in, pick-up, and delivery services into an easy-to-use platform for MSMEs to access. This tool supports inventory management, order tracking, and customer relationship management.

Moreover, MSMEs are provided with data-driven insights to better understand customer preferences, peak times sales patterns, and more. These  advanced analytics will be useful for strategic decision-making on the restaurant’s part.

Grab also offers financial flexibility for its partners by offering access to GrabFin loans and faster settlement times.

Lastly, an Improved Marketing Manager tool empowers MSMEs to efficiently create and deploy marketing campaigns. This allows them to connect better with both digital and dine-in customers.

New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.

Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.

As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.

The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.

Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.

SEE ALSO: X will no longer let you hide your blue checkmark

The burden of choice on streaming platforms is real. If you’re like us, you’ve spent hours just mindlessly scrolling through titles on Netflix or Disney+ without watching anything. Netflix, at least, has a Play Something button to fight off that irresistible urge. Now, Disney+ is reportedly trying something different: always-on channels.

If you already cut cable from your lives, you’re likely missing traditional channels or networks that have pre-determined programming. It was a flawed system that eventually ended up with mediocre content and a downpour of ads. However, cable did allow us to keep watching without deciding what comes next.

Now, according to The Information, Disney+ is working on adding those channels to its streaming service. Naturally, these channels will include content from the platform’s library such as Marvel, Star Wars, and its list of classic animated films.

Strangely, the reported feature might still have ads in between programs. Though the addition of ads does mean a better similarity with real television, users still have to be paying subscribers to access the channels. Even if you’re already paying for Disney+, you might still get hit with ads.

Disney has not confirmed the reports yet. The platform might launch a version of the feature outside of the scope included in this report. It’s also unknown when these always-on channels will launch.

SEE ALSO: Macross to be available on Disney+