Hawkers will get further targeted support to help them benefit from going online, with new initiatives by the SG Together Alliance for Action (AfA) – Online Ordering for Hawkers.
AfA was formed on 17 June 2021 to galvanise efforts to support hawkers expanding their options to reach customers digitally. The National Environment Agency (NEA) and SG Digital Office (SDO) launched an awareness and education campaign to help stallholders (across 113 hawker centres managed by NEA and its appointed managing agents) understand how to supplement physical transactions with online ordering options. Between June and September, SDO Digital Ambassadors engaged 5,500 hawkers. Industry partners supported by offering incentives, such as one-time discounts to help hawkers subscribe to online ordering platforms, with some lowering their base commissions.
Through these efforts, more hawker stalls are offering online ordering as an option to reach more customers, including 660 hawker stalls that signed up for the first time. This has raised the percentage of hawker stalls onboard online ordering platforms, from 34% at the start of the campaign to 47% today. In addition, 330 hawkers who were existing users of online ordering services signed up to more services.
Benefits Beyond Hawkers
Over the past three months, AfA members have worked together to develop initiatives to address various challenges faced by hawkers. This includes supporting less digitally savvy hawkers, providing more options for hawkers to onboard online platforms, and developing more sustainable business models for online ordering. Initiatives will be rolled out in the coming months.
Sustaining Support for Our Hawkers in a Digital Future
NEA is developing a set of best practices, to be compiled into a step-by-step Digital Support Guide for Hawkers by end-2021. Hawkers’ Associations and Grassroots organisations can use this to better support hawkers in embracing digitalisation opportunities (see Annex A for Synopsis of the Digital Support Guide for Hawkers). One recommendation is to set up a Digital Support for Hawkers (DSH) group, comprising passionate individuals from the community or hawkers, to support local hawker centres. The DSH group will provide peer support to help less digitally savvy hawkers embrace digital opportunities. So far, 30 hawker centres have expressed interest in piloting this initiative from October to December 2021 (see Annex B for the List of Hawker Centres).
The DSH group will strengthen hawker centres’ digital presence. This includes creating a Facebook page for each centre, facilitating community group buys through the Facebook page, and organising tie-ups with organisations to make bulk meal orders. An SDO Digital Ambassador will be assigned to each hawker centre to coordinate the effort and launch the centre-centric initiative, with the support of corporate and community volunteers. DBS kickstarted the “Adopt-a-Hawker Centre” initiative earlier this month, and other like-minded organisations such as the Rotary Club of Singapore, RSVP Singapore The Organisation of Senior Volunteers, and the Singapore University of Social Sciences are also coming onboard to support different hawker centres. These organisations stepped forward to “adopt” and support individual hawker centres, contributing to driving demand for hawker food through bulk buys, digital content creation, menu curation, and photography techniques. Training opportunities relating to digitalisation will be made accessible to hawkers via hands-on experience.
Making Online Ordering Simpler for Hawkers
Online ordering platforms (Deliveroo, FoodPanda, Grab and WhyQ) will explore a Common Acquirer model at 14 hawker centres by end-2021. Under this pilot, WhyQ will be the Common Acquirer for hawkers, while consumers can continue to order through their preferred online ordering platforms.
Hawkers will have easy access to all customers of participating online ordering platforms, and will enjoy the convenience of an integrated interface to receive and manage orders from all platforms. Orders will be received either through a single device, or via on-site Hawker Captains at each hawker centre to place and coordinate orders. WhyQ will manage transactions and payments to hawkers, with same-day payments and no commissions charged to hawkers. Consumers can access a wider selection of hawker stalls through their preferred online ordering platforms.
In addition, some members of the Alliance for Action (Deliveroo, FoodPanda and Grab) will further improve their commercial offerings through tiered commissions rate options for their acquired hawkers by year-end.
Hawkers will thus be supported to expand their digital presence and offerings, while consumers will have access to more information about their favourite hawker and hawker centre’s offerings and more food options. As more hawkers participate in online food delivery, platforms and delivery companies will experience more and higher value transactions, and hawkers will improve their businesses.
Support from the Community Matters
Beyond the work of AfA, everyone has a part to play in safeguarding Singapore’s Hawker Culture in Singapore. To help hawkers tide over this challenging period, the Alliance encourages members of the public to continue supporting hawkers through e-ordering, food delivery or take-out. Together, we can contribute to the sustainability and vibrancy of Singapore’s Hawker Culture.
Related Resources:
Annex A: Synopsis of the Digital Support Guide for Hawkers (100.69KB)
Annex C: Quotes from Co-leads Helming the Three Workstreams (121.41KB)
Annex D: Infographic on the Cost Components of E-Ordering and Food Delivery Services (643.87KB)
JOINTLY ISSUED BY NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY AND THE INFOCOMM MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
About the SG Together Alliance for Action (AfA) – Online Ordering for Hawkers
The SG Together Alliance for Action (AfA) – Online Ordering for Hawkers was formed on 17 June 2021 to help hawkers understand the benefits in going digital as well as support hawkers onboard online ordering and delivery services. The AfA members, comprising the hawker community, food and beverage industry, food ordering and delivery platform companies, andthe public sector will be working closely together on three workstreams to help hawkers to make informed choices that best meet the needs of their customers and business.
About the National Environment Agency
The National Environment Agency (NEA) is the leading public organisation responsible for ensuring a clean and sustainable environment for Singapore. Its key roles are to improve and sustain a clean environment, promote sustainability and resource efficiency, maintain high public health standards, provide timely and reliable meteorological information, and encourage a vibrant hawker culture. NEA works closely with its partners and the community to develop and spearhead environmental and public health initiatives and programmes. It is committed to motivating every individual to care for the environment as a way of life, in order to build a liveable and sustainable Singapore for present and future generations.
For more information, visit www.nea.gov.sg
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About Infocomm Media Development Authority
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation with infocomm media. To do this, IMDA will develop a dynamic digital economy and a cohesive digital society, driven by an exceptional infocomm media (ICM) ecosystem – by developing talent, strengthening business capabilities, and enhancing Singapore’s ICM infrastructure. IMDA also regulates the telecommunications and media sectors to safeguard consumer interests while fostering a pro-business environment, and enhances Singapore’s data protection regime through the Personal Data Protection Commission. For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on Facebook IMDAsg and Twitter @IMDAsg.
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Chloe Choong (Ms)
Communications & Marketing
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