Oddle up: how a digital platform helped save F&B in Singapore

There are many ways Oddle stands out in the overcrowded delivery platform market. For one, the company only takes a 10 percent commission on online sales, compared to the 35 percent charged by others. It also doesn't operate a fleet of riders, integrating with the likes of Lalamove or Comfort instead. But above all, it prides itself on providing its restaurants with proper service.

"Although you're still selling food, the mechanics are different," Jonathan explains. "Your dine-in menu will always start with appetisers but when it comes to online purchases, you should highlight your platters and bundles first. It's about achieving the least number of clicks to hit the minimum basket and check out – I learnt that by watching my wife online shop."

Oddle's team helps service their customers to help them with digital marketing and improving conversion. "Restaurants are competing in a space where consumers think that delivery cost is low," he says. "For example, if someone orders 10 burgers at $10 each and has to pay a $20 delivery fee, the customer will think of the $20 as an inefficient cost. However, if I blend the delivery cost into the food pricing and charge $11.50 per burger and $5 for delivery, that's more acceptable to customers."

But how did Oddle come up with these strategies to help businesses succeed? Well, to Jonathan, it's about learning from the best – and that means his clients.

"If you look at our clients now, you'll see that a lot of them have come up with kit menus," he says. "Ippudo just came out with a special DIY set. It's about giving customers ways to add to the basket so that in one delivery, the restaurant can make better margins.

Beyond bundles, meal kits and group buys, Jonathan predicts that cloud kitchens will be another trend in the F&B industry. "I think we'll start to see interesting offerings from restaurants through virtual brands. They use the same kitchen but come up with different concepts. A lot of these restaurants use data on what's popular from their menus and tweak these offerings to give customers something new – like how the ilLido Group launched Grammi and Ebb & Flow has so many brands I've lost track."

While Oddle is in the business of helping restaurants build an online presence, it's work has also ensured the survival of some of our favourite local brands.

When Covid struck, the third-generation owner of Swee Choon, a dim sum joint that has been around since 1962, was at a loss for what to do. The large operation has about 100 staff, many of whom stay with them for life.

"When Swee Choon first started selling its dim sum online, it sold each har gow by individual pieces," recalls Jonathan. "To hit the minimum order, customers have to click 70 times before checking out – they must really love dim sum for that level of dedication. What we did was create bundles of six, using past data points to find out what the most-ordered items are to create a family set. It becomes easy – with one click I can get food for 10 people and it's easy to check out."

"Thankfully we managed to help them turn things around," he continues. "The second-generation owner, the uncle, shook our hands and said: 'Thank you for saving Swee Choon – we've been around for 58 years and I thought we wouldn't see our 59th.'"

"I never expected food delivery to make up 100 percent of restaurant sales. I've always seen delivery making up 20 percent of a restaurant's sales. Obviously Covid has changed the whole landscape," muses Jonathan. But the question is, now that life is slowly returning to normal, where does food delivery go from here?

"I think for Oddle, Grab Food, Deliveroo and Food Panda, we can coexist. For example, McDonald's and Grab Food are partners; McDelivery is the online brand but it uses Grab Food as the distribution channel. In the same way, Oddle is helping each restaurant build their online platform but they should still rely on distribution platforms to get more sales."

"Data collection is also very important," he continues. "When a customer transacts through Oddle, the data is shared with the restaurant and they have full ownership of it. We empower restaurants with the right tools and the right knowledge to build a sustainable business online."

And if all else fails, Jonathan has the perfect solution: bubble tea. "Bubble tea is the most sellable thing in Singapore – and I have the data to back it up."