
Grab drivers in Southeast Asia are now convenience stores, too - kylesellas
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/05/grab-drivers-in-southeast-asia-are-now-convenience-stores-too/
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jacknews
This may work in Singapore, but I would say it has limited appeal as-is,
elsewhere in SEA.

There is some friction to finding and stopping for a snack in the west,
whereas there are little street-side stalls selling drinks and snacks every 50
yards in most SEA cities, and the transport is often tuk-tuks and rickshaws
rather than taxis.

Additionally, I doubt people will be willing to pay for premium western brands
(which they're possibly unfamiliar with), with a further captive-audience
premium, unless there's a "conspicuous consumption" aspect to it - rather
difficult in a vehicle, as opposed to a glass-fronted coffee house for
example.

Good luck nonetheless - they may have some success with the right products,
though I can't think immediately what those would be.

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psergeant
> there are little street-side stalls selling drinks and snacks every 50 yards
> in most SEA cities

This makes the absolutely spread coverage of 7-11 sound more romantic than it
is. There’s a place I can stand on my street where I can see 3 7-11s, one
Lawson, and one FamilyMart.

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imjustsaying
>in most SEA cities

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yial
Lawson fits with SEA.

~~~
psergeant
Any given 711 is dramatically more likely to be in Asia than North America.

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kingofhdds
Nothing new with this marketing approach! Many taxi drivers in Delhi
charmingly (though a bit too stubbornly) offer to visit a shop of their
brother, uncle, or good friend, always "nearby", and surely "very cheap!"
Also, in many post-Soviet countries they sell illegal vodka, and cigarettes.
Not to deny, it's very convenient if you urgently need to get drunk in the
middle of night! Maybe it would work with cosmetics too.

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gringoDan
Reminds me of this article [1] from a few years back. You've got a captive
audience in the car - perfect time to make a sale.

My question is - why wouldn't drivers simply cut out the middleman and offer
their own boxes? I don't think that Cargo provides much added value here.

[1] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonyoushaei/2015/02/04/the-
uber...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonyoushaei/2015/02/04/the-uberpreneur-
how-an-uber-driver-makes-252000-a-year/#4831e4f64e8e)

~~~
throwawayqdhd
I definitely wouldn't mind buying small items (gum, a can of diet coke) and
magazines from my Uber drivers.

~~~
stephengillie
Maybe if you could only buy/sell at a stoplight, to reduce distracted driving?

It brings to mind a video named "Prius Stealth Camper Build"[0], where the
owner has a microwave and fridge powered by the car. Were an Uber driver able
to fit all these amenities in their car and still have ample passenger space,
it would almost be like a mobile 7-11 - get your breakfast during your ride to
work.

[0][https://youtu.be/tjjDDz8mr5E?t=5m](https://youtu.be/tjjDDz8mr5E?t=5m)

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spbaar
Uber rides do seem underutilized. Someone posted a picture of them hooking up
their switch so passengers would be able to play mario kart and the response
was so positive it seems perplexing that nintendo or hbo doesn't put in
samples for passengers to try.

~~~
ihsw2
Uber/Lyft drivers fall into multiple groups, the largest of which is bottom-
budget drivers just trying to get by. They usually drive beaters (that barely
get any non-routine maintenance) and they're driven until they fall apart.

Cost is a barrier to entry for these drivers to participate in these programs
and there is likely an upfront cost to purchase initial inventory. It might
catch on if inventory is (initially) provided at no cost to drivers.

~~~
ryanianian
Presumably extras would be advertising/"attention-economy"-driven and thus
subsidized by another company rather than the drivers themselves. Or if Uber
let drivers have mini vending machines there's a clear ROI on a relatively
small investment (or the vending machines are rented etc). Perhaps the more
expensive "black cars" would have freebies.

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wiradikusuma
What I don't understand is, why do they need to partner with overseas startup
instead of, say, doing it themselves (and call it, "GrabMinibar") or partner
with 7/11 or something. It's not like Cargo own the patent, or do they?

~~~
hknd
it's mostly easier to partner with a company who is specialized on a specific
thing.

You pay a premium, but you \- don't need to do a initial investment \- don't
have to care about the logistics \- don't have to care about support \- don't
have to care about the products \- and if it doesn't work, you can just cancel
the partnership

~~~
amelius
But it's absolutely not difficult or time-consuming to do this yourself. Just
buy a plastic container and a bunch of candy bars.

Uber could make it easy to keep track of items sold through their app (which
the user has open anyway).

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hknd
I think this is amazing - would definitely buy stuff during my uber trips.

Unfortunately it's not allowed to drink or eat in the car :<

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pravj
Interesting! Indian ride-hailing giant "Ola" bought "Foodpanda" (food delivery
startup) a few months back. A variant of food/snack service in the cab might
be a hit in Indian metros like Bangalore and Mumbai where people are always
late to the office because of traffic.

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thisisit
IMO Ola strategy seems to be to throw everything on the wall and see what
sticks. 70-80% of the time I have traveled in their "infotainment" equipped
cabs the tablets don't work or there is a wifi problem.

In which case, I don't have high hopes for their snack service too.

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scruffyherder
ugh so take up a seat+ with crap I don't need? yeah great.

Please stay out of Hong Kong.

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KaoruAoiShiho
Depends on how the drivers are trained, because this could have yikes
potential in worsening the user experience.

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humanbeinc
Exactly my first thought too. It's RyanAir in a cab...

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contingencies
Straight out copying China...

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bpicolo
And all ride sharing companies are copying Uber, which are copying taxis, who
are copying a long chain of copied ideas with differences in execution

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SimbaOnSteroids
All ideas are copied, humans are incredibly bad at creating wholly new things,
what we are good at is taking things we already know and combining them, often
times new things come out.

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contingencies
Yes, but the amount of "China copies everyone else" that usually goes around
deserves a rebalance. As someone actually active in the food space in Asia, my
opinion is pretty informed on such matters. Anyway, business as usual SV pro-
American echo chamber here. Sigh.

