Delivery Services for Food and Merchandise

Tagged with food, merchandise, philippines, shopping, united states on January 7, 2024

There are delivery services for food and merchandise that didn’t exist until a few years ago, in both the United States and the Philippines. I appreciate some more than others. There are delivery services that have been around longer, and I probably don’t need to mention their names.

Food Delivery Services

GrabFood is only one part of the Grab corporation, based in Singapore. Another part is a ride-hailing service. I’ve had food from S&R Pizza, McDonald’s and Jollibee delivered to me in the Philippines using the GrabFood service. There are two other services available that I’m not familiar with: Foodpanda and Maxim, which also has a ride-hailing service.

In the United States, most pizza and Chinese food restaurants have their own delivery services. The pandemic changed a lot of things, and I can’t be sure of anything anymore. There are services like DoorDash, but I’m completely unfamiliar with them. My younger son, who’s in the United States, says their fees are outrageous. There’s also Uber Eats, which I’m unfamiliar with as well.

Merchandise Delivery Services

In the United States, many stores provide their own services. Walmart is just one example. Virtual storefronts like Amazon.com take care of retailers who don’t have their own delivery services. It’s the only one I’m familiar with, since I don’t spend much time in the United States.

There are two that I’m familiar with in the Philippines because I’ve used both of them at one time or another. They’re Lazada and Shopee, both based in Singapore. I’ve ordered quite a few things through Lazada, not so much with Shopee. Unfortunately, the quality of the items I’ve ordered is a hit or miss kind of thing. Most of what I’ve received is made in China.

It’s Less Expensive than Driving

Well, in the Philippines at least.

Many people still drive to fast-food places like McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC, but it’s usually on the way to somewhere else. I don’t know about the United States, but getting food delivered in the Philippines is a lot less expensive than going to get it. That’s even if you ride inexpensive public transportation like jeepneys and tricycles.

I looked at one receipt and saw that the driver only got paid 35 pesos for a delivery from Jollibee. That’s less than a dollar. I frequently tip a few pesos as well. Filipinos don’t get paid much compared to Americans in the United States.

No delivery services are that cheap in the United States. I can’t tell you what the fees are because, again, I don’t spend much time in the United States. A lot of things change when I’m away for years at a time.

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