Features September 27, 2023

Delivering Success to Filipino MSMEs in a Post-pandemic Economy, According to Anton Bautista of Grab Philippines

Anton Bautista, the Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development at Grab Philippines, reveals how the leading superapp empowers local MSMEs, thus exemplifying its commitment to driving socio-economic progress in the country.

Even before the pandemic hit the Philippines in 2020, on-demand deliveries were gaining traction in the country as tech-savvy Filipinos embraced the accessibility and convenience offered by the service. In total, 2.9 million users have flocked to various online delivery platforms, while the restaurant-to-consumer sector—the largest segment, alone—boasts 9.3 million users.

Among the array of delivery apps that have gained prominence in the country, Grab Philippines stands out. Though initially recognized for its mobility solutions, the superapp has also demonstrated formidable performance in the delivery arena. Case in point: GrabFood, the company’s on-demand food delivery business, reported a 1.7-fold increase in customer orders in 2022 compared to its pre-pandemic activity in 2019—thus making it the Philippines’ leading and most-valued food delivery platform.

Furthermore, consumer spending in 2023 has surged, as evidenced by a material increase in average GrabFood basket sizes compared to pre-pandemic figures. Simply put, the public is relying heavily on delivery services, solidifying its status as a self-sustaining industry.

But Grab Philippines doesn’t stop at food delivery. It offers a range of other services, including GrabMart for groceries and everyday essentials, and GrabExpress for parcel deliveries.

In an exclusive interview with The Business Manual, Anton Bautista, the Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development, shares how Grab Philippines’ multi-faceted delivery services have supported both consumers and businesses—before, during, and even as we transition into a post-pandemic economy.

The Business Manual cover on Anton Bautista, Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development of Grab Philippines — Anton Bautista handles the commercial aspects of Grab Philippines. He works with different merchants and business partners who deliver products to the everyday Filipino such as food, groceries, and the essentials they need for their day-to-day lives.

Steering the Course for On-Demand Delivery Innovation

At the helm of the delivery wing of Grab Philippines is Anton Bautista, the Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development at Grab Philippines. A graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, where he studied Management Engineering, Anton later earned an MBA from the prestigious London Business School in 2013.

His professional journey includes stints at renowned firms like McKinsey & Company before making the move to Grab in 2018. “I actually started out in management consulting,” he opens up. “When I was young and [when I was] growing up, I really loved solving problems and solving challenges. I’m curious about a lot of different things, and I wanted to try and solve very difficult problems. The more difficult, the better. And that’s what actually attracted me to Grab.”

“I initially joined Grab as the Head of Strategy in 2018,” he continues. “At that time, we were trying to solve the traffic problem. While it’s still a work in progress, I believe that Grab has somewhat improved the commuting experience for many Filipinos. But one really big problem—[one] really big puzzle that I was [tasked] to solve was how can we expand the services of Grab. What else can we do for the Filipino people?”

Elevating Businesses and Streamlining Deliveries: A Dual Focus

In his early days at Grab, Anton revealed that deliveries became a focal point of discussion among the team. “A lot of discussions around deliveries—food deliveries and grocery deliveries—came about. As I was integrally involved in these strategic planning sessions, it was a natural progression for me to assume leadership over Grab’s delivery division”

This paved the way for his role as Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development—a responsibility that underscores his commitment to solving everyday problems for Filipinos.”I handle the side of the business that focuses more on food and groceries—mostly working with different merchants, different business partners to deliver to the everyday Filipino the food and the groceries and the essentials they need for their day-to-day life,” he clarifies.

“A lot of the things that we’re developing are services for our merchants—like we have what we call working capital loans for merchants,” he expounds. “We’re developing potential point-of-sales solutions for merchants and other different things that we can leverage and use to help our merchant partners grow.”

For one thing, Anton’s role focuses on making it easier for Grab’s business partners and delivery partners by solving the pain points that these businesses have—from accessibility to being discovered and even getting the product to the end user.

“We’re not just providing meaningful livelihood opportunities for our delivery-partners through the gig economy. By enabling them to work as per their own schedule and pace, we are essentially also creating a robust and dynamic marketplace that links Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and other businesses in the Philippines to a massive and highly engaged consumer base.”

He achieves this by zeroing in on core business pain points—be it the ease of being discovered by consumers, streamlining logistics, or even, at times, getting the product into the hands of the consumer as efficiently as possible. “By addressing these issues, we aim to be more than just a delivery platform. We aim to be a reliable growth partner for different MSMEs and businesses, providing them with essential tools and sustained support in order to grow their business and succeed in a post-pandemic economy,” Anton concludes.

How, he says? By “providing additional tools and support in order for them to get to where they need to be.”

Anton Bautista, Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development of Grab Philippines, in the Grab office — *Being at the helm of business development, Anton works closely on the design and implementation of tailored-fit solutions that address challenges faced by merchant-partners.*

Grab’s Unparalleled Commitment During and Beyond the Pandemic

“At the start of the pandemic, we were predominantly focused on delivering popular favorites like milk tea, burgers, and chicken. At that time, a lot of people thought of delivery as more of an indulgence—like when you have to have lunch in the office,” Anton recalls.

But as the pandemic lingered, the purpose of deliveries evolved from being just a want into a need. After all, lockdowns and quarantine restrictions prevented people from leaving their homes—thus, making it difficult to get access to everyday essentials—from medicines to groceries, and even food. Notably, it wasn’t only the consumers who were struggling, as businesses and riders also fought to make ends meet.

“The pandemic’s sweeping impact dramatically shifted the role of delivery services—elevating them from a convenience to a critical lifeline for consumers, MSMEs, and even delivery-partners,” he continues. “It was a difficult time for a lot of people, that is why we made sure to make GrabFood available. We made it easier for our merchants to find ways to sell to the public.”

But it wasn’t just about surviving; it was about optimizing and innovating to be the most effective partner for growth. “During the pandemic, we really focused more on optimization and efficiency. How can we make the services more efficient for you as a consumer, more efficient for the merchants, and more efficient for the rider partners? And [what we have today] are the results of the things we learned and experimented on during the pandemic.”

And this wasn’t merely a reactive strategy on the executive’s end. It was a strategic and localized approach to not only confront the pandemic’s disruptions but to lay the groundwork for post-pandemic growth and opportunities for MSMEs and our stakeholders.

“We aren’t just a delivery service. We’re a strategic growth partner to help bring brands and businesses to greater heights. Grab’s inherent advantage lies in our intimate understanding of local market dynamics, allowing us to continually innovate in ways that serve both our business partners and consumers best,” he explains.

It’s this multi-faceted commitment that makes Grab an irreplaceable asset for Filipinos and an ideal champion for MSMEs and businesses. “I think that the most important part about Grab is that everybody is truly invested in the idea that our goal is to really empower Filipino entrepreneurs and made it our number one rallying cry during the pandemic,” he adds.

Sustaining Filipino MSMEs and Setting Gold Standards in On-Demand Deliveries

The disruptions brought by the pandemic pushed companies to innovate so that they can stay relevant in the post-pandemic landscape. As such, one of the few things that Grab made sure to implement was to double down on its initiatives to ensure that MSMEs are equipped to navigate through the ever-changing customer behavior and landscape in the post-pandemic era.

With that, Grab has expanded GrabFood, its food delivery service, to marry the digital and physical aspects of dining—thus enabling businesses to attract more customers and further grow their businesses.

What’s more, amid the clamor for a more integrated online-to-offline dining experience, GrabFood has now equipped merchants with consumer touchpoints that make their businesses adaptable to current consumer behavior. This is why the platform now offers Scan to Order, Self Pick-Up, Find & Dine, and Mix & Match options, on top of the current delivery service.

Scan to Order is a dine-in solution that will allow consumers to both order and pay for dine-in orders using the Grab app, while Self Pick-Up allows consumers to order ahead and pick up their orders from merchants near their area. Find and Dine, meanwhile, enables consumers to discover new restaurants around their vicinity. Lastly, Mix and Match allows eaters to order from several merchants with just one order fee.

On top of these, Grab also launched a series of campaigns and services that have helped them remain relevant—not just during the pandemic, but even after it. These include:

GrabSaver

To provide accessible and affordable delivery options for consumers, Grab rolled out a new service called Saver.

“It’s our cheaper delivery fee option. It is built on a technology that predicts how many people would order from a merchant and at what time they might order. With this information, we can therefore determine how much efficiency savings we can pass on to the consumer without affecting rider-partner earnings,” Anton says.

“This is but one product that we’re rolling out based on what we’ve learned during the pandemic,” he adds.

GrabFood Indie Eats

As part of its brand awareness campaign, Grab launched GrabFood Indie Eats last year. “The main concept was that we wanted to educate people about GrabFood—not just as a delivery platform, but as a food platform in general,” Anton explains.

“Grab is a good way for you to discover food options in general. For example, we have this Indie Eats campaign,” he adds. “We realized that around 20% of our merchants represent 80% of our sales. That means there’s a large number of businesses who don’t really have a lot of sales on our platform, and that there are a lot of really good ones in that 80% that needed just a little bit of marketing push in order to be discovered.”

Aside from giving merchants a platform to be seen, this campaign adapted to the post-pandemic setup by reviving the dine-in aspect of the food and beverage industry. “We wanted to highlight that we’re also a really good channel for people to just discover new food—not just for delivery, but also for dine-in.”

“We now have a solution on our app that allows you to find and dine. Find dine-in locations nearby, supported by the reviews that the Grab users have made through the deliveries,” he explains.

Forging Future Opportunities for Grab

In today’s rapidly evolving market landscape, the ultimate test of a business’s vitality is its adaptability and enduring relevance. Grab Philippines has not only set the standard for multi-service platforms but has also proven its indispensable role in sustaining and uplifting Filipino MSMEs. “The sustainable competitive advantage of Grab is really that we have more than just one business,” Anton explains. “We have our transport business. We also have our payments business. And together, we create an ecosystem that is beneficial for merchants, consumers, and rider partners.”

In fact, post-pandemic, Grab’s agility and adaptability also set it apart, as it plans to become an omnichannel haven for every Filipino necessity—extending beyond online deliveries to complete in-person experiences. “We’re the singular platform that harmonizes the online and offline worlds for both merchants and consumers. Imagine taking a GrabCar to a restaurant you just discovered through GrabFood. We make that streamlined experience possible.”

This unique strategy isn’t just innovative; it’s a blueprint for the economic resilience of MSMEs. “Our goal is to leverage the synergies of our diverse services, like GrabCar and GrabFood, to offer personalized experiences while helping our merchant partners attract more customers physically to their locations,” he adds.

In a market saturated with fleeting solutions, Grab stands as the undisputed leader in on-demand deliveries and as a powerful catalyst for economic growth in the Philippines. With its expansive, data-driven, and tailored services, Grab doesn’t just meet the immediate needs of the Filipino people; it anticipates them. Therefore, it’s not just a platform; it’s a strategic partner for businesses, consumers, and, indeed, for a government seeking to invigorate its economic landscape post-pandemic.

Anton Bautista, Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development of Grab Philippines in the Grab office, green wall — As an industry-leading superapp with a multi-faceted suite of services, Grab is well-positioned to serve the evolving preferences of Filipinos—rooted in the dynamic shift to integrated online-to-offline experiences.”It’s our ecosystem where everything coordinates and interacts with each other that creates the truly sustainable advantage for our merchant-partners and a more seamless experience for our consumers,” Anton says proudly.

Being the Roadmap for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Anton Bautista, Grab Philippines’ Senior Director for Deliveries and Business Development, is more than just a corporate leader—he’s a wellspring of expertise and a strategic visionary for businesses, especially in these post-pandemic times. To conclude his interview, he shares words of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, which include:

The Untapped Potential in the Food Business

Although the industry may seem saturated with many local and international concepts—not to mention homegrown online brands that started during the pandemic—Anton believes that the playing field is still very much ready for more innovative concepts.

“Interestingly enough, there’s still a lot of space for new food concepts, especially for night time cravings actually,” Anton points out. “When we looked at the opportunities, there’s not a lot of options for post-7 PM, up to early 9 AM. There’s a wide space there in terms of opportunities for food.”

“And what we’ve seen also is that as long as you have a very strong product—even if you don’t have a lot of branding yet—you can make it work in the digital world. So there are still some opportunities out there,” he continues.

Strategic Approach to Business Building

For those interested in various industries beyond food, Anton emphasizes the importance of aligning business pursuits with personal goals. “I think it really depends on what you’re looking for. If you want to go into business, it’s more you wanting to do something with yourself or for yourself, versus if you go into corporate, you want structure. You want to have a very clear process of what to do from point A to point B,” he opines.

“My only recommendation is that you need to understand yourself. What do you want in your life? What’s important for you? Is it freedom? Is it the clear path? Is it mentorship? Or is it more like you want to be able to see and feel the things you do yourself? And until you know that, it’s very hard for you to decide where you want to go.”

The Long Game in Business Success

As for being successful, Anton takes a more realistic approach. “I wouldn’t want to give a hack. I’d just like to share a piece of advice that my old boss told me. Business and life in general should not be seen as a race. It’s more of a marathon. You need to make sure you get to the end. Your goal is not to get from point A to point B the fastest. Your goal should be to get to point B at a point in your life where you’re happiest.”

“At the end of the day, don’t compare yourself to other people. Everyone gets to their places in their own way, and that’s the most important thing people need to remember,” he ends.