Food from the Gadong night market (Pasar Pelbagai Barangan Gadong – PPBG) can now be ordered online through www.pasarpbg.com to be picked up at the market or be delivered to customers’ homes.
The website enables PPBG’s cooked food vendors to continue doing business after the Brunei-Muara District Office ordered them to close on the first day of Ramadhan to prevent mass gatherings during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Local fintech startup Beep Digital Solutions proposed and received approval from the governing agencies to begin offering the service to the public today.
The website allows customers to browse and order a variety of food from multiple vendors which will be delivered within Brunei-Muara at a flat rate of $4.50 or be picked up at a designated drive through spot at the market.
Director and Chief Strategy & Products Officer of Beep Denny Muslim said they have also received the green light to operate a “fulfillment center” at PPBG where vendors will drop off customer orders before Beep’s appointed logistics partner KJB Delivery dispatches them. Vendors will be preparing the food at their homes.
Orders made before 1.30pm will be delivered or be available for pick up on the same day between 3pm to 5pm. Orders after 1.30pm will be delivered or be available for pick up the following day. Customers will receive updates on their orders through SMS.
“With pasarpbg.com we are really looking to give the customer as close to the gerai experience as possible; where you can pick and choose different items from multiple sellers that you pick up from a single location, or have delivered to your doorstep with just a single, flat delivery fee,” said Denny.
“From the vendors side we aim to make it a simple process; whenever the website receives an order they will receive a text message with the details confirmed order for them to prepare.”
PPBG has 150 vendors, approximately 75% who served cooked food. Denny said they are prioritizing cooked food vendors on their platform as the sale of fresh produce, groceries and other merchandise is still allowed according to the Brunei-Muara District Office’s memo last week.
Beep has reached out to 85% of PPBG’s cooked food vendors, with 25 currently being onboarded and 12 already selling on the website. There will be no registration or commission fees for vendors during Ramadhan, with only a 3% fee levied on sales to cover online payment charges.
Payment via debit and credit cards under Visa and MasterCard will be integrated into the website next week, with bank transfers used until then.
Beep – who have been awarded an acquiring license by Alipay to offer their online payment platform to Brunei-based businesses – also plans to enable PPBG vendors to accept Alipay to help them better serve tourists once COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted.
“PPBG is a major tourist attraction and with China being the largest source of international arrivals to Brunei, accepting Alipay will help facilitate more transactions,” said Denny.
