Pawel Netreba (Co-founder of Bfab and former MD of foodpanda), Patrick Linden (Co-founder of Dealguru and Food Runner, which was later acquired by foodpanda), and Linden’s brother Rene, have come together to launch a not-for-profit initiative to help Singapore’s businesses survive the COVID-19 crisis.
iSaveSG is is an online platform that allows customers to support businesses financially by buying offers/gift cards from restaurants, bars, cafés and boutiques. This will give businesses the much-needed cash to pay their bills, cover running costs, and save jobs.
It will also help merchants market their lock-down-related offers, and users can find the best deals on a single platform.
Also Read: What foodpanda taught me is ‘execute, execute, execute’: Pawel Netreba of Bfab
Anyone running a restaurant, café, hotel, bar or mom&pop store can register on the platform and upload their special deals, or provide a link to their website where customers can purchase a gift card or order take away/delivery.
iSaveSG is completely free for both merchants and users.
“Cafes are clearing away their tables, restaurants are limiting opening hours, bars remain empty, and boutiques are losing their customers: COVID-19 has the city firmly in its grip. There is much less income, but running costs are still being incurred. This increasingly threatens the existence of local restaurateurs and businesses,” said Linden.
The team also has plans to launch a community forum on the platform for businesses to connect with other businesses and people so they can exchange ideas on how to cope with the situation, extend a helping hand to each other, and post questions and jobs.
The trio will also expand the initiative to Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries soon.
“We worked a lot with local merchants in the companies we co-founded previously in Singapore and Malaysia. When Singapore announced the first wave of restriction measures a few weeks ago, we thought we should do something to help local businesses. Then we came up with the idea and put it together over a weekend,” explained Linden.
As of today, close to 100 offers are live on the platform. The site gets 1,000 visits per day.
“We believe that if a customer supports a local business by buying an offer, he or she should get a special deal; it can be a free delivery or a discount. So it ends up being a win-win situation,” Linden concluded.
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