Yong Sik Hoe, COO of qlub Southeast Asia
Although many dine-in food & beverage (F&B) businesses exist in Singapore, the dine-in experience has not evolved much, according to qlub, a Dubai-based payments startup focused on restaurants that recently expanded into Singapore.
The city-state is, however, blessed with robust banking systems compared to many Middle Eastern markets. This bodes well for qlub, a QR-based payment solution that enables customers to split their bills with their friends.
“We realised that although there are many F&B businesses in Singapore, the dine-in experience has not evolved much, especially when providing customers with convenience and speed at the table,” qlub (Southeast Asia) COO Yong Sik Hoe said in an interview with e27.
Since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, many restaurants in Singapore have begun phasing out the use of cash on the health and safety grounds of employees and patrons. Almost 90 per cent of Singaporeans already prefer going cashless, according to a study by qlub.
Post-pandemic, many F&B outlets are struggling, with rising rental and labour costs and difficulties in hiring/retaining staff. “I believe qlub can solve these problems by streamlining operations for these businesses,” Sik Hoe added.
Also Read: How digital technology can transform the food and beverage industry
qlub was established by a group of nine co-founders — many of who are Rocket Internet veterans with experience setting up and scaling companies such as Lazada, foodpanda, Namshi, and Snapp. It offers instant bill payments by scanning a QR code by phone, without app downloads or registrations required. Customers can use the service to split the bills with their friends and pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and debit/credit cards.
qlub is present in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Turkey, Australia, Japan and India, with more than 1,000 restaurant partners globally.
Early this year, the company raised US$17 million in a seed round co-led by Cherry Ventures and Point Nine.
In Singapore, more than 100 restaurants signed up to adopt qlub’s payment method since its pre-launch. Some of its partners are Merci Marcel, French Fold, Bar at Lorong 13, Ayam Penyet President, and Jibiru Yakitori & Craft Beer.
The firm employs ten people in Singapore and has team members in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines supporting its operations.
According to RAS, F&B sales are about US$829 million per month or almost US$10 billion annually in Singapore. About 70 per cent of the transaction is made with credit cards. “Singapore has a high credit card penetration and digital adoption. It is a testing ground, and we see overwhelming results despite just being in the market for a few months,” he revealed.
Sik Hoe also remarked that most Southeast Asian markets have robust banking systems. “We plan to launch at least one more market in Southeast Asia by the end of the year and many more in 2023.”
The F&B industries of Singapore and Dubai are almost similar. However, the Singapore market is much smaller, therefore, more competitive and fragmented, with many other players offering QR ordering or payment solutions. This makes it challenging to onboard new restaurants.
“Fortunately, we have a dedicated team working round the clock to integrate new POS systems with our solution so that restaurateurs can continue using their preferred management software without sacrificing quality or efficiency,” Sik Hoe concluded.
—
Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon.
Here’s the full list of the speakers for the 2022 edition, which will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here.
The post ‘Singapore’s dine-in experience hasn’t evolved much despite many F&B outlets’: qlub COO appeared first on e27.