Online food delivery platform Line Man Wongnai has high hopes for the “Khon La Khrueng Plus” co-payment scheme to attract millions of new users, increasing its sales by 20-30%.
Monday was the first day merchants could register with online food delivery platforms to participate in the co-payment scheme, and 32,990 restaurants signed up with Line Man Wongnai as of Nov 4 at 1am.
The Finance Ministry reported as of Nov 3 at 2pm, 40,722 merchants registered with food delivery platforms, of which 22,831 signed up with Line Man Wongnai, the highest among all platforms.
Yod Chinsupakul, chief executive of Line Man Wongnai, said the company projects sales growth of 20-30% in the first month of the co-payment campaign.
The significant gain is on top of its existing 20% annual sales growth and the scheme is expected to result in hundreds of thousands of extra orders overall via its platform, he said.
“In month two, we anticipate the campaign’s contribution will see moderate growth, adding an extra 10-20% growth to sales,” said Mr Yod.
He said for the previous co-payment campaign, the scheme increased sales for the merchants by 1-5 times.
Mr Yod said the existing campaign is expected to bring in millions of new users to Line Man Wongnai, including some using a food delivery service for the first time.
While the co-payment plus scheme covers various services, from delivery to transport services, food delivery is considered a key activity of the campaign.
While some rivals eliminated their gross profit (GP) fees for merchant partners for the duration of the campaign, Line Man Wongnai cut its GP fee to 7%, which it considers a competitive rate.
To differentiate itself, Line Man Wongnai invested 300 million baht in a marketing campaign to woo co-payment scheme users.
He said the company aims to participate in the anticipated second phase of the co-payment scheme, focusing on improving vendor skills, promoting their use of digital technology and fostering their financial literacy on tools such as point of sale systems.
This effort should support restaurants easily entering the digital era, viewing their own financial data and managing income or expenses, said Mr Yod.
The online food delivery sector is expected to expand by 10-20% next year, due to the rising number of frequent users and the platform’s intensifying competition to woo customers, he said.
HIGH-GROWTH CITIES
Isriya Paireepairit, vice-president for public affairs at Line Man Wongnai, said the trend of high-growth cities is emerging, which aligns with the company’s strategy of expanding its services to secondary districts and provinces across the country.
Line Man Wongnai operates in 300 of more than 800 districts in Thailand and plans to expand further into key areas based on purchasing power and number of restaurants.
Nakhon Phanom stands out for its faster online food delivery activity growth than other Northeastern provinces, thanks to rising digital adoption by local consumers.
Line Man Wongnai recorded 16% annual growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) in this province, compared with the 14% annual growth of GMV in the region on average.
The company also registered a 12% order growth year-on-year in the province, compared with 10% order growth year-on-year for the region on average, and 11% user growth, more than double the Isan average growth of 5% year-on-year. The province has a total of 5,000 restaurants.
Top dishes on the delivery platform in the Northeast include som tam, while popular drinks range from Americano coffee to matcha and Thai tea. The food orders peak between 11am and 2pm.
Wisaruth Sroikham, owner of Chewa Cafe By SK Sroikham in Nakhon Phanom, said the co-payment scheme delivered strong results.
In the previous scheme, the cafe’s in-store sales jumped 100-150% — the fastest growth since opening. About 50% of the sales was from new customers who discovered the restaurant through the co-payment programme.
Mr Wisaruth said the current scheme provides a great chance to build lasting customer loyalty.
In the current co-payment plus phase, the cafe’s partnership with Line Man Wongnai and its own offline sales are expected to see sales skyrocketing by 150-300%.
The rise in faith-based tourism has fuelled growth in new hotels and boosted cafe trends — from just 10-20 to more than 100 spots in Nakhon Phanom.
“With digital platforms, small shops can compete on par with larger brands, helping uplift their business to a more competitive level,” Mr Wisaruth said.