Deliveroo for Business (DfB), the corporate arm of Deliveroo, today revealed a growing trend among organisations in Hong Kong turning to food delivery as they look for new ways to meet the unique challenges facing employees working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since February, Deliveroo has seen an increase of 400% in the number of organisations across Hong Kong and Singapore joining DfB in a bid to help staff working from home to feel connected. Sales of virtual gift cards for employees have also grown more than 900% in Hong Kong and 300% in Singapore since the start of COVID-19, allowing workers to enjoy an amazing selection of food from Deliveroo’s restaurant partners at home.
Hong Kong has undergone three different work from home periods as per recommendations from the Government. The third period is still present, having been put into effect on 20 July. Meanwhile, the first lasted over a month, beginning on 29 January until 29 February, while the second lasted from 21 March until 4 April. It is anticipated the demand will be on-going as the city’s change in working style.
Another key trend observed is the rise of virtual gift cards used for remote meetings and webinars with customers and prospects. HK$500 gift cards are most commonly gifted in Hong Kong, with companies moving from providing a shared catered lunch in the office to individual meal allowances for virtual team lunches.
Large companies in the insurance and law sectors set the trend in Hong Kong. Other trends observed include:
● Larger organisations with over 1,000 employees tend to purchase virtual gift cards by department as opposed to all business units simultaneously.
● Corporate businesses in Hong Kong are five times more likely to purchase virtual gift cards for staff than those in Singapore, but the majority of Hong Kong employees are limited to using their food perks when working from the office.
● Hong Kong companies are three times less likely than companies in Singapore to adopt more flexible food delivery policies for employees working remotely – allowing them to order great quality food to their home rather than only to the office, and beyond the traditional lunch period for when they work longer hours.
● Across both markets, Friday lunches continue to be the most popular virtual meeting point of the week as companies host weekly lunch sessions to stay connected with employees while teams work remotely.
● Tastes remain the same as before the pandemic, with burgers, pizzas and noodles topping the list for most-ordered virtual lunch choices, and bubble tea as the popular choice for a midday tea break.
Organisations, such as Total Loyalty Company in Hong Kong, have been using DfB to help their clients provide employee rewards or perks, while Insider used DfB to provide employees with meals for virtual meetings and working from home team meals.
Sam Lau, CEO of Total Loyalty Company Limited, said, “With COVID-19 affecting many of our clients’ annual dinners and celebrations, Total Loyalty Company have created a ‘virtual annual dinner’ solution for our clients to enable them to still engage with their employees with a virtual version of this much anticipated event. We are able to use Deliveroo e-gift cards to help provide the catering part of these events with great impact. We even make one of the virtual team games based around what choice of food a person or group organised! Total Loyalty Company helps our clients maintain a happy and healthy workplace culture. Deliveroo e-gift cards have given us the flexibility to deliver an innovative solution to replace traditional activities in these challenging times.”
Karl Bachian, Head of Deliveroo for Business, Hong Kong and Singapore, said, “The past few months have been very challenging for employers and employees alike. Working from home definitely has its benefits, though it becomes increasingly difficult to find a balance between working and personal time. This is why more companies are choosing to reward their staff for all their hard work and to keep them engaged away from the workplace. Even with social distancing, we’ve seen that food continues to bring people together and allow them to share fun experiences virtually with their friends and colleagues.”
For more information about DfB, please visit: https://deliveroo.hk/en/business
