In the early weeks of the 'COVID-19' coronavirus, the outbreak was centered in China. Countries around the world didn't expect the worse to happen, and kept businesses going as usual.
But after the outbreak turned into a epidemic, to then became a pandemic, Anthony Tan, the CEO of Grab, was one of those who mistook the disease to be a China-only problem.
Later, following an increase in the number of infected people, which was the result of the epidemic turning into a pandemic, governments around the world started restricting their citizens' movement. This in turn impacted business and the economy.
Grab was one of the many that are affected badly by the lockdowns imposed by governments. With less people commuting on a daily basis, its ride-hailing business plummeted.
Because no one knew how long the crisis would last, Tan was forced to lay off around 360 of his employees in order to minimize the company's spending.
From there, Tan sought advise from Grab's investors that include SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
But as lockdowns continue, Grab saw that nearly 150,000 of its drivers switched from ride-hailing to become delivery men for home-bound customers.
"Food delivery has become the norm, grocery delivery is growing very fast, cashless payments are growing very fast, so these behaviors have changed permanently with or without a vaccine, and we've been beneficiaries," said Tan.
"You couldn't ask for a better hedge."
For this reason, based on the advises he received, Grab which has Indonesia has its biggest market, is doubling down on deliveries, in order to compete better with the Jakarta-based Gojek.
To manage this, Grab had to postpone some of its plans that include travel and hospitality service verticals, in order to focus on rolling out a number of preventive and support measures to protect the health and safety of its partners who continue to provide essential services for users during this challenging period.
The company, which said that it has more than nine million drivers, merchants and agents, is one of the most valuable firm in Southeast Asia with a valuation of over $14 billion. Grab said that its app has seen a total of 198 million downloads, although it has yet to turn profitable.
