Honestbee, a Singapore-based premium concierge and delivery service mobile application, is now in the Philippines.
“We want to make [people’s] lives easier [by] offering an all-in-one concierge app wherein we try to simplify your life,” Honestbee Philippines country manager Crystal Gonzalez says.
“At the end of the day, if we’re not able to make your lives better [or if] we’re not able to save you time, then it would not make sense,” she says.
Honestbee was founded in July 2015 by Singaporeans Isaac Tay, Joel Sng and Jonathan Low. It is now also available in other Asian cities like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Tokyo.
Gonzales says while there are similar apps that also offer delivery services, what makes Honestbee different is that it is an all-in-one concierge app offering grocery, food, home and auto supplies and laundry options.
Honestbee was introduced in the Philippines mainly because of the heavy road traffic that Filipinos are experiencing every day.
“I understand that the average Filipino spends two and a half hour in traffic every day, [and] that’s just crazy,” says Variam Lim, Honestbee chief operating officer.
Honestbee teamed up with “the best brands” in the Philippines. For grocery, it joined forces with Robinsons Supermarket to serve customers. “We partnered with Robinsons, [because] they are very particular of the quality. When we met with Robina Gokongwei, that’s one of the things we highlighted,” Gonzalez says.
Besides Robinsons Supermarket, Honestbee also teamed up with specialty brands Fresh Options for meat, Harvestime and Incredible India for imported goods, AWC and Boozy for wine and spirits and Chicco for baby needs.
In the food option, users can choose from the well-known restaurants and food shops such as Sprout, Eric Kayser, Hummus Elijah, Tipsy Pig, Bono Gelato, La Lola Churreria and others.
Aside from grocery and food, it also launched delivery service for laundry, so that people who are working late “don’t need to wait for your laundromat to open.”
Honestbee is already present in Metro Manila, but plans to expand to other cities where there are a lot of smartphone users like Cebu and Davao in the next two to three months.
It will also introduce more services, such as home and auto option, health and logistics.
“The idea was not only to make it convenient for Filipino consumers but to also make it convenient for companies,” says Gonzales.
Besides giving users convenience through smartphones, the app also aims to provide jobs. “The other thing about this business is that we give job opportunities for people who are unable to take full-time jobs, for example, students; or moms who take care of the kids but have pockets of time [and] ready to take on small jobs,” Lim says.
In Singapore, the app was able to create 10,000 jobs since it was launched in 2015.
Shopperbees, or those who do the actual grocery shopping, are trained by Honestbee to become experts in choosing grocery items that have the best quality.
The Honestbee app is available for free on iOS and Android.
