Hot on the heels of Reserveit.sg, a rival online restaurant reservation website in Singapore called Chope.com.sg has launched their own iPhone app.
It allows users to browse a list of restaurants, find out details like location, opening hours, and cuisine, and then reserve a table. The app was designed and developed by Burpple, a mobile social food journal that launched a few weeks ago.
It’s interesting that Burpple and Chope describe themselves as “mobile strategic partners”, and I believe we can expect more manifestations of the partnership to unveil in time to come. Read more
It was a bad day for Wild Honey, a popular all-breakfast restaurant in Mandarin Gallery, Singapore.
A customer named Gary Tan posted a complaint on the company’s Facebook Page alleging that he has been discriminated against.
Apparently, his request to get a corner table for three for himself and a guest was rejected. However, a foreigner that came in later was able to do the same. Think Rosa Parks, 21st Century version.
What really pissed people off, however, was the response from Guy Wachs, the restaurant’s founder. He said: “Dear sir, we have an international staff including many Singaporeans and respect all people. We deeply regret your remark (emphasis mine). Guy Wachs, Director.”
A screenshot was captured of the comments, which was apparently deleted. It caught fire on the forums (examples here and here) since yesterday: Read more
Following the successful trial of the ‘Coca-Cola Hug Machine’ in Singapore, which dispenses a free Coke every time someone gives it a warm hug, the well-known beverage company now plans to roll it out across Southeast Asia, reports Marketing Interactive. Read more
Just days after the mighty Rocket Internet launched their online food delivery service Food Panda in Southeast Asia, Singapore’s second largest daily deals site Deal.com.sg unveiled their very own competitor today — DEALivery.sg.
Both websites now join HungryDelivery.com and EatIt.sg in an increasingly competitive food fight — a boon for consumers.
Rocket Internet is a German technology incubator that has been aggressively expanding to Southeast Asia in a variety of online verticals: Fashion store Zalora, Amazon-like website Lazada, and a Pinterest-clone called Pinspire.
It would appear that Singapore-based Reserveit.sg has maintained its front-runner status as the king of online restaurant reservation sites in Singapore.
Hot on the heels of the launch of Amazon-like website Lazada in Southeast Asia, Rocket Internet has today unveiled another one of its new ventures: An online food delivery service called Foodpanda, which is headquartered in Singapore but also available in Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Read more
All gloves are off in the battle for mobile payment dominance in Asia.
In one corner is mighty PayPal, which will launch its own mobile credit card reader called PayPal Here in Singapore later this year. It is already available in Hong Kong, Australia, US, and Canada.
Both companies’ service include credit-card swiping devices that can be attached to a mobile phone or tablet to allow merchants to collect payments without the need for costly POS machines. Read more
With the open nature of the Internet, every tech startup faces the risk of being quickly rendered obsolete by well-moneyed technology giants.
For example, when Facebook Timeline launched, a small Chicago-based startup called Timelines.com sued, claiming that the social network could “quite possibly eliminate its entire business.”
Swiff, a Singapore-based startup that just launched its mobile credit card reader today worldwide, also faces competition from some of the world’s biggest tech companies. It’s not the first to do this either; Square, founded by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, launched in 2009.
The reader, attached to a mobile device, essentially allows merchants to collect payments without the need for expensive POS equipment, bringing cost savings and convenience. It is available on iOS, Android, and Blackberry.
The last time SGEfeatured Swiff was in October last year, and back then, there weren’t any players in this space in Asia.
But this month, PayPal launched PayPal Here, a similar service. It is already available in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, and the US, and will hit other countries soon. Read more
Meet Joel Choo at SoLoMo Thursday on 29th March. The sales and marketing director of food community portal, HungryGoWhere.com will share his first-hand insights on techniques to boost your restaurant’s or bar’s visibility.
Topics include:
a. Use Search
b. Manage your social media presence
c. Integrate traditional with digital marketing
d. Use cloud to manage reservations
Singapore has always had a proud heritage of food entrepreneurs in decades past — accounting for the abundance of affordable hawker fare in the city streets.
Now, entrepreneur Ritchie Baldonado has brought the country’s hawker cuisine to a shopping mall in the Philippines, reported Business World Online. Read more
Meet Joel Choo at 
