Foodpanda Dark Stores Lift Rider Efficiency 15% in Singapore
Foodpanda's pandamart XL dark stores lift rider utilization 15% in Singapore. How expanded grocery assortment and subscription models are reshaping Southeast Asia's $22.7B delivery market.
Southeast Asian food delivery platforms are deploying dark store infrastructure to address persistent profitability challenges, with Foodpanda's pandamart XL model achieving 10% to 15% improvements in rider utilization during off-peak hours. The operational shift supports a regional delivery market that reached US$22.7 billion in gross merchandise value in 2025, growing 18% year-over-year.
Expanded Infrastructure Addresses Utilization Gaps
Foodpanda Singapore launched pandamart XL dark stores in Kallang and Yio Chu Kang in 2024, offering 30% more products than standard locations. The expanded assortment targets larger grocery orders rather than last-minute purchases, keeping riders active throughout the day.
"The deeper and more diverse assortment allows customers to shop across fresh produce, everyday essentials, specialty items and more in a single order," said Axelle Guibert, Foodpanda's quick commerce director.
According to Redseer partner Roshan Behera, this approach has reduced rider churn by providing more consistent work. The model enabled ShopeeFood to use existing riders for e-commerce deliveries in Indonesia and Malaysia, helping it overtake Foodpanda as Southeast Asia's second-largest food delivery platform by gross merchandise value in 2025 with 14% market share.
Dark stores require significant scale to achieve viable economics. Behera notes platforms typically need 12,000 orders per location for profitability, with private label products offering margins twice as high as name brands.
Subscription Services Gain Traction
Improved delivery infrastructure is supporting subscription offerings that now represent substantial portions of platform user bases. Grab Unlimited reached 20% penetration among transacting users by the third quarter of 2025, while Foodpanda's pandapro subscription service drives over half of its Singapore business.
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Monthly order frequency at Foodpanda Singapore increased 7% since 2023, with customers adding 8% more products per order between 2024 and 2025. The shift toward larger basket sizes creates opportunities for subscription models that depend on frequent platform usage.
"Subscription services are a great way to retain customers and increase customer lifetime value," said Li Jianggan, CEO of Momentum Works, citing Amazon Prime and Alibaba's 88VIP as successful precedents.
Regional Market Dynamics
Southeast Asia's food delivery market continues expanding despite profitability pressures, with Indonesia and Thailand leading growth at 19% and 22% respectively in 2025. Grab maintains regional dominance with 55% market share and US$12.5 billion in gross merchandise value, while Foodpanda holds 22% share in Malaysia compared to ShopeeFood's 11%.
Singapore's online grocery market is growing 8% annually from a US$1.1 billion base in 2024, driven by dark store expansions. Foodpanda's automated Singapore facilities stock over 5,000 localized products with 24-hour operations and artificial intelligence demand forecasting.
Quick commerce order values rose more than 50% between 2021 and 2023 across the region as platforms target 15-minute to 30-minute delivery windows at retail price parity. The infrastructure investments create competitive advantages in price-sensitive markets where profitability depends on scaling subscriptions and managing delivery costs.
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