Baemin newsroom

More often than not, technical terms sound cryptic and unfriendly. So let’s have a nice #ExplainLikeImFive session with Thinh from our SRE team to disperse the mist surrounding IaC, one of the hottest trends in the field.
 

Hi Thinh! It’s been a while since we last talked to SRE. What have you been up to nowadays?
 

Our transformation to Infrastructure as Code (IaC) has been going on for a while. IaC is one of the hottest trends in our field now, and for good reasons too.
 

Let's back up a bit. Before Infrastructure as Code, tell us first, what is infrastructure?
 

I’m oversimplifying things here, but let’s say that infrastructure consists of the servers and routing networks. Even though it’s not as flashy as other aspects such as marketing, if it’s not working properly, its impact on our products is immediate and significant.

Simply put, the SRE team's job is to calculate, set things up, and make sure that our infrastructure is working normally. 
 

So once they’re all set up, you can just leave everything the way it is?
 

Unfortunately that’s not the case. The SRE team actually monitors our infrastructure almost constantly because changes happen every day. 

• It can be from internal, such as a change in source code. 
• It can also be from external, such as fluctuating traffic or a cyberattack. 
• Moreover, a consumer product like BAEMIN is always running some kind of promotional campaign, and they all have different system requirements. 

Each change affects the system and so we must deal with them properly.

How do you configure the infrastructure?
 

For the physical hardware, we either used on-premise servers in Vietnam or a virtual machine, but both needed to be configured manually. No amount of carefulness can fool-proof the infrastructure against human error, so you can imagine the kind of headache we used to have back in the day.

With the rise of cloud technology, we have the option of cloud infrastructure that can be charged by computing utility. We don’t need to set up the servers from the ground up like before. We can opt for a pre-set or a template. Not everything is automated though - a bit of manual configuration is still necessary, and the APIs are mostly for individual or team use, but it’s still a big step up from the days of physical hardware.

And now, we are in the age of Infrastructure as Code, or IaC.

Now I think we’re ready for the big gun. What is IaC?
 

IaC means our computing system is not constructed manually nor physically, but is described in a machine-readable file. An automation tool then reads that file and builds the system according to our specifications. In our case, this tool is Terraform by HashiCorp.

Simply put, Terraform workflow consist of following steps:

1. SRE team defines infrastructure in configuration files. The files are written in Hashicorp Configuration Language (HCL), which is the basis of Terraform's configuration language. If learning a new language seems troublesome, then worry not, you can consider using the Cloud Development Kit for Terraform (CDKTF). CDKTF supports popular programming languages such as Typescript, Python, Java, C#, and Go.
2.  Terraform creates an execution plan (Terraform Plan) describing the infrastructure it will create or update upon existing infrastructure and our configuration.
3. Upon approval, Terraform provisions our infrastructure following the plan.

Can you provide an example of how we apply Terraform? 
 

Sure thing. Here's a chart illustrating the workflow when the SRE team introduces a new module and provisions a certain infrastructure.

The steps above outline the process of releasing and versioning a Terraform module. When managing infrastructure for various services, some might share similar infrastructure components. These infrastructures are packaged into a module and versioned for efficient tracking and reuse across different services. This process adheres to our Security and SRE team standards for sure.
 

The steps below describe the provisioning process for an infrastructure. When provisioning an infrastructure, the latest version of the Terraform module is used. The code files describing the infrastructure are stored in Git. Upon a Merge event into the Master branch on Git, the CI/CD process is triggered. First, Terraform Plan is executed to perform a dry run, previewing changes or how new components are created. After thorough review and confirmation, we hit that Approve button. Then, Terraform Apply performs the provisioning or modifies current infrastructure components. The final step is Merge  into the Master branch on Git to update the infrastructure code.
 

Oh, and usually, the review process involves many SRE team members. Terraform is quite convenient, aiding the team in staying informed and easily tracking changes, fostering effective teamwork.

Beside effective teamwork, how is it better than the traditional method?
 

Compared to the traditional method of manually configuring the physical hardwares, IaC is the superior solution, if I do say so myself. Let’s look at cost, deployment speed, and risk mitigation.

• Regarding cost, it’s practically free of charge because we’re using the open-source version of Terraform. 
• Regarding time and effort, before IaC, it took us from 4-8 hours to provision for a service. Now, it takes only half an hour because the code is essentially recyclable. 
• Deployment is associated with risks, but on this front I’m happy to say that IaC is also advantageous. It is because the traditional manual provisioning is prone to human error. On the other hand, code is testable and versioned. In other words, we can reasonably test it in advance, and trace all changes should it be necessary. Therefore, risks are eliminated, and the module can be standardized by cybersecurity to be reused consistently across our platform.
   

I’d say that IaC is a pretty well-rounded solution, no matter which way you look at it.

How many methods are in use?

There are 2 ways: Declarative and Imperative. Both terms refer to how we want to reach the desired specifications. 

So, what's the difference between these two methods? Let's explore with an example of creating two servers.

• With the Declarative approach, you simply define the expected outcome without delving into the detailed step-by-step execution. For instance, when creating two servers, you only need to declare "create 2 servers" and you're done.
• On the other hand, with the Imperative approach, you list out the commands for each specific step. To create two servers, you need to specify individual steps like "create 1 server" -> "add 1 server" -> “confirm execution.”
   

Declarative tools are often more popular because you focus solely on the end result without getting bogged down by extensive operations. This is especially useful when building large-scale infrastructures. At BAEMIN, we’re using Terraform, a declarative tool.

Why Terraform?
 

From a technical standpoint, the team considers tools natively integrated with Terraform to align with our current processes. In addition to Git, we are using Terragrunt as a wrapper to streamline source code and CircleCI for our CI/CD needs. Managing the infrastructure state is another advantage of Terraform.
 

Let me explain the concept of state a bit. Imagine you're about to build a house with a blueprint in hand. Similarly, Terraform has a similar "blueprint" for your infrastructure configuration. This "blueprint" is what we call the state. Just like you can't assemble without a blueprint, Terraform can't construct a configuration without a state. Terraform uses state to manage the resources it controls. This state file reflects the desired state of your infrastructure, helping Terraform understand the resources currently deployed. This ensures that Terraform can accurately determine the necessary changes to build the desired infrastructure. For example, if you decide to remove something from the configuration, Terraform still ensures the correct outcome because it tracks the resource dependencies within the state and automatically makes the necessary changes. These state files are stored remotely, in the cloud (referred to as Remote State), for convenient version management, enhanced security, easy sharing among team members, and effective collaboration. Currently, we store these states in an AWS S3 bucket.
 

Beside that, I believe community is also a big factor that teams often consider when evaluating a new tool. Terraform has the advantage of being progressively popular, so there are naturally many free resources we can leverage. Not to mention the big user community that we can rely on in case we bump into any odd issue. 
 

In summary, it’s pretty accessible and customizable, and it has a large ecosystem, which is very convenient.

So how have we benefited from IaC?
 

I’ve mentioned some of IaC’s benefits before, but for visualization let’s crunch them into hard and fast numbers. At the cost of $0, we cut the deployment time from 3 days down to 1 day per service.

When you put into consideration the increased go-to-market speed of our products and the risks from human error that IaC helps us to prevent, its benefit is manifold. 
 

That indeed sounds magnificent. Is the project completed?
 

The transition to IaC has started for a while now, but we aren’t there yet. So in the near future, SRE will complete all CI/CD pipelines and IaC for all of our services.

So, in case our audience wants to implement IaC, is there anything to be mindful of?
 

A small tip from our team is to modularize infrastructure components whenever possible. Modularization helps to minimize possible conflicts when we make changes or add new components to the infrastructure in the future.
 

It’s always a pleasure talking to SRE. Thanks for the explanations and we’re looking forward to more of your great works!

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Written by: Thịnh Lê - Site Reliability Engineering 
Edited by: Thuyên Vũ - Developer Relations Associate

(Ho Chi Minh City, July 25, 2023) With the mission of “Delivering everyday happiness to your door”, BAEMIN Studio officially launched the Cheesy Collection in July 2023 on the BAEMIN application. This collection includes phone cases and stickers with a variety of designs and styles. BAEMIN Studio is an online store within the BAEMIN application, producing practical and creative items embodying the BAEMIN spirit.

BAEMIN Studio and the Cheesy Collection - when objects tell their own story

With the increasing demand for consumer goods, it is not difficult for us to find and purchase any consumer product to our liking. However, owning a unique, creative, personalized item is not simple. With the desire to create products that are closely associated with familiar and meaningful stories, BAEMIN Studio brings the objects around us to life through the telling content of each word and design image on each item.

The Cheesy Collection encourages users to show the unique personality and not to frame the emotions

Since its arrival in Vietnam, BAEMIN has always nurtured many initiatives to improve the user experience, among which BAEMIN Studio stands out. This is an online store within the app, specializing in selling convenient and familiar items, coupled with a unique, youthful, and creative character. The brand constantly explores the preferences and habits of users to introduce new products that are closely associated with everyday stories, weaving a bit of humor and cuteness but still incorporating deep meaning layers. Among them, the Cheesy Collection, officially launched in July, is this brand's creative and outstanding highlight.

The phone cases were produced with the flexible and glass plastics, suitable with the current trend of Iphone

The Cheesy Collection includes phone cases, considered one of the most popular and beloved office stationery, that easily express users' personalities, preferences, and characters. With the image of Mèo Mập (Fat Cat) - a familiar character of BAEMIN - appearing in a very creative way, along with design elements related to cheese in various contexts and timeframes, BAEMIN Studio hopes this collection will bring joyful experiences to users. The phone cases in this collection are made of flexible and shock-absorbing material, suitable for popular iPhone models.

BAEMIN Studio products are inspired by common and daily pictures and words in life

"When it comes to BAEMIN Studio, we hope that users will think of witty and fun items whose designs are youthful, unique, and full of BAEMIN colors. Therefore, each product of BAEMIN Studio is associated with everyday images accompanied by intimate stories. With the newly launched Cheesy Collection, BAEMIN helps users express their personality with creative designs, diverse colors, and humorous product messages. The spirit of this collection aims to bring users comfort in expressing their true selves without limiting their emotions. "Cheese" is a food ingredient with many characteristic flavors - an extremely popular and beloved ingredient, while Cheesy means "sentimental", comfortable in expressing emotions, and freely adding flavor to daily life" shared by Mr. Jinwoo Song - CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam.

Wittiness and creativity in words combined with aesthetic design

Wittiness and creativity in words combined with aesthetic design

For other products currently available at BAEMIN Studio, BAEMIN's creative team uses short, familiar, witty, and unexpected words to express the characteristics of each item. The dominant black and white color tone with BAEMIN's own font follows the brand's standard design guidelines to create consistency and differentiation. For example, the "Trái-Phải" (Left-right) socks refer to an obvious truth but easily make users laugh because of their interesting reminder. Or maybe the rain makes users feel inconvenient, but the "Mưa cứ rơi đi!" (Rain keeps falling) raincoat may highlight its cuteness while travelling under the rain. With the pun-filled pajamas, users can play a game of finding the names of various foods on the very clothes they are wearing on sleepless nights. Or the "Túi Ba Gang" (Three-foot) tote bag is associated with the familiar Vietnamese childhood legend of the Starfruit tree, designed in a minimalist yet eye-catching style.

“Left-Right” pair of socks with simplicity and usefulness in daily life

To launch a product, BAEMIN Studio has run tests for months to evaluate the convenience and suitability of the product for users. For example, with the "Đẹp Trai/ Đẹp Gái" (Handsome/ Pretty) face masks, BAEMIN Studio members tested for more than two months to evaluate the softness and fabric material to see if they satisfied users.

Product quality is one of the focuses of BAEMIN Studio

Not merely selling items, BAEMIN Studio brings joy and new colors to users' daily lives through its social media channels.

The pijamas with the function of interactive enjoying games before bed

In the near future, BAEMIN Studio will continuously launch many interesting and familiar product lines to users with new words, designs, and even more unique creative and aesthetic inspirations. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi users can order these products directly in the "Studio" section of the BAEMIN app. At the same time, BAEMIN Studio will soon be present in all provinces and cities where the BAEMIN app is operating.

Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi users can now purchase BAEMIN Studio on BAEMIN application

***

(Hanoi, 09 September 2022) On September 8, Mr. Jinwoo Song – CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam attended a seminar that announced businesses’ appreciation programs for consumers who are children and students organized by the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority (Ministry of Industry and Trade) in Hanoi. During the panel chat, Mr. Jinwoo shared BAEMIN's initiatives which is the campaign named "Full moon invites happiness" in collaboration with socio-political organizations and NGOs on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2022. The seminar also featured the leader of Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority alongside representatives of leading responsible enterprises and more than 50 students of Foreign Trade University.

The campaign "Full moon invites happiness" is one of the initiatives that BAEMIN has implemented on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2022 with the hope of extending gratitude to users who are children and students as well as supporting the community. The campaign includes activities in partnership with the National Children’s Council, the Central Committee of Vietnam Students’ Association, Fulbright University Vietnam, the Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade and the SOS Children's Village.

BAEMIN accompanied different organizations to bring a happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2022 to children

In order to create a healthy and helpful playground for the children, whilst taking care and supporting the disadvantaged kids in Kien Giang province, BAEMIN accompanied the National Children’s Council to present meaningful scholarships on the evening of September 7. Besides, BAEMIN also cooperates with the Central Committee of Vietnam Students’ Association to give out promotional codes with a total value of more than 10 million VND to students who are experiencing circumstances but never give up and strive for the better. Special promotional codes are also handed to new students of Fulbright University Vietnam as BAEMIN's congratulations and encouragement so they can kickstart the new journey with joy. 

This is the second year that BAEMIN application accompanied children from SOS Children's Village in Go Vap

On the evening of September 8, the representative of BAEMIN and the Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade also paid a visit to present encouragement scholarships to disadvantaged children in Hoa Sen Home in Hoc Mon town and the neighborhoods. 

Sharing social responsibility is one of the goals that BAEMIN pursues when operating in Vietnam

What’s special is that 2022 marks the second year that BAEMIN has collaborated with the SOS Children's Village to organize internal painting auction programs called "Love Drawn By Moonlight". In this program, the children took turns to draw pictures unde the theme of Mid-Autumn Festival and presented the meaning behind their work. Then, the selective paintings will be put to auction so the employees can bid for fundraising purposes. At the last Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021, the program raised more than 40 million VND in cash for children in SOS Children's Village. 

BAEMIN app expressed gratitude to consumers on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival in 2022 through the campaign “Full moon invites happiness”

At the seminar, Mr. Jinwoo emphasized the role of businesses in jointly protecting consumers' rights and upholding community responsibilities. “The protection of consumers’ rights as well as the care for disadvantaged groups not only bring about meaningful benefits for businesses but also promotes the sustainable development of the whole society. We are honored to accompany socio-political organizations and NGOs to put smiles on the children and students’ faces during this Mid-Autumn Festival. In the coming time, we will constantly strive to partner up with more stakeholders to unearth further meaningful programs for consumers and other disadvantaged groups.” – Mr. Jinwoo said. 

Leaders of the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority with the representatives of businesses

Also at the seminar, the leader of the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority highly appreciated the initiatives of enterprises and shared about the importance of protecting consumers' interests in the process of integration and economic development. 

BAEMIN application is committed to always accompanying and supporting disadvantaged groups through practical and useful initiatives.

With the mission of helping people lead happier and more convenient lifestyles, BAEMIN is committed to continuing to implement meaningful programs, strengthening impactful partnerships with diverse stakeholders to realize this mission.

2022 marked a vibrant year for BAEMIN's engagement campaigns, showcasing diverse gameplay and creative concepts. In particular, the 2022 Digital Lookback campaign performed particularly well with an impressive in-app CTR of 3 times the average rate*. Let's delve into the technical elements that contributed to the success of this campaign. 

From idea

Harnessing the power of data, our Data team continuously shares ideas and proposes enhancements to develop BAEMIN's products and elevate the user experience. In Q4 2022, Data team's idea of leveraging users' dining behavior data aligned with Campaign squad's concept of telling the story behind users' dining journey. The project quickly took off with multiple teams collaborating in unison.

It was our first time implementing a "Year-in-Review" concept with limited resources, so the Campaign squad and Data team had a meticulous approach to ensure thorough coordination.

To implementation

The Look 

Designing and implementing the User Interface (UI) presented additional challenges for our Product Design (PD) and Front-End (FE) teams. Unlike previous campaigns that primarily emphasized graphic elements rather than data and animation, the 2022 Digital Lookback campaign marked a major change.

a. The screen layout must be flexible to display any given dish names and Merchant names with varying lengths. Also it must have room for graphic elements and entrance animation.

b. To ensure smooth animation between pages, PD had to elaborate on all animations in the prototype so the FE team could deliver it exactly how it was designed.
 

The Data 
 

To work efficiently within a short time, the Data and BE teams followed these simplified steps:

1. Defining the schema
 

Data and BE first agreed on a logical data structure that met the content requirements.

2. Exporting data according to the schema

Upon the agreed schema, the Data team analyzed various data types that they needed to collect and process. 

a. Some data types can be extracted directly from historical data, such as top dishes or Merchants.

b. Other data types required additional processing, such as food category level information. To do this, order data was processed by a classification model. For example, dishes like "chicken rice with crispy skin", "garlic chicken rice", and "Hainanese chicken rice" were automatically classified under the "Chicken Rice" group. After that, a humorous copy was generated accordingly: "Thank you for growing the Chicken Rice industry." 
 

After processing, the data was transferred to the BE team under .csv format instead of API. Mostly due to time constraints, but also to save development resources.

3. Integrating data into the system

The .csv format is not the best in terms of performance and efficiency, so the BE team must calculate the data storage, estimate the incoming traffic to make sure that users can access the campaign as fast as possible. With those estimates, the necessary infrastructure was in place by courtesy of the superheroic Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team.

4. Designing APIs for client device access

Finally, BE designed the APIs for client device to access to the campaign page: 
 

a. One API to return the "static" parts showing historical data,

b. Another API to return the "dynamic" pages that encouraged user interaction, such as favoriting a Merchant on the "Promote the Development of the Food Industry" page.

With this campaign, it is clear that when properly executed, personalized campaigns will increase brand love because they hit the right insights and deliver a great user experience. This also motivates us to develop more personalization features in the future. Stay tuned!

*Data measured by BAEMIN Vietnam’s tracking tools.

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Written by: Quang Nguyễn. - Data Scientist, Niki - Product Designer, Cong Nguyen - Back-End Designer 
Edited by: Thuyên Vũ - Developer Relations Associate

(Ho Chi Minh City, May 31, 2023) In this May, BAEMIN celebrated its fourth anniversary with the "Treat Around Vietnam" campaign, along with a series of events to show gratitude to its users, restaurant partners, riders, and staff. Through this campaign, BAEMIN's mission of "Delivering everyday happiness to your door" was further affirmed, and the brand was brought closer to its users and partners within its ecosystem.

Birthday bash - Treating A Mass

To express gratitude to the users who have always accompanied and supported the app during its journey, BAEMIN launched a nationwide birthday celebration in all four corners and across the three regions of the country spanning from North to South throughout the month of May. The spirit of "Where there is BAEMIN, there is a birthday party" was present in many places through unique birthday ideas, including food trucks rolling on every street, double-decker buses offering free city tours, and cyclists and porters parading with hundreds of discount codes for users.

[Bus HCM] Tourists taking photos and check-in on the bus

[Bus HCM] Only with BAEMIN application on the phone, tourists can easily experience the free city tour

To kick off the campaign, the BAEMIN rider team delivered meaningful gifts to the four corners of the country: Khanh Hoa (East), Dien Bien (West), Ca Mau (South), and Ha Giang (North). Tourists, locals, ethnic minorities, and border guard soldiers in these areas received surprise gifts during this special occasion and shared the festive atmosphere with the brand.

[The Westernmost] BAEMIN Riders delivered gifts to the enlisted personnel in Dien Bien

[The Southernmost] Cape Ca Mau is the last destination in the journey of delivering to Vietnam's 4 poles

[The Northernmost] BAEMIN Rider delivered the gifts to the children in the mountainous region

Along with the four poles of Vietnam, BAEMIN also celebrated its 4th birthday at a special location - the Truong Sa archipelago. Border guards stationed at the remote island also had a unique birthday experience and received gifts with a distinct BAEMIN vibe.

With the spirit of treating all three regions, BAEMIN deployed 5 mobile food trucks in 5 big cities, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hai Phong, and Can Tho, to offer free food. In addition to the fun and eye-catching decorations, each food truck was carefully prepared with different food options based on the time and dietary needs of the visitors. These food and drink options came from reputable restaurant partners on the app, which are popular and frequently ordered by users to ensure the best quality and taste. Along with BAEMIN's birthday parties, famous brands such as Pepsi, Lay's, and Cosy also joined in.

Food Truck BAEMIN being vibrant in a corner of the city

Food truck receiving the enthusiastic response in the Industrial University of HCMC.

Appreciating riders, merchant partners, and community

Not only did BAEMIN express gratitude to users for delicious food and promotions, but the brand also showed special attention to its rider and restaurant partners during this birthday celebration. For rider-partners, the brand launched the "Fat Cat turns four - Eating four corners" campaign across the country with a variety of activities such as a social media challenge #EastWestSouthNorth on the background of BAEMIN's Birthday song, live-streamed birthday celebrations, free coffee at mobile food trucks, and gift-giving events for outstanding riders.

For restaurant partners, thousands of appreciation gifts were sent to those who had made contributions to BAEMIN's community-building and knowledge-sharing activities. Additionally, the app also encouraged restaurant partners to offer various promotions and discount codes to provide users with a more comprehensive and attractive "birthday dining" experience. These activities not only helped BAEMIN strengthen its relationship with partners but also increased users' engagement with the restaurants.

In addition, BAEMIN’s CEO also directly visited the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation - a close partner of BAEMIN - to donate 20 laptops, helping the street children approach technological resources to continue learning in the future.

Celebrating the new office

Realizing the need for a creative workspace with modern features for employees, BAEMIN officially built and opened a new office in early May in the Sala urban area. With an area of up to 1900 square meters and many versatile working areas, the company's open space is designed to boost employees’ creativity and cohesion. The office decoration style also carries the brand's distinctive features with characteristic images and humorous phrases, creating a unique look throughout the workspace. Especially during the birthday week, a series of exciting activities were also hosted for employees, such as cupcake decorating, inviting their families to visit the office, and experiencing new product brands such as Lazy Bee and Mama Woo.

"On the occasion of BAEMIN's 4th anniversary, on behalf of the entire company, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all customers and partners who have accompanied BAEMIN during this time. With recent product and service launches, BAEMIN is committed to continuously striving to bring users more positive and convenient living solutions in the future." - said Mr. Jinwoo Song, CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2023) On April 21st, BAEMIN officially launched its first beauty brand, Lazy Bee, aiming to provide the optimal beauty solutions in quality, safety and convenience for customers. The launching of Lazy Bee is the next step of BAEMIN's mission ‘Delivering Everyday Happiness to Your Door’. After nearly two years of research and development, Lazy Bee is now available on the BAEMIN application in Ho Chi Minh City, with plans to expand to other provinces and cities in the upcoming months.

BAEMIN officially launches the new owned beaty brand

The story of finding Lazy Bee 

Since its first arrival in Vietnam in 2019, BAEMIN has always aimed to become a leading lifestyle platform with a mission to deliver everyday happiness to your door. To fulfill this mission, BAEMIN continuously listens and understands its users' demands in order to provide solutions that make their lives happier and more convenient. Besides food delivery demand, the beauty and healthcare industries are among those most popular sectors capturing youths’ attention and investment, especially BAEMIN users. With the advantage from its parent company as one of the largest technology companies in South Korea, BAEMIN has a diverse and extensive network of professional expert partners with profound experience in the beauty and healthcare sectors. Thanks to that, Lazy Bee is brought to life with a mission to provide the optimal skincare solutions for users, which emphasizes the safety, quality, and convenience.

Lazy Bee will focus on the users' experience and connection

"We had nurtured the idea of launching Lazy Bee since 2021, and moved a bit forward with slow but firm steps. To bring the most quality and suitable products, Lazy Bee has conducted many customer survey researches and analyzed the market carefully before developing the product line. Through this research and development process, we finally introduced a high-quality beauty brand that emphasizes convenience based on the deep understanding of the Vietnamese skin characteristics and their skincare routines." said Mr. Jinwoo Song, CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam.

BAEMIN's CEO sharing about the journey of founding and establishing the brand Lazy Bee

Embracing your busy life from the most minimal skincare effort  

As the name itself, Lazy Bee represents the very much needed leisure of those busy youngsters who are always on the go and strive for their lives. With its special products, Lazy Bee hopes that the users can reward themselves with moments of joyful skincare, regardless of the hectic life. Lazy Bee is a beauty brand for Vietnamese people that is researched, developed, and produced in South Korea, applying advanced technologies and international standard testing procedures.

The products introduced in the first launch of the Lazy Bee brand are aimed at the essential needs and convenience of use

In this launching event, Lazy Bee introduced two main product lines: skincare and makeup. The skincare line includes a facial mist, toner pad, face masks (with 4 options), and the makeup line includes cushion (with 2 shades) and lipstick (with 3 color options). All of the Lazy Bee’s products aim to meet essential needs and provide convenience for its users. Toner pads and cushions, beauty products originated in Korea, are known as the most convenient and innovative products in the world. In the daily makeup routine, lipstick is the most effective ‘tool’ for an instant refreshing look. For basic skin care, facial mist and face masks are considered as those must-have items.

Lazy Bee symbolizes the relaxation needed by young people who are always busy, hectic, and constantly finding a happy lifestyle

The brand highlights three core elements: the positive experience through packaging and customer experience, the convenience via the multi-function and design of each product, and the Korean-standard quality with ingredients from nature and strict production processes in accordance with global GMP standards. Lazy Bee will continue to research and introduce new product lines, focusing on the three main factors to provide users with convenient, breakthrough, and high-quality beauty solutions.

Lazy Bee introduces to users 2 main product lines of skincare and makeup

Following the green path of BAEMIN, Lazy Bee's products do not test on animals. Moreover, Lazy Bee also uses ingredients mainly sourced from nature, ensuring safety for the skin and not harming the environment. All components of the product line comply with the regulations of the Vietnamese and Korean governments on safety and quality standards of the beauty industry.

Potential growth of Korean beauty brands within Vietnam

Korea is one of the pioneering beauty industries in the world, and it also deeply influences Vietnamese customers. As can be seen, the beauty sector in Vietnam is growing rapidly with increasing purchasing power. The total value of the beauty industry in Vietnam is currently around 2.63 billion dollars and is expected to grow at a rate of 3.32% annually until 2027.

Lazy Bee's products are researched, developed and manufactured in Korea

As the market shows a strong potential growth with high competition among beauty brands in the same segment, Lazy Bee is focusing on customer experience and route-to-market strategy. In the first one to two months after launching, Lazy Bee will only be sold through the BAEMIN application to initially create brand recognition among existing users. Simultaneously, the brand will improve its operation and distribution mechanisms to ensure the best customer experience. In the following months, Lazy Bee will expand its distribution channels and target other cities such as Hanoi or Danang.

Lazy Bee store is available on BAEMIN app, being a brand that promotes convenience and positive spirit lifestyle

BAEMIN provides full information about the product, from the ingredients, components, instructions, to the illustrated images to help users understand the origin and quality of the product. In the near future, Lazy Bee will apply interactive activities on the app, using filtering technology so that users can test lipstick colors and try products online. In addition, Lazy Bee plans to host connecting days for loyal customers to create a sense of belonging and spread positive vibes.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, April 26, 2023) On April 25, 2023, BAEMIN signed a partnership agreement with SELEX MOTORS to pilot electric motorcycles for BAEMIN's riders. The program aims to gather feedback and evaluations from riders when using electric motorcycles, so that BAEMIN can propose policies to help riders save delivery costs.

BAEMIN and SELEX's leaders and staff

Vietnam’s electric vehicle market shows a potential growth 

According to the International Trade Administration (ITA - under the US Department of Commerce), the electric vehicle industry in Vietnam is still in its initial stage but has significant growth potential. Moreover, Vietnam is the world's fourth-largest motorcycle market and has great potential in transiting to electric motorcycles. In particular, Vietnam has a young and growing population who are interested in advanced technologies, fuel savings, and environmental awareness. Motorcyclesdata.com - a trusted motorcycle review website in the world - reported on the growth rate of electric motorcycle sales in Vietnam in 2021, which is 10%, triple the figure of 2018 (2.9%), indicating a rapid growth trend despite the heavy impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BAEMIN and SELEX's CEO directly experienced the electric motorbikes for transportation services

Furthermore, Vietnam has also been evaluated as a potential market in the online food delivery industry in recent years. According to a report on the food delivery industry in the leading markets in the Southeast Asia by Momentum Works, the total spending on food delivery services in 2022 in this region amounts to $16.3 billion, an increase of 5% after two years of explosive growth due to Covid-19, in which Vietnam contributes significantly to this growth. This partnership between BAEMIN and SELEX MOTORS is a combination of two extremely promising fields, bringing sustainable values to the community.

Promoting green transportation

Through this collaboration with SELEX, BAEMIN aims to support riders in switching from traditional gasoline vehicles to electric motorcycles, contributing to cost savings in the delivery process. The use of electric motorcycles optimizes operating costs through battery replacement mechanisms and provides a quiet and smoke-free experience that improves the driving service. In the trial phase, BAEMIN riders will experience delivery using SELEX's electric motorcycles and provide feedback on the use of the vehicles. Then, the BAEMIN team will propose appropriate collaboration policies and provide compatible rider support programs. Through this event, riders with good delivery records for BAEMIN will receive electric motorcycles directly from the SELEX team, who will instruct them on how to use the motorcycles and exchange batteries at charging stations via the mobile phone app.

SELEX's CEO directly introduced to BAEMIN about Lithium-ion batteries

The workshop for preparation, guidance, and training drivers in the transportation services with the electric vehicle use

SELEX MOTORS is a leading electric vehicle manufacturer that BEAMIN has chosen to cooperate with in promoting green delivery vehicles in Vietnam. With an optimized ecosystem for delivery, SELEX MOTORS has provided breakthrough solutions in energy charging, helping users save 40% operating costs and improve delivery performance through specialized design and IOT technology integrated into the mobile application. BEAMIN riders can directly exchange batteries at battery exchange stations in less than 2 minutes, instead of charging traditionally. Currently, the SELEX battery exchange system has more than 30 locations in Hanoi and more than 20 locations in Ho Chi Minh City, serving the best for delivery operations that require continuous traffic on the road. SELEX provides the only commercial electric vehicles in Southeast Asia with outstanding carrying capacity, 50% higher in weight and volume than other models, with only half the maintenance costs of gasoline-powered vehicles. SELEX MOTORS CEO Nguyen Huu Phuoc Nguyen said, "SELEX pursues the mission of promoting green logistics, protecting the environment and helping riders increase income by reducing energy and maintenance costs compared to gasoline vehicles. SELEX expects to cover every delivery route in Vietnam in the near future, bringing optimal and sustainable vehicles to riders."  

Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc Nguyen spoke about the potential of electric motorbikes to BAEMIN and riders

Together heading to sustainable development

It can be seen that the common ground between the two sides is their commitment and actions towards the environment. Mr. Jinwoo Song, CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam, shared: "The collaboration with SELEX is our next step in the journey towards sustainable development. Previously, in March of this year, we reached a cooperation agreement with ServeOne to launch "BAEMIN Grocery" with the desire to provide environmentally friendly packaging products to restaurant partners at reasonable prices. Currently, BAEMIN is the top-ranked app in terms of customer satisfaction and is present in 21 provinces and cities serving a large number of users. Positioning itself as a lifestyle platform, combined with acquiring millions of app users, BAEMIN takes on the role and responsibility in the goal of promoting the habit of using green transportation and forming a green lifestyle for millions of Vietnamese. This collaboration also demonstrates the contribution of both parties in implementing the government's policy towards the net-zero emissions goal by 2050."

Mr. Jinwoo Song shared his hope to make a green contribution to transportation services and the community

BAEMIN's riders test-drove the electric motorbikes for the first time

In the upcoming time, BAEMIN will keep collaborating with partners to apply modern technology, in order to provide more sustainable and effective solutions for its partners and users.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, April 11, 2023) On April 8th, the BAEMIN application introduced its new product, Mama Woo, at the Korean Cultural Festival 2023 held in Ho Chi Minh City. Mama Woo provides packaged foods, helping users access high-quality and convenient meals with a distinct taste from Korea. With this new product vertical, BAEMIN aims to provide more practical solutions to make users' lives happier and more convenient.

Growing demand for processed foods 

In recent years, Vietnamese consumer habits have been growing towards positive ways. Fast-moving consumer goods are increasingly sought after via various online and direct distribution channels. With the potential growth of the Vietnamese market, food delivery apps have become an essential part of the daily life of busy people who want to manage their time more efficiently. Along with prepared dishes from restaurants, pre-packaged food is another useful solution for quality meals, providing a quick and convenient experience while ensuring a delicious taste and nutritional content.

Mama Woo's new menu with diverse and quality dishes

Bringing Korean flavors to Vietnam

As a leading food delivery application from Korea, BAEMIN Vietnam always focuses on emotions and constantly improves the user experience. With its customer-centric strategy, BAEMIN continuously researches and provides solutions to improve the life quality of users. With the hustle and bustle of modern life accompanied by work and study pressures, consumers are increasingly interested in food solutions that are of high quality, convenient, and save their cooking time. That explains the origin of Mama Woo which is to provide more food choices for customers when preparing meals.

Mama Woo is the solution for quality, convenient, time-saving dishes

During the research and development process of Mama Woo products, the most experienced chefs from BAEMIN Kitchen at Woowa Brothers headquarters in Korea came to Vietnam to select ingredients, creating recipes, and checking on production vendors to ensure the most distinctive flavors for the products.

With less than 10 minutes in preparation, Mama Woo's products come in a variety of 28 different types of food such as spicy beef stew, pork soup, seasoned beef stir-fry, beef rib soup, and more. These dishes are categorized into different groups such as soups, stews, and meat.

Ingredients are selected and recipes are created by the professional chefs from BAEMIN Korea headquarters

Mama Woo carefully selects ingredients with food safety being a top priority. All ingredients are thoroughly cleaned before being prepared, and the food is cooked and packaged on separate production lines. Mama Woo is committed to ensuring the health and well-being of their customers as well as being environmentally friendly. This is the reason why Mama Woo's packaging is microwave-safe and can be recycled. Mama Woo does not use preservatives in their products, instead, they freeze its dishes to maintain freshness.

Users can easily make the dishes with less than 10 minutes of preparation

Mama Woo is currently available on the BAEMIN application in Ho Chi Minh City, making it easy for customers to find and order their favorite dishes. Additionally, Mama Woo is distributed to consumers through other sales channels such as E-mart, Shark Market, Market Saigon, etc.

No preservatives, Mama Woo puts food safety first

Moreover, BAEMIN has also launched Youth Market - a Korean virtual supermarket offering Korean-selection products to Vietnamese consumers. The products range from personal care, health products, to foods and beverages, butter, and milk,... all directly imported from Korea.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, March 17, 2023) Thanks to its rapid growth, emerging modern infrastructure, and users’ readiness, Vietnam is considered a potential market for the food delivery industry compared to other countries in the region. At the Vietnam Food and Beverage Conference 2023, one of the main events in the annual Flavors Vietnam program organized by Vietcetera and MasterCard, Mr. Jinwoo Song - CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam shared his insights into the market landscape and the brand's strategy for sustainable development.
 

Vietnam’s food delivery market shows a potential growth

The latest report on the food delivery market in the top Southeast Asian markets by Momentum Works indicates that the total spending on food delivery services in these countries will reach $16.3 billion in 2022, up 5% after two years of explosive growth due to Covid-19. This growth is mainly driven by the food delivery markets in the region, including the Philippines (+$0.8 billion), Malaysia (+$0.6 billion), and Vietnam (+$0.3 billion). In the face of increasing pressure to make profits from investors, current and new food delivery apps are cutting down on promotions, while competing heavily on service quality and other unique services.

At the 2023 Food and Beverage Conference, Mr. Jinwoo Song, CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam, shared: "The growth of the food delivery market in Vietnam is no surprise when it meets the modern consumption trends of customers, focusing on convenience and time savings. Still, businesses are facing significant challenges, among which is shifting from attracting customers by promotions to achieving profitability for sustainable development."

BAEMIN Vietnam's CEO shared at the conference

The importance of establishing sustainable partnerships with merchant partners

Aside from making unique initiatives to maintain witty and distinctive brand image, Mr. Jinwoo Song emphasizes the crucial role of strengthening the solid relationship between the application and merchant partners. "To achieve sustainability in a fiercely competitive market like Vietnam, in addition to understanding the users’ desires and improving the livelihoods of rider partners, the cooperation with merchant partners needs to be invested in and carefully nurtured through various activities. Therefore, BAEMIN always aims to build a strong community among partners and help them enhance their long-term competitiveness and capabilities."

“The online food delivery market in Vietnam is thriving” - Mr. Jinwoo Song said

From the very first registration process, merchant partners will undergo a transparent, simple, and accessible five-step registration process. After that, BAEMIN continues to support partners in optimizing sales operations and increasing profits through initiatives such as the "BAEMIN Academy" - an online and offline training ecosystem. The latest activity of the "BAEMIN Academy" is the "Kitchen Know-It-All" livestream series - where BAEMIN helped partners gather the necessary knowledge and experience so they can operate smoothly. Not only limited to business activities, but BAEMIN also provides opportunities for partners to purchase eco-friendly packaging at discounted prices, keeping up with the green lifestyle of Vietnamese customers.

Internal training workshop for merchant partners

"The BAEMIN B2B Mall initiative, launched in February, was warmly received by merchant partners. This is an in-app store providing recycled packaging products at favorable prices. We will continue to invest in education and training programs to improve partners and users’ awareness towards sustainability." said Mr. Jinwoo.

Enhancing the relationship between merchant partners and consumers

Through online food delivery services, restaurant owners can also convey messages and care to customers in each order, thereby enhancing the customer experience even when they do not visit the restaurant. For example, BAEMIN encourages merchants to decorate attractive packaging through labels, stickers, and thank-you notes. Especially on special holidays such as Valentine's Day or International Women's Day, BAEMIN launched initiatives to stimulate curiosity and enrich customers' ordering experience through activities such as gifting thank-you cards, candies, and roses to random customers. These activities have been warmly welcomed by merchant partners, who have contributed additional gifts to connect with customers more meaningfully.

Merchant partners and BAEMIN giving flowers in surprise to users on March 8

Food delivery apps can help improve customer-restaurant relations

"At BAEMIN, we are always looking for opportunities and initiatives to connect stakeholders within our operating ecosystem, helping them understand each other better and thus forming closer relationships. In the future, BAEMIN will continue to leverage its strengths to offer more unique products and services, helping everyone lead happier and more convenient lifestyles every day" said Mr. Jinwoo Song.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, February 24, 2023) On February 24, 2023, BAEMIN application signed the cooperation agreement with SERVEONE Vietnam to launch B2B Mall initiative called "Bách hóa BAEMIN" with the aim to provide environmentally-friendly packaging products to merchant partners. This is part of BAEMIN’s sustainability commitment to help build awareness and establish actions for environmental protection among their stakeholders.

Remarkable growth of environmentally-friendly packaging trends

The current proposal for strengthened management of plastic waste in Vietnam has been approved by the Government in Decision 1316/QD-TTG. This sets a target to 100% use of environmentally-friendly plastic bags and packaging in department stores and supermarkets for domestic purposes to replace non-biodegradable plastic bags by 2025; assuring the collection, reuse, recycling and treatment of 85% of generated waste. To obtain this goal, in addition to the efforts of the authorities, the collaboration among the businesses and the positive response of consumers are resolute factors in order to meet the goal of green and sustainable growth of Vietnam. 

Environmentally friendly packaging products

The rise of environmentally-friendly packaging is growing and it has become the preeminent choice to help reduce single-use plastic waste, especially for business households in the food delivery industry. The global practice of "green – clean" food packaging will help reduce environmental pollution and orientate the community towards ensuring health, as well as improving the quality of the living environment. These packaging solutions include material recycling, product reuse, and compostable packaging. Being fully aware of the consequences resulting from environmental pollution, consumers are now also aiming to choose products using green, clean and safe packaging to improve life values, protect their health, family and society.

BAEMIN's and SERVEONE's CEO signed the MOU

Provide environmentally-friendly packaging solutions to merchant partners 

With the aim to promote sustainable development across the food technology ecosystem, BAEMIN has cooperated with SERVEONE Vietnam – a supplier of safe, recycled packaging solutions to introduce to merchant partners the signature product lines at preferential prices. The products are integrated into BAEMIN B2B Mall on the application with simple operation, which is convenient for merchant partners wishing to replace single-use plastic packaging. With this cooperation, BAEMIN strives to give merchant partners a better option to help them catch up with the current green lifestyle. The packaging products supplied by SERVEONE Vietnam are primarily made from bagasse and paper with all the products meeting the need for food delivery services such as trays, rice boxes, bowls, and glasses. Especially with bagasse products, this is a product line with 100% plant-based ingredients. Bagasse boxes meet the high environmentally-friendly level when they can biodegrade completely within 45 days. After decomposing into organic fertilizers, bagasse boxes can be used in cultivation, adding nutrients to plants, promoting the growth of seedlings. In addition, the product can both store food at high temperatures, grease without leaking harmful substances into the food. 

Environmentally friendly packaging products

Mr. Jinwoo Song – CEO of BAEMIN shared at the signing ceremony: "With the ambition to levitate the food ecosystem, we are constantly looking for green solutions and encouraging our merchant partners to adopt more modern, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly solutions. And we are proud that the B2B Mall launch will be a great step towards our sustainability." 

BAEMIN's and SERVEONE's CEO on a discussion

In addition, Mr. Chung Jae Ho – General Director of SERVEONE Vietnam also shared: “We are delighted to cooperate with BAEMIN – a very successful and highly socially responsible food delivery business originated from Korea – to implement practical and meaningful initiatives for the merchant partner community in Vietnam. We will further develop partnerships and research to come up with more and better products to serve consumers.”

Leadership representatives from BAEMIN and SERVEONE

This cooperation between the BAEMIN application and SERVEONE Vietnam company is a long-term commitment to sustainable development and the effort to bring new solutions to the online food delivery service industry towards a "green – clean – pristine" life.

Joint efforts for environmental protection 

In addition to direct cooperation with environmentally-friendly packaging suppliers, BAEMIN emphasizes the propagation of environmental protection knowledge to colleagues in the company through internal training sessions. In response to the environmental and earth protection days, BAEMIN invited experts from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to deliver lectures close to the real-life context for BAEMIN employees. Moreover, BAEMIN also gave birth to the Green Turtle Baedale ambassador with the principle of environmental protection as the top priority. In the past year, Mr. Jinwoo Song – General Director of BAEMIN had the opportunity to share about the environmental impacts of the online food delivery industry as well as BAEMIN's initiatives in promoting the construction of an environmentally-friendly business ecosystem in the talk show organized by the government. 

Experience the product at the signing ceremony

With a commitment to long-term sustainable development, BAEMIN will continue to invest in innovating and developing its product lines and services to help people enjoy a happier and more convenient life with the BAEMIN application.

***

The journey of BAEMIN Vietnam has entered its 4th year. For some members of BAEMIN Tech who have been with us since the early days, it has been a memorable journey. On this occasion, let's take a look back at their journey.

Duong Pham - The Fun Lover

In my "bug killing" career spanning many years, BAEMIN holds the record for being my longest-standing partner. Now, you might wonder why I've stuck around for so long? Well, let me sprinkle some seasoning on this tale.

First and foremost, let's talk about our hybrid work mode. Being a fun-loving person who enjoys the thrill of being here and there, I thrive in the hybrid model that gives me the freedom to arrange my schedule and workspace. It's almost an everyday thing now to hunt bugs under a swaying coconut tree or have a meeting in the wilderness!

While I enjoy the freedom of working from anywhere, there's something different about office days. One reason is that the company knows how to throw epic events. Every time an event comes up, I excitedly get ready to participate and grab those exclusive prizes. Thanks to that, I've scored some amazing deals and unique seasonal gifts exclusive to BAEMINists. Plus, my teammates know how to have a good time, always gathering for big fiestas. When most people have started working from home, a few of us still regularly go to the office and indulge in food adventures. Let's just say, my waistline is grateful for the extra love.

But wait, there's more! BAEMIN is a treasure trove of work-related milestones. The one that truly takes the cake is the "2022 Digital Lookback" campaign. We were all on fire during the peak season of campaigns, but witnessing the traffic surge filled us with joy and pride. And let me share a little secret from the Lunar New Year madness: Fixing bugs and verifying them at midnight on the fourth day of Tet felt like a wild roller coaster. We conquered those pesky critters like fearless warriors, although some bugs seemed to have a preference for newer devices. It took a member of our QA/QC team wielding the fanciest phone to reveal their sneaky plans. We all had a good laugh, exclaiming, "Well, bugs even have a 'rich-poor' complex, who knew?”

Life as a QA engineer is never short of hilarious situations. But as long as we're having fun, we can tackle any challenge that comes our way! And that, my friends, is an undying feeling at BAEMIN.

What else to say? Let's keep the fun rolling!

May Nguyen Huynh - The Cheerleader

I'm Nguyen, also known as May. Currently, I rock the role of Product Designer in the Merchant squad. When I'm not busy designing, you can find me persuading my teammates to try out new dishes, engaging in miscellaneous chit-chat, and indulging in some good ol' gaming (I've recently won the Bronze Medal in BAEMIN Gaming Tournament, ain't that cool?). And that's probably why I've earned the title of Cheerleader of Tech division in 2022!

My mission at BAEMIN is to ensure that our Merchant partners' experience with our products is as smooth as butter. It's been neither too short nor too long of a journey, starting when the Design team consisted of only three Vietnamese members. There are numerous reasons why I've been at BAEMIN for a while, but the most crucial one is the opportunity to witness the impact of my work by tackling real user problems. As BAEMIN hails from South Korea, we all embrace and leverage BAEMIN Korea’s heritage, but that doesn't mean the Design team's creativity is limited to those boundaries.

The Merchant Service squad is a special one, boasting a high sense of ownership and the power to make critical decisions about product excellence. One of the most memorable moments was when we practically overhauled the entire design of the BAEMIN Merchant app. Usually, such an idea is a tough nut to crack as feature development is the top priority. However, at BAEMIN, all ideas are encouraged and pursued if they make sense. So, what seemed like a daunting task became a seamless endeavor thanks to the proactive feedback and wholehearted participation of every team member. With that spirit, I believe our team is about to unleash a slew of exciting new features to further enhance the user experience on the BAEMIN Merchant app. Stay tuned!

At BAEMIN, if you've got the will, everyone will go the extra mile to support you. There's never a shortage of things to learn and energy to fight with. That's why every day in my BAEMIN Tech journey is a day worth remembering!

Dustin Nguyen - The Social Butterfly

This May marks my 1095th day at BAEMIN, what a ride it's been! Coming back from the US with a Bachelor degree in Computer Science, I had had the opportunity to test the waters at a few tech companies. But fate had its way, and I landed at BAEMIN as a Back-End Engineer. Why, you ask? Well, because this place ticked all my boxes when it comes to both product value and work satisfaction. And to me, nothing is more important than "work hard, play harder."

First, let's talk about working hard.

There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing the products I've built come to life and be used in real life. Before settling down in the Campaign squad, I had had the chance to explore different squads, gaining a holistic view of the business, the products, and how the technical aspects align with them. The deeper I delve into everything, the more I enjoy developing user-centric features on the "frontlines", such as campaigns and engagement programs. Gamification in a consumer product like BAEMIN is a high-risk, high-return gamble. Each campaign goes through a lengthy process from ideation to deployment, just to capture a few precious seconds of user attention. The pressure to keep the system running smoothly during those live events is intense. Imagine countless risky scenarios: unexpected traffic surges, hacks and tricks, attempts to cheat the system for extra turns or continuous rewards. Each situation demands that I continuously challenge myself, sharpen my ability to anticipate and build robust defensive logics. It requires self-discipline from the engineers to manage code and develop better features. Yes, it's challenging, but it's also fascinating because no two campaigns are alike. Whenever we start a new campaign, it feels like hitting the reset button, bringing a fresh mindset to the table. 

And because I collaborate with various departments, transparency plays a crucial role. From high-level strategies to day-to-day tasks, information flows openly and consistently. Why were certain decisions made? What does it mean for the users? Why was there a change? It helps me understand the bigger picture of what I'm working on.

What about playing harder?

When the job gets demanding, it's essential to strike a balance by unleashing my playful side. I love talking to people, exploring new places, and discovering hidden gems of tasty eateries. I proudly take on the role of tea-time organizer, scouting locations for team-building activities, and hunting down discount coupons for my colleagues (thanks to my experience in crafting campaigns). They often tease me, saying, "Is there anyone Dustin doesn't know?". But hey, this allows me to unwind after hours of bug fixing, learn new things, and even find travel buddies. That's why I believe that small talk is a competitive skill, especially at BAEMIN!

Lucas Nguyen - The Language Wizard

Annyeonghaseyo~
I'm Lucas, a Front-End Engineer of the Operation & Logistics squad at BAEMIN. I've been jamming with JavaScript for over 6 years, and there's never been a dull moment. Besides programming languages, I'm also into other languages, like English and Korean. Working with my Korean colleagues has given me quite a decent vocabulary. 

Talking about the things I love, we gotta start with this particular project - building an internal tool to expand BAEMIN's delivery areas. It is a game-changer! Not only does it cut down the time to launch our services in a new city from 2 weeks to just 3 days, it also empowers our Operations team to set up and manage delivery areas by themselves. Simply put, before this tool, geo-expansion was a complex process involving manual data collection, map-drawing, inputting data into the code, and going through numerous testing cycles before the new city finally went on production. But thanks to this tool, also known as Delivery Area Service, we fast-tracked the whole process by automatically fetching data and integrating it into the code.

Building and integrating tech solutions to bring that tool to life was a massive cross-team effort. That's why I value the spirit of cooperation and open sharing. Disagreements and conflicts are inevitable in the workplace. If we don't proactively address issues or difficulties, not only do we fail to resolve them and keep things running smoothly, but it also strains the team dynamics. Fortunately, I have like-minded teammates to constantly grow and create valuable products together. 

So, when you join a company or a team, how do you envision yourself? What role do you want to play? I think those are the real-deal questions to answer. Remember, the world needs talented individuals like us to innovate, collaborate, and make things happen!

__________
 

Written by: Thuyên Vũ - Developer Relations Associate

(Ho Chi Minh City, January 19th, 2023) In order to express gratitude during Lunar New Year, all through January 2023, BAEMIN has launched a series of initiatives to connect and give back to the users with the friendly image of Fat Cat as a centerpiece. In addition, BAEMIN also collaborated with other partners to implement meaningful programs for the community, with the goal of bringing a warm and loving Tet Holiday to all stakeholders. 

Sending gratitude to the top 100 users of 2022

In December last year, BAEMIN developed a feature called “Foodie Journal 2022” to connect with their in-app users. Through this new feature, users can find out how much they have “invested” in ordering food on BAEMIN, which dishes they have ordered most, and their favorite merchant for 2022. With positive results from loyal customers, BAEMIN launched a gratitude campaign for the top 100 customers with the highest total order value last year. These customers have received lucky, meaningful, and original gifts produced by BAEMIN and delivered by their own rider partners as a personal thank you and good luck note for 2023. 

BAEMIN giving gratitude gifts to BAEMIN's merchant partners

Handwritten wishes for customers of BAEMIN

In addition, BAEMIN also delivered hundreds of fortune cookies to random successful orders between January 17th and 19th, 2023. Each cookie consists of a different good luck wish designed by Fat Cat to bring joy and excitement to users when the Lunar New Year is closely approaching. 

BAEMIN brought a gift box "Mở quà là thấy Tết" with radiant pink color matching the cheerful New Year theme

The “Fat Cat for Good Fortune” Campaign 2023

BAEMIN is widely known through the popular image of an orange Fat Cat with a funny and lovable shape. Realizing an interesting association between the brand's signature image and the year of the cat 2023, BAEMIN launched the “Fat Cat for Good Fortune” campaign with the hope of spreading new year wishes to all users in every communication touchpoint, even from the simplest. On social media, users can easily come across witty and warm wishes such as “We wish for those who see Fat Cat that they can eat all they want without gaining weight in 2023” or “We wish for those who see Fat Cat that they can always confirm a purchase without ever having to look at the prices in 2023”. Along with those blessings, BAEMIN also launched many attractive promotional codes in the application as well as unique in-app engagements to bring interesting experiences to users at year-end parties.

BAEMIN Mèo Mập Cầu May (Lucky Fat Cat) is excited and liked by thousands of people taking pictures

Besides the wishes that were quickly spread on social media, BAEMIN also officially introduced a Good Fortune Fat Cat statue in Phu My Hung Street, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City from January 17th to 25th, 2023. Here, visitors can take pictures with the Fat Cat to pray for good luck, and at the same time write their wishes for the upcoming new year on the piece of paper “We wish for those who see Fat Cat that all their wishes written on these papers will become true in 2023”. In just over 4 days of exhibition, Good Fortune Fat Cat has attracted more than thousands of people to visit and take photos with hundreds of posts and shares on social networks. BAEMIN hopes this activity will bring a positive perspective to the users so that everyone can start 2023 with the best of luck.

Hundreds of wishes have been written to Fat Cat

BAEMIN's witty blessings

Celebrating Tet Holiday with BAEMIN employees and stakeholders

Besides the effort to bring users and the community fun and engaging activities on the occasion of the new year 2023, BAEMIN also wishes to send deep gratitude to merchant partners, rider partners, and members of the BAEMIN family through meaningful and practical gifting programs. For rider partners, after a year of hard work delivering hot dishes to users, the end of the year is the time for them to sit together, tell stories and share their feelings about when they delivered happiness to every customer’s door. BAEMIN organized year-end parties for the partners in operating cities with the desire to create a strong connection in the community.

Delivering gifts to the top 100 users of BAEMIN in 2022

Furthermore, BAEMIN also produced a creative gift box “Open for Tet” with a radiant pink color suitable for the cheerful new year spirit. These special gift boxes are sent to the merchant partners who have accompanied BAEMIN in the past time with meaningful and witty wishes. BAEMIN's employees also received this unique gift box with handwritten wishes from the CEO himself sending thanks and expressing hope for unity and togetherness in 2023.

Year-end meeting of BAEMIN's rider partners

In 2023, with the new challenges posed by the industry as well as the market, the BAEMIN application will constantly offer new services and products, serving millions more users, to turn the mission of delivering happiness to users’ doorstep into reality, and to help people lead happier and more convenient lifestyles.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, November 22, 2022) With the goal of constantly improving user experience, BAEMIN Vietnam application has officially partnered with Shinhan Bank to launch a co-branded credit card named "Gourmet Member" with a credit limit of up to 100 million VND. In addition, cardholders will receive attractive BAEMIN gift packages valued up to 6,900,000 VND. Information about the co-branded card was shared during the launch held in Ho Chi Minh City on November 22 participated by CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam, together with General Director, and Deputy General Directors of Shinhan Bank.

Mr. Kang Gew Won and Mr. Jinwoo Song took a photo with the co-branded card product BAEMIN - Shinhan

Alongside the significant rise of the market economy, the burst in the use of mobile devices and the Internet, as well as the increasing trend of different payment methods in Vietnam, cashless payment is becoming prevalent and receives great attention from businesses across sectors. Such transactions can be done in seconds with just a few simple steps. In addition, these transactions can be made secure, which helps eliminate various major risks compared to other usual transactions.

Observing the changing financial needs of users to keep pace with the trend, BAEMIN application has partnered with Shinhan Bank to develop and launch the co-branded credit card "Gourmet Member". Accordingly, BAEMIN - Shinhan credit card users will receive unique benefits from two BAEMIN gift packages, including Gourmet Member Welcome Package worth up to 900,000 VND and Gourmet Member Special Package worth up to VND 6,000,000.

Shinhan Bank is one of our responsible and reliable partners with outstanding achievements in the field of finance and banking.

With Gourmet Member Welcome Package, cardholders will get 30 BAEMIN discount coupons for 30,000 VND. The discount code is available within 6 months from the date of receipt and is applied to the order value of 30,000 VND or more (excluding delivery fee).

With the Gourmet Membership Special Package, cardholders will receive 25% discount coupons, up to 50,000 VND per order, and up to 120 orders each year, equivalent to a total gift package valued up to 6,000,000 VND. The discount coupon is valid for use during each month and is available for all orders. Each member can use up to 10 coupons per month.

To open a BAEMIN - Shinhan credit card, customers can quickly register on SOL app of Shinhan Bank, free of charge or go directly to the nearest branch or transaction office of Shinhan Bank for detailed instructions. 

BAEMIN Vietnam and Shinhan Bank launch co-branded card “Gourmet Membership”

In addition to the attractive privileges from two BAEMIN gift packages, similar to other credit card lines of Shinhan Bank, BAEMIN - Shinhan credit cardholders also enjoy the convenience of accumulating 0.3% Shinhan bonus points for valid spending at any available affiliates other than BAEMIN app, with the conversion rate of 1 point = 1 Vietnam Dong. 

At the same time, BAEMIN - Shinhan credit cardholders can manage their finances flexibly with an 18-month instalment plan with a preferential interest rate at any favourite brand for transactions of 3,000. 000 VND or more, with free conversion. Plus, cardholders will receive discounts of up to 50% at more than 200 partners at Shinhan Zone in various fields: food, travel, beauty, and health care...

Mr. Song Jinwoo - BAEMIN Vietnam's CEO emphasized the importance of the meaningful partnerships and the role of BAEMIN in providing users with superior and unique experiences.

Sharing about the BAEMIN - Shinhan credit card line, Mr Jinwoo Song - General Director of BAEMIN Vietnam said: "With our customer-centric culture, we have been constantly making efforts to build meaningful partnerships, taking advantage of modern financial technology to give users more choices in payment and personal financial management. The co-branded credit card “Gourmet Member” with Shinhan is just the beginning of BAEMIN's long road of leveraging user experience. Shinhan Bank is one of our responsible, reliable partners with outstanding achievements in the field. Therefore, I really hope that BAEMIN - Shinhan credit card will bring customers of both parties unique and preeminent experiences. In the future, BAEMIN will continue to expand its sustainable partnerships to help people lead happier and more convenient lives.”

With a commitment to sustainable development, BAEMIN promises to continue to launch new products and services to serve more customers and stakeholders in the coming time

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, 28th September, 2022) After just 3 years of operation in Vietnam, BAEMIN has recently been recognized by the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency - Ministry of Industry and Trade as one of the top 5 leading enterprises providing e-commerce services in the market. BAEMIN is also the youngest company to be named. With the mission to help people lead happier and more convenient lifestyles, BAEMIN has been implementing user-centric initiatives, accompanying stakeholders for future sustainable development.

Vietnam E-commerce White Book 2022 is a publication developed by the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency - Ministry of Industry and Trade with the purpose of providing a comprehensive outlook of the e-commerce applications under the impact of the pandemic, in the context of the global e-commerce landscape in 2022. The content of the White Book is formed from the results of a survey of nearly 5,000 consumers and about 10,000 businesses, along with aggregate data from prestigious organizations worldwide.

BAEMIN conquers users with witty and creative promotional strategies

The Vietnam E-commerce White Book 2022 has highlighted 10 leading companies providing e-commerce services in the market. These businesses were also reported to account for 95% of the revenue share of websites/apps providing e-commerce services. BAEMIN Vietnam is the youngest business on the list.

BAEMIN application is the youngest enterprise to appear in the list of top 10 market leading enterprises providing e-commerce services.

Empathizing with users through wit and creativity. 

Entering the Vietnamese market in May 2019, BAEMIN has constantly evolved its products and expanded services to improve and optimize its users as well as partners’ experience. In 2020 and 2021, BAEMIN has ranked first in terms of customer satisfaction (according to a market survey conducted by Q&Me). In addition, BAEMIN is also the leading food delivery application in Vietnam in terms of geographical coverage, providing services across 21 provinces.

Interactive activities in BAEMIN's innovative app

Within just a short period of time, the delivery application that conquers Korea has quickly won the hearts of Vietnamese users through its unique strategies, creative promotional campaigns, and utmost care for service quality. In hope of inspiring a positive and modern lifestyle, BAEMIN has introduced its own distinctive brand identity including unique images, colors, fonts as well as interactive and engaging activities that can easily resonate with users.

Improve user experience by courtesy of interactive content

Besides investing in the development of features that make the users’ experience with food delivery easy and convenient, BAEMIN concentrates on creating a storehouse of rich and diverse food content as well as in-app engagement activities. 

Dining Table Magazine is one of the first products in the series of creative content that BAEMIN has recently deployed

One of the latest products in the creative content series that BAEMIN recently launched is Bàn Ăn Magazine (Dining Table). Not only does this help users order meals suiting their needs, it also enables users to discover exceptional restaurants, to better understand the background of distinctive dishes, and to get food recommendations depending on their mood, the weather, special occasions, ... A few publications include the food collection "Cuối tháng, ăn gì ngoài mỳ gói" – a compilation of great restaurants at affordable prices, "Món lạnh cho ngày nóng" – a list of dishes that help ease the heat of the summer days, or "Đập hộp: Bánh canh có bao nhiêu loại?", which reveals various types of bánh canh (rice noodles) and explains their origins alongside other interesting eating trends. 

Finding Fat Cat (the activity calling for players to find Fat Cat in the Mid-Autumn Festival picture) is an interactive activity installed right in the app. This is also a monthly initiative that BAEMIN deployed to attract and retain users

Furthermore, in-app engagement activities are also one of the initiatives that BAEMIN implements monthly, with the purpose of attracting as well as retaining users. These activities are designed as an event corner that includes mini games with varying themes based on each month’s highlights. With these innovative and unique ways of interaction, the number of users participating in the events has steadily increased over time. Some of the most well-received events that BAEMIN has implemented are: “Giật cô hồn” (an activity that welcomes users to come in the app and “snatch” some discount codes), “Bé Mưa” (an activity that helps users create some personalized stories, express their moods and feelings during rainy days), or most recently, “Đi tìm Mèo Mập” (an activity that calls for users to find  the Fat Cat in a picture, on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival).

Accompanying stakeholders in the pursuit of sustainable development

In addition to concentrating on product development and operations optimization, BAEMIN strives to become a sustainable and socially responsible business. From the beginning of its operations in Vietnam to date, BAEMIN has consistently incorporated the idea of sustainability into both its overall strategy and all of its business daily endeavors. Simultaneously, the app has also been involved in environmental protection as well as the health and well-being of employees and its stakeholders. 

BAEMIN leaders bond with the riders and their family

As the latest gesture to appreciate its rider-partners’ hard work and commitment, BAEMIN has just rolled out the rider tip function, enabling riders to earn more. BAEMIN users can now recognize its riders' great service and show their thank-yous by tipping them through the BAEMIN app after they've completed their delivery. BAEMIN also engaged its leadership with the rider-partners’ families on important occasions such as the recent Mid-Autumn festival.

The BAEMIN application also officially introduces a new feature “rider tip” to support rider partners to increase their income.

In September, BAEMIN collaborated with a number of socio-political organizations, and non-governmental organizations to launch the "Trăng tròn đón niềm vui" campaign. By launching this campaign in the Mid-Autumn Festival 2022, BAEMIN extended its appreciation towards users who are children and students whilst lending a helping hand to those vulnerable members of the society.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, August 9, 2022) As an application striving to empower people to lead positive and sustainable lifestyles, BAEMIN Vietnam always prioritizes educational initiatives that aim to raise its employees’ awareness of environmental protection. On August 5, BAEMIN collaborated with Piktina - a secondhand  fashion application, to organize the clothes exchange day “Dare 2 Rewear". This event promoted the sustainable knowledge exchange and urged BAEMIN employees to take concrete action to protect the environment as well as to embrace a greener lifestyle.

The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world

According to the latest apparel market research, a consumer will discard approximately 31.75 kg of old or no-longer-used clothes on average each year. Annually, the environment also suffers from more than 500 million tons of textile waste, 84% of which is burned, resulting in 12% of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Dare 2 Rewear" initiative was implemented by BAEMIN for all employees in offices nationwide

The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world after oil and gas. In order to make a pair of jeans, we need 7,500 liters of water. Up to 85% of textiles are disposed of by landfilling or incineration. Furthermore, every second that passes is equivalent to the amount of clothes that could be carried by a truck being burnt. The average life cycle of a fashion product is 5.4 years. If each person could prolong the use of a product for just 3 more months, they could reduce the amount of gas, water, and waste released into the environment by 5%–10%.

When sustainability starts with each choice of outfit

Understanding the impact brought about by clothes usage on the environment, BAEMIN collaborated with Piktina to implement the internal initiative - clothes exchange day named “Dare 2 Rewear". BAEMIN is also the first company to participate in this campaign which seeks to build a sustainable fashion ecosystem and promote greener lifestyles organized by Piktina.

 BAEMIN has cooperated with Piktina - a secondhand fashion buying and selling platform to implement the program “Dare 2 Rewear”

The clothes exchange day “Dare 2 Rewear” was open for all employees of BAEMIN in offices across the country. This innovative and practical initiative, with a focus on the concept of "it’s old for him but new for me", helps BAEMIN employees exchange clothes and fashion items with their colleagues to refresh their look while contributing to the reduction of fashion waste. In addition, BAEMIN employees also participated in a talk show on the topic of sustainable fashion, and listened to experts' sharing about the impacts of fast fashion on the environment, as well as other dressing tips to enhance personal beauty, to be "cool" but “green” at the same time. At the event, BAEMIN employees can also play a role in prolonging the life cycle of used products by buying their favorite secondhand items, taking photos for social media and to spread this positive spirit.

The event has the joining of CEO of BAEMIN Piktina

Mr. Jinwoo Song – CEO of BAEMIN, shared that: "In alignment with our core values, sustainable development lies at the heart of whatever BAEMIN does. We will constantly seek to provide better eco-friendly consumer solutions as well as invest in awareness-raising activities to protect the environment. After the training conducted on Earth Day in collaboration with a governmental official to promote greener lifestyles, this clothes exchange day “Dare 2 Rewear” is another testimonial that shows our serious commitment to levitating the greener lifestyles. We believe the employees also feel truly engaged and purposeful through this."

Staff at BAEMIN are very excited to attend the program

Ms. Nguyen Hoang Phuong – CEO and Founder of Piktina added: "Piktina wants to spread the message that secondhand fashion is not boring. Through our cooperation with businesses, pioneered by BAEMIN, we want consumers to learn more about sustainable fashion as well as what we can do from today to protect the environment and shape a modern, cool, clean yet green lifestyle.”

***

(Hanoi, June 22, 2022) Along with the rapid development of the retail and service industries, plastic waste is a growing menace that urges relevant businesses to act now and work together in the ultimate hope of thriving sustainably. At the Talk show “Plastic Reduction Initiatives in Retail & Services” hosted by Vietnam Investment Review dated June 22, Mr. Jinwoo Song – CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam unveiled some insights into overall environmental impacts caused by the food delivery industry as well as highlighted BAEMIN’s initiatives to promote eco-friendly practices across its ecosystem. The talk show was also participated by the Chairman of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment and the leadership of leading brands in retail and service industries.

Plastic waste is not the only the pressing issue within the food delivery industry

As online food delivery platforms grow, one of the most pressing concerns evident is the volume of plastic waste generated throughout its operations and how it is tackled. The effectiveness in which different countries are dealing with plastic waste produced by online food delivery will be dependent on how well developed their recycling infrastructure is and the speed of online food delivery has grown.

BAEMIN updated its app feature that allows users to choose "no side dishes" option

“While the recent discussion often revolves around the plastic waste only, I think it’s equally important to review other aspects of environmental challenges posed by the food technology industry that are food waste and the increase of carbon footprint”, shared Jinwoo. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted the use of single-use, disposable food packaging as consumers believe single-use packaging was safer and more hygienic. Even though they have become more environmentally conscious, it’s unlikely that they will consider keeping leftover food for future meals or think to reuse the meal boxes, plastic bags, and containers to protect the environment.

From success stories in Korea…

“BAEMIN in Korea is the first-ever delivery app to receive an AAA rating (the highest rating) following the United Nations Guidelines for Reducing Plastic Waste & Sustainable Ocean and Climate Action Acceleration (UN GRP). BAEMIN has been successful in implementing a number of green projects to influence the stakeholders and help them change their behaviours since the very early days” – said Jinwoo. 

BAEMIN organizes events and training activities in collaboration with representatives from the government to raise awareness among employees and promote green lifestyle

One of the highlight examples includes the in-app options “No disposable cutlery, please” and “No side dish, please” for users that aims to reduce food and plastic waste whilst saving costs for the merchants. BAEMIN has also installed collection robots in Asan city to collect plastic container lids and used AI technology to determine if they can be recycled and transformed to some higher value materials. Another highlight project is the close partnership with merchants to amplify outstanding case studies and the organisation of courses on eco-friendly practices. Public-private partnerships between BAEMIN and the local government have also been critical in helping find alternatives to plastic and conduct innovative pilot tests.

… to leading the green movements in Vietnam

In spite of being the youngest player in the food tech industry, BAEMIN Vietnam has made it clear from the beginning that sustainability lies at the heart of everything it does. Mr Jinwoo shared “We kickstarted our sustainability agenda by turning our colleagues into green ambassadors through a series of training sessions and interactive activities in partnership with the governmental officials to raise their awareness and promote greener lifestyles across our operations.” 

Ông Jinwoo -Tổng giám đốc Baemin Việt Nam cam kết đồng hành tại thị trường Việt Nam

BAEMIN has also worked very closely with its international counterparts and the professional environmental agency to launch the Carbon Footprint program since 2021. In this way, BAEMIN can measure the carbon footprint left behind by the full cycle of operations (both delivery and corporate activities) and seek to offset them with environmental protection initiatives. “The market report will become available at the end of this month” added Song.

What’s more, BAEMIN plans to introduce a B2B mall for their merchants so that they can conveniently find and purchase eco-friendly packaging materials to sustain their operations. This will also come in handy as local regulations develop to promote green practices across industries.

All hands on deck to traverse this successfully

Sharing at the Talk show, Mr. Jinwoo Song also stressed that the buy-in and joining hands from all stakeholders would be the biggest challenge yet also a success factor of sustainable development.

“There’s still a gap between thinking and taking action, and it takes a lot of incentives and innovative educational content to change people’s behaviours to better tackle environmental challenges. We will do our best in the coming times to show to our stakeholders that sustainability if done in the right way will benefit greatly all relevant stakeholders” said Jinwoo.

Companies discussed this topic at the roundtable on the "Plastic Reduction Initiatives in Retail & Services” theme

Government support and endorsement were also requested at the talk show as businesses will look to work together and learn from international practices to lead their own initiatives.

With a long-term commitment to sustainable development, BAEMIN seeks to constantly renovate itself and develop its product and service lines to help people lead happier and more convenient lifestyles through the BAEMIN app.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, May 16, 2022) Launched in May 2019, BAEMIN is now the leading food application in geographical coverage, with services available in 21 cities across Vietnam. In celebration of its 3rd birthday, BAEMIN has introduced the Thank You campaign to extend heartfelt gratitude to its customers and partners.

Conquering users with sincerity

Since the early days of its inception, customer experience has always lied at the heart of whatever BAEMIN does. On its 3rd birthday, BAEMIN has introduced new features that bring more value to users, such as the multi-tier promotion feature – allowing users to input 4 different types of promotional codes to enjoy the meals. Lucky users in big cities also earn the chance to be gifted a set of BAEMIN presents such as “Kề vai sát cánh” tote bags and “Kịch bản cuộc đời” notebooks when ordering on the app from May 17th to 31st.

BAEMIN updated its message of gratitude to users on all out-of-home advertising boards

In hope of extending the appreciation to customers in the sincerest way on this special occasion, BAEMIN also simultaneously refreshed the content of all of its communication touchpoints with personalized thank you messages shared and handwritten by the colleagues working at BAEMIN. 

“Thank you for spending a few seconds watching BAEMIN ads every time you stop at a red light over the last 3 years”, or “Thank you for always saying our BAEMIN riders are handsome so we can be really proud over the last 3 years” are just a few examples out of many messages that BAEMIN updated on all outdoor billboards, social media, or elevator screens to pass to the users.

Thanking the partners in the journey of sustainable development

Rider-partners and merchant-partners are key stakeholders of BAEMIN’s ecosystem to provide an optimal user experience. Besides investing in training initiatives to help partners upskill, BAEMIN also introduces and organizes activities to enrich the mental life of its partners. 

CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam surprised restaurant partners with gifts.

Also on this occasion, BAEMIN implemented a series of special birthday activities to thank the partners who have accompanied BAEMIN over the past time. 

BAEMIN launched a series of special birthday activities to thank partners 

Rider-partners now have the opportunity to participate in interactive virtual events such as "Xế Gắn bó", "Xế Tri thức", etc. to share memorable stories on their journey with BAEMIN. And active merchant-partners will receive surprise gifts and invitations to the virtual celebration with many attractive gifts and exciting agenda.

Striving to become the leading lifestyle platform

Choosing not to focus on promotional discounts, BAEMIN aims to build a genuine emotional bridge with customers and accompany partners on a long-term development journey.

Enhancing the user experience in the application, and ensuring the quality of operation from its partners are what BAEMIN has, is and will continue to invest in to help people lead happier and more convenient lifestyles through the BAEMIN application. 

Improving the user experience is always one of the top priorities for the BAEMIN team

“3 years is yet a long journey, but it is an important milestone to mark the transformation of BAEMIN. We will constantly improve our application and extend new services, with customer experience at the heart. We will also continue to pursue initiatives that upskill our partners and support communities, in the hope of helping everyone lead a better life.” – BAEMIN’s CEO, Mr. Jinwoo Song shared BAEMIN's future plans. 

“On the occasion of our 3rd birthday, on behalf of the company, I would like to extend my most heartfelt thank you to all customers and partners who have accompanied BAEMIN during the past time. We will try harder to bring an optimal and complete experience to our BAEMIN customers and stakeholders in the times to come.” – Mr. Jinwoo Song ended.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, April 8th, 2022) The online food delivery application BAEMIN Vietnam has officially introduced BAEMIN Academy to the public and their merchant-partners on April 8th. The BAEMIN Academy initiative was first launched by BAEMIN in Korea in 2014 with the ambition of accompanying our merchant-partners in the journey of growth and sustainable development. The launch event of the Academy in Vietnam also welcomed representatives from the National Institute of Food Control and the Food Safety Management Authority of Ho Chi Minh City.

The launch event of BAEMIN Academy themed "Food Safety" was held offline featuring distinguished guests who shared the founding story behind the Academy as well as the holistic view of food safety and hygiene. 

The BAEMIN Academy was established with the mission of creating and nurturing a learning ecosystem including diverse types of training content and format to provide a platform for the sustainable success of all partners in the Food & Beverages industry in Vietnam.

BAEMIN Viet Nam officially introduced BAEMIN Academy on 8th of April

At the event, representatives of the National Institute of Food Control and the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Authority shared valuable knowledge about the current governmental food safety management and control and food safety hazards backed by practical examples as well as real-life cases.

The event also marks an important milestone highlighting BAEMIN’s serious commitment in long-term relationships with its merchant-partners. The merchant representatives said they truly appreciated BAEMIN's efforts and investments, they also acknowledged that this was a valuable opportunity to help them understand more about current regulations, improve their products, and at the same time, foster trust with customers by meeting their needs and wants.

The launch event of BAEMIN Vietnam also marks a turning point in the serious commitment and long-term partnership between BAEMIN and restaurant partners

At the launch of BAEMIN Academy, Mr. Jinwoo Song – CEO of BAEMIN shared: “BAEMIN Academy is a testament to BAEMIN's serious and long-term commitment to our merchant-partners to help them raise the bar and achieve sustainable growth. With the ambition to create and nurture Vietnam's food ecosystem, we will constantly invest and focus on educational initiatives to help improve the lives not only of our partners but also of our users and the relevant stakeholders. BAEMIN Academy has been received extremely well in Korea and is considered one of the most practical, innovative and large-scale community initiatives. We hope that the Academy will also be able to bring about practical benefits and aid the success of merchant-partners in Vietnam.”

In the future, BAEMIN Academy will constantly expand and diversify our training programs, updating content that is not only useful for partners' businesses but also responds to changes in the food technology industry. In addition to the practical and easy-to-use online content posted on the Academy's official website, BAEMIN will also organize offline courses and sessions to help maximize the potential of our merchant-partners.

AEMIN Academy in Korea

In Korea, BAEMIN Academy has been in operation since 2014 until now. As of 2021, the number of beneficiaries has surpassed 100,000 people, of which more than 29,000 partners have participated in offline training at the training center in Seoul. Within just 1 year since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, BAEMIN Academy has recorded more than 71,000 partners registered for online training. BAEMIN Academy has opened the door of business for partners, creating favorable conditions to help them develop their business through training programs with more than 250 courses: detailed instructions on how to build menus, from cooking to food photography, packaging, restaurant management practice including tax and legal issues, how to attract potential customers, and mental health-related content for our merchant-partners...

With our commitment to long-term companionship with our partners and extensive international experience, BAEMIN will constantly unearth new practical and meaningful initiatives to help people lead happier and more convenient lifestyles through the BAEMIN app.

***

(Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, ngày 25 tháng 03 năm 2022) Được đánh giá là một trong những thị trường tiềm năng có tốc độ tăng trưởng tốt ở Châu Á, Việt Nam luôn là điểm đến hấp dẫn đối với các nhà đầu tư, đặc biệt trong lĩnh vực nhà hàng ăn uống (F&B). Chia sẻ tại MakanSingapore – hội chợ nhượng quyền thương hiệu F&B trực tuyến đầu tiên được tổ chức ngày 25 tháng 3 vừa qua, ông Jinwoo Song - Tổng Giám đốc của BAEMIN Việt Nam đã chia sẻ tầm nhìn của ứng dụng cũng như quan điểm của ông về xu hướng công nghệ đối với ngành F&B tại Việt Nam.

Sử dụng ứng dụng công nghệ là thích ứng với trạng thái “bình thường mới”

Trong thời đại kỹ thuật số đang phát triển và chuyển đổi mạnh mẽ như hiện nay thì công nghệ là yếu tố tiên quyết giúp đảm bảo sự tăng trưởng dài hạn và bền vững của doanh nghiệp. Đặc biệt là các doanh nghiệp trong lĩnh vực F&B khi phải đối mặt với những tác động to lớn và khó khăn mà đại dịch Covid-19 mang lại. Ứng dụng công nghệ được doanh nghiệp tìm đến như một giải pháp hiệu quả cho bài toán tăng trưởng doanh thu và giúp thu hút các khách hàng mới.

“Trở về những năm trước khi các ứng dụng công nghệ chưa được phổ biến rộng rãi, các doanh nghiệp F&B luôn trăn trở tìm lời giải cho các vấn đề nhức nhối về mặt bằng, nhân sự, quảng cáo,… Thì ngày nay, với sự ra đời của các nền tảng, ứng dụng công nghệ như BAEMIN, các doanh nghiệp đã có thể dễ dàng tiếp cận nhóm khách hàng tiềm năng, tiết kiệm chi phí và khám phá những cơ hội phát triển khác.” 

Ông chia sẻ thêm: “Thay vì phải tốn rất nhiều chi phí để thuê mặt bằng có vị trí đắc địa như tầng trệt, khu trung tâm để thu hút khách hàng, ứng dụng công nghệ đã giúp các doanh nghiệp F&B khai phá các cách tiếp cận hiện đại thông qua các tính năng mới để tối ưu hóa vận hành, đồng thời cải thiện tốc độ và chất lượng dịch vụ giao hàng thông qua nguồn lực trung gian là những đối tác tài xế được đào tạo chuyên nghiệp, bài bản với sự thông thạo đường sá, địa hình xung quanh.”

Không chỉ thế, ứng dụng công nghệ còn hỗ trợ các doanh nghiệp F&B về mặt quảng bá thương hiệu trực tiếp, điển hình như sáng kiến “BAEMIN Zone”. Sáng kiến này giúp các đối tác nhà hàng phủ xanh quán xá, tạo điểm khác biệt, giúp họ dễ dàng thu hút khách hàng mới khi ghé ngang. Đồng thời, các chương trình đào tạo quy mô lớn cũng được thử nghiệm và cho ra đời, với mong muốn giúp các đối tác nhà hàng có thể phát triển bền vững.

Sự phát triển của các nền tảng thương mại điện tử trong tương lai

Công nghệ ngày càng phát triển đồng nghĩa với việc cuộc sống của con người ngày càng được cải thiện. Và với nhu cầu gia tăng của người dùng về các bữa ăn có tính trải nghiệm hay mua sắm thông minh đã tạo động lực cho thương mại điện tử tại Việt Nam ngày càng mở rộng. Đặc biệt là sau đại dịch Covid-19, thói quen và hành vi mua sắm của người tiêu dùng đã có sự thay đổi rõ nét. Theo khảo sát mới nhất từ Q&Me thực hiện cuối năm 2021, 75% đáp viên cho biết họ đều sử dụng dịch vụ giao thức ăn trực tuyến và 24% trong số đó lần đầu tiên sử dụng vì những ảnh hưởng mà đại dịch Covid-19 mang lại. 

“Là ứng dụng xếp hạng quán quân về mức độ hài lòng của khách hàng, BAEMIN cũng là một trong những ứng dụng có sự tăng trưởng đáng kể trong năm 2021. Từ việc chỉ hoạt động tại 3 thành phố lớn đầu năm 2021, hiện nay BAEMIN đã có mặt ở 21 tỉnh thành phục vụ đông đảo người dùng, tăng gấp nhiều lần số lượng đối tác nhà hàng và tài xế chỉ trong thời gian hoạt động ngắn ngủi. Đây là minh chứng tiêu biểu cho tiềm năng phát triển của các ứng dụng công nghệ trong việc giúp phục hồi và tăng trưởng các doanh nghiệp F&B.” - Tổng Giám đốc BAEMIN chia sẻ.

Triển vọng của ngành F&B tại Việt Nam trong 2–3 năm tới

Theo BMI (công ty nghiên cứu cung cấp phân tích kinh tế vĩ mô, công nghiệp và thị trường tài chính), Việt Nam đã trở thành một trong những thị trường F&B hấp dẫn nhất trên toàn cầu (xếp thứ 10 tại Châu Á vào năm 2019). Đồng thời, thị hiếu của thực khách địa phương cũng trở nên đa dạng và khác biệt hơn so với trước đây khi các ứng dụng được phổ biến rộng rãi và liên tục cập nhật các tính năng mới.

“Theo quan sát của BAEMIN, người dùng Việt Nam sẽ không có thói quen đặt một loại đồ ăn cố định như chỉ đồ Hàn hoặc đồ Nhật mà họ sẽ muốn khám phá các loại món ăn khác nhau qua những lần đặt hàng. Chính vì vậy, BAEMIN cũng đưa ra biểu tượng mới trên ứng dụng có tên gọi BAEMIN Picks, giúp thể hiện các món ăn mới lạ, đặc sắc để người dùng có thể thỏa thích khám phá và thõa mãn nhu cầu được thử các hương vị từ các nền ẩm thực khác nhau.”

“Thấu hiểu nhu cầu của người dùng Việt Nam, đặc biệt đối với những nhóm người bận rộn như nhân viên văn phòng, ứng dụng BAEMIN cũng đã nghiên cứu và chuẩn bị giới thiệu những lựa chọn suất ăn tiện lơi, có tên gọi Bento925 với thực đơn được xây dựng bởi chính đội ngũ đầu bếp BAEMIN thông qua BAEMIN Kitchen, nhằm giúp nhóm đối tượng này có thể sống cuộc sống tiện lợi và thoải mái hơn” ông Jinwoo Song cho biết thêm.

Trong thời gian sắp tới, BAEMIN dự kiến giới thiệu nhiều hoạt động và dịch vụ mới cho người dùng trên khắp cả nước, với mong muốn giúp mọi người sống cuộc sống thuận tiện và dễ dàng hơn thông qua ứng dụng BAEMIN.

Về Hội Chợ Nhượng Quyền Thương Hiệu F&B: 

Hội Chợ Nhượng Quyền Thương Hiệu F&B có tên MakanSingapore là hội chợ đầu tiên chuyên giới thiệu các cơ hội nhượng quyền thương hiệu F&B từ Singapore vào Việt Nam, diễn ra vào ngày 25 và 26 tháng 03 năm 2022 trên nền tảng trực tuyến. Sự kiện có sự xuất hiện của hơn 10 chuyên gia đầu ngành với tư cách diễn giả và điều phối các phiên thảo luận, bao gồm phần trình bày chủ đạo đến từ Bà Nguyễn Phi Vân (Chủ tịch Mạng lưới Nhà đầu tư Thiên thần, Cơ hội Kinh doanh Nhượng quyền thương hiệu tại Việt Nam) và các phiên thảo luận với Ông Ken Atkinson (Phó Chủ tịch Hội đồng Tư vấn Du lịch Việt Nam), Ông Asif Mehrudeen (Nhà sáng lập & Tổng Giám đốc AHM Lifestyles), Ông Jinwoo Song (Tổng Giám đốc BAEMIN Việt Nam), Ông Michael Lin (Tổng Giám đốc Pizza Hut Việt Nam), và Ông Peter Cường Franklin (Bếp trưởng & Nhà sáng lập Anan Saigon).

Khách tham dự MakanSingapore sẽ có thể hiểu rõ hơn về các nguyên tắc về đầu tư vào nhượng quyền thương hiệu F&B và qui trình thiết lập một doanh nghiệp nhượng quyền thương hiệu thành công.

***

Về BAEMIN

BAEMIN là ứng dụng giao đồ ăn trực tuyến được vận hành bởi Woowa Brothers Việt Nam, một thành viên của liên doanh giữa Woowa Brothers – công ty giao đồ ăn hàng đầu tại Hàn Quốc được thành lập vào năm 2010 và Delivery Hero – tập đoàn công nghệ giao đồ ăn hàng đầu thế giới, cung cấp dịch vụ tại hơn 50 quốc gia. Woowa Brothers Việt Nam giới thiệu ứng dụng BAEMIN đến người dùng sở tại vào tháng 5 năm 2019 với tham vọng trở thành công ty công nghệ ẩm thực hàng đầu, nuôi dưỡng và kiến tạo hệ sinh thái ẩm thực Việt Nam.

Liên hệ

Nguyễn Đình Đăng Khoa 

Số điện thoại: 0373448734 - Email: dangkhoa.nguyen@vn.woowahan.com

Huỳnh Thị Anh Thư

Số điện thoại: 0947770168 - Email: thu.huynh@vn.woowahan.com

Phòng Truyền Thông Doanh Nghiệp & Đối Ngoại

Woowa Brothers Việt Nam

Tầng 4, Tòa nhà Friendship, 31 Lê Duẩn, Q.1, Tp. HCM

(Ho Chi Minh City, March 14, 2022) To meet with the future of work, the online food delivery application BAEMIN has rolled out the hybrid working model for employees across the country, effective from March 14th 2022. At the same time, BAEMIN also introduces a number of in-office and virtual initiatives to increase employee engagement in the face of the new normal.

Hybrid working model is an emerging concept that incorporates a mixture of in-office and remote work based on mutual agreement between employees and their line managers. This model provides the employees with utmost flexibility when it comes to working hours and office settings so the employees can determine what works best for them. 

With the hope of empowering employees to define their workspace and lead more balanced and healthier lifestyles, BAEMIN has adopted the hybrid working model for its employees, allowing them to choose to work between homes and offices with adherence to the Covid-19 safety protocols. The employees can also adjust their starting time to be one hour earlier or later than before, while maintaining a similar total of working hours, to suit their personal schedule outside of work. 

This working model allows employees to start and finish work earlier or later than fixed hours to suit their individual needs.

According to Mr Jinwoo Song – CEO of BAEMIN: “The Covid-19 has shown that effective work can get done anywhere. As we look to the future, changing ourselves to fit in with our employee demands is critical. I believe that top talents get motivation when they have autonomy. With BAEMIN colleagues being able to choose where to work and when to work, this will motivate them to achieve high performance. This new policy is also in line with our BAEMIN's core value - Autonomy built on discipline.” He added: “Now a working mother can make more time for her child, a gen Z worker can balance their personal life and career, and an avid reader can simply save some time from commuting to read more books. At BAEMIN, we believe this will allow our employees to enjoy their lives to the fullest whilst staying committed to their job of making people’s lives easier by delivering what they need to lead better and more convenient lifestyles.”

Hybrid working is a combination of working in the office and working remotely, where employees can choose the location and time of work

To ensure a smooth transition to hybrid working, BAEMIN has renovated its offices over the past months. In addition to the existing office desks, BAEMIN has designed more focused working spaces, private booths as well as personal lockers, to meet different needs of employees when coming to the office. Not only has BAEMIN equipped the workplace with massage chairs, billiards tables, it also provides stay-at-home employees with a full range of necessary equipment so they can get their work done effectively.

BAEMIN has equipped massage chairs, standing desks, and more in the office to help employees relieve stress after work hours

“Factoring in some potential challenges hybrid working can bring about in terms of employee engagement, we also piloted a few hybrid purpose-driven events to enhance employee’s sense of belonging” shared Jinwoo. Over the last months of 2021, BAEMIN kicked off the Mèo Mặp Creating Shared Values initiatives through collaboration with two charity organisations: Blue Dragon Children's Foundation and SOS Children's Village. The company conducted virtual and offline events to connect the employees with the children such as an online concert and auctions to raise funds. The total fundraising was valued at more than 90 million Vietnam dong. This is also one of the things that employees at BAEMIN Vietnam always take pride in when it comes to helping build a better community.

BAEMIN always pays great attention to the mental health of its employees.

Even though BAEMIN has only been present in Vietnam for more than 2 years, the employee experience lies at the heart of whatever the company does. During the 4th wave of Covid-19, everyone who needed to come to the office was given BAEMIN coupons to order lunches. Employees who are tested positive with Covid-19 will be delivered a full-on medical kit. In addition, BAEMIN doesn’t forget to appreciate employees’ families through flower gifting for employees’ parents on the promotion occasion or luxury retreat vouchers so that employees can enjoy wonderful moments with their loved ones.

In the coming time, BAEMIN Vietnam will continue to unearth further initiatives to enhance their employees’ well being and satisfaction. So that together we can bring more value to our customers and the community.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, 27 January 2022) According to the report of the latest survey on the online food delivery market conducted by Q&Me at the end of 2021, BAEMIN continues to rank No.1 in customer satisfaction for the second straight year. In addition, BAEMIN is also the leading food delivery application in Vietnam when it comes to geographical coverage with its service available across 21 cities.

2021 witnessed the escalation of the Covid-19 pandemic that brought about many challenges to the society. The food delivery application BAEMIN, however, quickly expanded its service from 3 cities at the beginning of the year to 21 cities as of now. Regardless of the significant expansion, customer experience remains the central part of BAEMIN’s strategy and direction.

BAEMIN has become the leading food delivery app with the highest coverage in Vietnam, with its services now available in 21 cities

Mr. Jinwoo Song - CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam said: “In order to develop sustainably in an extremely competitive industry like online food delivery, BAEMIN has been striving constantly to become the trusted choice to deliver the best experience to our customers and stakeholders in Vietnam.” He added: “I am also delighted to see BAEMIN ranks first in customer satisfaction according to the latest market report. This result encourages BAEMIN to try harder in hope of bringing further unique and interesting experience to our stakeholders. In the future, our ambition is to position BAEMIN as a sympathetic friend who can help customers lead a better and more positive lifestyle.”

Besides its achievements in business growth and delivering optimal experience to the customers, BAEMIN is also very active in creating sustainable values ​for ​merchant- and rider-partners as well as the community, especially during the recent lockdowns.

In addition to the initiatives that aim at unleashing the merchants’ potential, BAEMIN also introduced the "BAEMIN Zone" campaign during the last months of 2021 to help merchant-partners promote their visibility by painting their stores with the signature mint colour and creating the unique impression to attract new customers. The campaign is currently developed within downtown areas with high traffic in big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, and Da Nang.

BAEMIN Zone helps restaurant partners expand their coverage area

As for rider-partners, not only does BAEMIN put together training programs to improve their knowledge and skills to help them increase their income, but BAEMIN also focuses on building a community to help their partners connect up and enrich their wellbeing. During new year occasion, BAEMIN launched the campaign "Tet Kindness with BAEMIN riders" to express the gratitude to outstanding individuals as well as spread positivity and bestow meaningful presents in hope of helping the riders in need alongside their families to have a happier Tet.

BAEMIN launched the "Generous Tet with BAEMIN riders" campaign

During the recent lockdowns, Mr. Kim Bongjin - founder of BAEMIN also contributed 20 billion VND to the Vietnam Covid-19 Vaccine Fund. Furthermore, BAEMIN also collaborated with Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union to gift more than 6,000 free meals and 1,000 welfare bags to disadvantaged people.

2021 can be seen as a turbulent year, but it is also a remarkable time for BAEMIN with important milestones when it comes to engaging meaningfully with its stakeholders. With the plan to improve and expand new businesses in 2022, BAEMIN hopes to serve more customers across Vietnam and help everyone lead a more positive and proactive lifestyle.

***

Ho Chi Minh City, 5 January 2022 – BAEMIN Vietnam – the current leading food delivery application in terms of geographic coverage – has appointed Jinwoo Song as its newest Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since Jan 1, 2022. Mr Jinwoo replaces Mr Kiwan Ihn – who has taken on the new role as Chief International Officer for Woowa DH Asia JV in Singapore.

Mr Jinwoo joined BAEMIN Vietnam last April as the Chief Strategy Officer. Since then, he has actively engaged in multiple projects to improve corporate profitability, develop new business verticals while strengthening the relationship of BAEMIN and its key partners.

Mr. Jinwoo Song, New CEO of BAEMIN Vietnam 

“It gives me great pleasure and excitement to have been appointed CEO at BAEMIN Vietnam at such a critical time for both the country and the food delivery industry enabled by technology” shared Jinwoo. “I joined BAEMIN Vietnam when the 4th wave of Covid-19 emerged. Our entire operations were put to the test and the role of food delivery, and the rider-partners have become vital to supporting the community during lockdowns. I am deeply touched to see how our stakeholders including the government, the partners and the customers have joined hands to combat Covid-19. Together with the dedicated and resilient team of BAEMIN Vietnam, I am looking forward to playing our part to create a sustainable impact for our stakeholders, helping create and nurture the local food ecosystem.” 

BAEMIN Vietnam is the current leading food delivery application in terms of geographic coverage

In this new role, Mr Jinwoo will be responsible for building the sustainable development strategy for BAEMIN’s operations in Vietnam, including food delivery, BAEMIN Mart, BAEMIN Kitchen and BAEMIN Studio. “I know the current food delivery market is very competitive so 2022 will be a very crucial year to turn into sustainable growth. BAEMIN has a unique DNA called Baeminess. “Excellence”, “customer-centric”, and “fun” represent the meaning of Baeminess well, and the Baeminess will be the main strategy for our 2022.” 

Mr Jinwoo will also continue BAEMIN’s mission to improve the lives and wellbeing of the rider-partners while empowering and supporting the merchant-partners so they can reach their full potential. “BAEMIN Vietnam will collaborate with our strategic stakeholders including the local government on meaningful projects to help our partners lead better lives and create shared values for the community”, shared Jinwoo.

The BAEMINess would be the main strategy for 2022

Before taking the helm at BAEMIN Vietnam, Mr Jinwoo worked for a leading Korean Private Equity Fund as the Vice President. Prior to that, he was holding several senior leadership positions both in Korea and overseas including Samsung Electronics EU and McKinsey & Company. He is an MBA holder from one of the world’s best business schools in Switzerland – IDM. 

As 2022 begins, BAEMIN has now become the number 1 food delivery application in Vietnam in terms of geographical coverage, covering 21 major cities across the country such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Can Tho, Hai Phong, and most recently Bac Ninh, Phan Thiet, Thai Nguyen. With the plan for continued improvement and expansion of new services, BAEMIN hopes to serve more users across Vietnam and help people enjoy great food at the location of their choice.

***

Ho Chi Minh City, 18 November 2021 – BM Daniel – the font that was designed by the food delivery app BAEMIN exclusively for the Vietnamese market – recently won the highest award “Best of the Best” at the Red Dot Awards 2021. This is the second time this font has been awarded and recognised by the world’s most prestigious design organisations after the “Type Champions Award” in 2020.

Inspired by its tremendous success with regards to the branding strategy in Korea, food delivery app BAEMIN developed and introduced a font exclusively for the Vietnamese market named BM Daniel. This font was created by BAEMIN and Rice Creative after the brand observed and learned about the local market as well as the characteristics of Vietnamese street food culture. BM Daniel squeezes the diacritics within a set cap-height, allowing the characters to come to life and helping readers to better relate with the witty content demonstrated by the font.

The BM Daniel font was designed specifically in Vietnamese style

In November, the BM Daniel font won the top award "Best of the Best" in the Brand and Communication Design category at the Red Dot Awards 2021. This recognises the best brands and creative work of every year and is considered one of the three major international design awards of the world besides iF and IDEA Design Awards. 

BAEMIN continuously impresses users with creative products

BM Daniel is praised for being able to express the Vietnamese alphabet in a witty and creative way, a challenge that is considered arduous for designers because of the complexity of Vietnamese unique diacritics marks. What’s more, this font has successfully embodied the charisma, beauty and characteristics of the Vietnamese language. To win this award, BM Daniel had fulfilled the judging rigorous criteria such as idea, form and impact. This was assessed by a jury made up of 24 leading independent experts in design and communication from all over the world.

This is also the second time BM Daniel font has won a global competition after winning last year’s Type Champions Award 2020 held by international typography company Monotype. At that time, the organizers stated that “BAEMIN has succeeded in unearthing a strong and impressive brand identity with just one font.”

Out-of-home advertising boards with witty messages from BAEMIN

Mr. Kiwan Ihn - CEO of Woowa Brothers Vietnam (the owner of BAEMIN application) shared: “BM Daniel plays a very important role in reaching Vietnamese users from the very first days of our inception. At BAEMIN, we care about our users’ emotions and constantly come up with innovative ideas and initiatives to cherish and celebrate those emotions. The design and development of our own font sets have been positively welcomed in Korea, we hope with this approach we can further tell unique and wonderful stories of Vietnamese cuisine and help connect up those who participate in the food technology ecosystem.”

Users can easily come across the BM Daniel font right in the BAEMIN application, on out-of-home billboards or through various promotional materials. This font is also used on BAEMIN rider-partners' uniforms or printed on BAEMIN logos displayed at merchant-partners’ locations.

Users can come across BM Daniel anywhere.

In hope of spreading the positive and joyful spirit, BAEMIN also produces familiar stationery “BAEMIN Studio” items with witty names printed in BM Daniel font such as Túi Ba Gang, Ly Hộp Bút, Khẩu Trang Luôn Vui Vẻ, Thẻ Quà Tặng or Áo Mưa Tí Tách. These have been widely loved and sought after by BAEMIN users.

In Korea, BAEMIN has been designing and releasing different font sets every year for the past 10 years. In Vietnam, BAEMIN has started developing the second font after BM Daniel, which is expected to publish in early December this year.

The “Ti Tach” raincoat - a favorable product from BAEMIN Studio

As of mid-November 2021, BAEMIN is the number 1 food delivery application in Vietnam in terms of geographical coverage, including 20 major cities across the country such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Can Tho, Hai Phong, and most recently Bac Ninh, Phan Thiet, Thai Nguyen. With the plan for continued improvement and expansion of new services, BAEMIN hopes to serve more users across Vietnam and help people enjoy great food at the location of their choice.

***

(Ho Chi Minh City, 06 October 2021) – Last weekend, food delivery app BAEMIN accompanied the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Miss Universe Vietnam H'Hen Niê to gift 1,000 welfare bags to the disadvantaged living in Ho Chi Minh city, whose economies have not yet been stabilized after our society gradually transitioned to a new normal. Previously, BAEMIN also collaborated with the Youth Social Work Center under the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union to give more than 6,000 free meals to individuals and households who were severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 4th wave of Covid-19 with constant complications has brought about many challenges to the people living in Ho Chi Minh City with regards to their business, production and daily life. Whilst the Government is striving for a gradual transition to a new normal from October, there are still many people in the city who are facing serious consequences left behind by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

1000 bags of essential food items were distributed with Miss Universe Vietnam H'Hen Nie

With the desire to contribute to the response and mitigation of the pandemic effects, the food delivery app BAEMIN has sided with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to support those residents living in difficulty. Through the reception of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, along with the companionship of Miss Universe Vietnam H'Hen Niê - the ambassador of the program, BAEMIN presented 1,000 welfare bags (with the value of VND 250 million) with meaningful and creative wishes printed on the bags. These wishes were directly crowdsourced and collected by BAEMIN from loyal users, in the hope that they can spread the spirit of solidarity, bringing warmth and happiness to the recipients.

The bags contained creative and meaningful messages printed on them

Mr. Kiwan Ihn – CEO of Woowa Brothers in Vietnam (the owner of BAEMIN) shared: “It gives us great pleasure to cooperate with the Youth Union in the journey of giving welfare bags to the people in need who are seriously impacted by the pandemic. As a food technology company with the ambition to create and nurture the food ecosystem, BAEMIN is committed to accompanying users and the community in the most testing times. We always hope to join hands with our partners and stakeholders to create shared value for everyone.”

Prior to that, BAEMIN also collaborated with Ho Chi Minh City Youth Social Work Center to give more than 6,000 free meals to people in need in August. BAEMIN worked closely with local authorities and stakeholders to ensure the arrangement of human resources and preparation of ingredients to ensure the highest food safety and hygiene. Meals are prepared on a daily basis and transported to people in quarantined areas, vulnerable groups who have lost income due to the pandemic as well as the frontline medical staff.

Previously, responding to the call of the Vietnamese Government, Mr. Kim Bongjin - Chairman of BAEMIN also donated VND 20 billion to the Vietnam’s Covid-19 Vaccine Fund and other prevention and control activities. The donation has been transferred to Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front in Ho Chi Minh City through World Vision. BAEMIN's staff also donated VND 100 million for the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund.

BAEMIN collaborated with the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Social Work Center to give out over 6,000 free meals to those in need during August 2021

With the mission of helping people “enjoy great food at the location of their choice”, BAEMIN was officially launched in Vietnam in May 2019. With unique marketing strategies, creative communications initiatives and attentive care for service quality, BAEMIN is currently one of the popular and trusted choices of users. BAEMIN is present in 15 major cities across the country including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Bien Hoa, Vung Tau, Can Tho, Hai Phong, Ha Long, Hoi An, Hue, Da Lat, Buon Ma Thuot, Nha Trang, Vinh, Thanh Hoa.

***

Ho Chi Minh City, 16 August 2021 – In response to the call of the Vietnamese Government, Mr. Kim Bongjin – Founder and Chairman of Woowa Brothers (the multinational corporation who owns BAEMIN food delivery app in Vietnam) has contributed VND 20 billion to the Vietnam’s COVID-19 Vaccine Fund through Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front in Ho Chi Minh City. 

With the desire to provide support to the Government and BAEMIN's partners in Vietnam, Mr. Kim Bongjin donated VND 20 billion to the Vietnam’s COVID-19 Vaccine Fund and other prevention and control activities. The donation has been transferred to Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front in Ho Chi Minh City through World Vision – a leading international humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organisation.

Mr. Kim Bongjin shared: “I am honored to make a humble contribution to the Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Fund and other prevention and control initiatives in Vietnam. Vietnam is the country that has always been in my heart because of the resilience, kindness, and solidarity of its local people. Although the current situation has posed some significant challenges, I believe that we will soon overcome this difficult period with unity and strength.”

Mr. Kim Bongjin is the founder and chairman of Woowa Brothers, the company that operates BAEMIN Vietnam

Additionally, in response to the call of the local authority, BAEMIN’s employees also raised a total of VND 100 million and donated to the Vietnam COVID-19 Vaccine Fund, through the Vietnam Fatherland Front in Ho Chi Minh City, with high hopes that the pandemic will soon be under control.

Given the complex escalation of the pandemic, BAEMIN’s services of food and essential goods delivery have become an important and indispensable need of the local people. BAEMIN is working relentlessly with local authorities to maintain the delivery operation progress in hope of ensuring business continuity as well as serving customers safely and timely.

“At BAEMIN, social responsibility is always at the heart of our business. I and BAEMIN Vietnam commit to working closely with the Government to support our partners, our customers, as well as the entire community to bring about a better future of positivity and brightness”, said Mr. Kim Bongjin. 

Along with sustainable business operations, social responsibility has always been one of the top priorities for BAEMIN

Mr. Kim Bongjin is a Korean entrepreneur who founded Woowa Brothers - the owner of BAEMIN application in Vietnam. Throughout his career, Mr. Bongjin has contributed more than KRW 28.37 billion to charity activities. In February 2021, Mr. Bongjin and his wife Ms. Bomi Sul became the first Koreans to sign the Giving Pledge, pledging to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. As his contribution to the national economy and the start-up ecosystem were highly recognised, Mr. Bongjin has been awarded twice by the South Korean Presidents (in 2014 and 2017) and won numerous other accolades.

In 2010, he founded Woowa Brothers – the Korea's leading operator of online food delivery service and one of Asia's leading "unicorns". In early 2021, Woowa Brothers joined forces and became a member of Delivery Hero from Germany – the world’s leading food technology group which is currently operating in more than 50 countries.

BAEMIN quickly gained the affection of Vietnamese users through creative advertising programs

BAEMIN was introduced by Woowa Brothers to Vietnamese users in May 2019. During only 2 years of operation, the food delivery app that dominates Korea's market has quickly conquered the hearts of local users with unique strategies, innovative marketing programs, and attentive focus on service quality. All of these have made BAEMIN become the leading application in terms of customer satisfaction, according to the latest research results of Q&Me in December 2020. BAEMIN has been present in 8 major cities across the country, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Bien Hoa, Vung Tau, Can Tho, Hai Phong and Ha Long. 

***

Ẩm thực Trung Hoa vốn luôn được yêu thích tại Việt Nam nhờ độ đa dạng, phong phú sẵn có. Các món ăn quen đã quá nhẵn mặt như dimsum, vịt quay, lẩu cho đến các món ăn vặt như trà sữa, xiên que đều được hưởng ứng nhiệt liệt. Nay hãy cùng BAEMIN check in tiệm bánh bao chiên nước kiểu Thượng Hải vô cùng đặc trưng từ hương vị cho đến cách ăn để khám phá xem món ăn này có gì mà thu hút đến thế.

Đây là Sheng Jian Bao - 生煎包, một loại bánh bao chiên đặc sản ở Thượng Hải từ đầu những năm 1990. Một trong những món ăn sáng phổ biến ở Thượng Hải bởi hương vị gây nghiện từ súp thịt lợn đậm đà được gói trong lớp vỏ bánh thơm ngon.

Gọi là bánh bao đấy, nhưng thực chất món bánh này có lớp vỏ dai mỏng từ bột mì lên men thay vì lớp vỏ dày xốp như bánh truyền thống thường thấy. Với cách chế biến độc đáo khi kết hợp giữa việc chiên được sử dụng dầu và nước để hấp bánh thật chín đều nhưng lại tạo được lớp đế vàng giòn lạ miệng mà không quá dầu mỡ. Phương pháp này đòi hỏi độ khéo léo để canh nhiệt thật chuẩn xác để cho ra lò những chiếc bánh có độ tương phản nửa mềm nửa giòn thật độc đáo. Sau cùng, bánh sẽ được rắc thêm hành lá và mè để bánh bao thêm phần thơm ngon.

Khi ăn, bạn phải cẩn thận kẻo bị bỏng miệng bởi phần nước súp nóng hổi được giữ nhiệt rất lâu nhờ vỏ bánh mỏng ôm trọn phần nhân thịt. Chớ quên thổi nguội rồi bạn hãy cắn một miếng nhỏ trên vỏ bánh để từ từ thưởng thức phần nước súp thịt heo đậm đà này. Nếu thích ăn cay, bạn có thể thêm một chút giấm đen và dầu ớt để tròn vị hơn.

Nhân thịt truyền thống sẽ bao gồm thịt heo băm và các loại gia vị. Và nhờ cách chế biến này, hương vị từ phần nhân như được giữ lại trọn vẹn trong chiếc bánh, giúp nhân thịt mềm mọng, ngọt thơm một cách tự nhiên. Lúc thưởng thức, bạn sẽ cảm nhận được sự kết hợp tuyệt vời giữa vị ngọt của bánh, vị bùi của thịt và vị chua cay của nước sốt.

Nếu muốn trải nghiệm hương vị thơm ngon này, bạn có thể đến quán Susubao tại địa chỉ 167A Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, P. Phạm Ngũ Lão, Quận 1. Với giá cả hợp lý chỉ từ 58k cho 4 chiếc bánh. Đây quả thật là một món ăn đáng để bạn trải nghiệm. Không chỉ vậy, tại Susubao còn cho ra mắt các biến tấu mới mẻ về hương vị như Lục Thành Bao và vị Tứ Xuyên. Từ lớp vỏ bột màu xanh bắt mắt, nhân thịt nhiều nấm và rau thơm hấp dẫn của Lục Thành Bao hoặc vị Tứ Xuyên cay thơm lạ miệng đều sẽ kích thích vị giác. Nếu đến tận nơi để thưởng thức, bạn còn có thể bắt gặp những pha nhào và cán bột điêu luyện thủ công để tạo nên những chiếc vỏ bánh dai mỏng.

Với công thức chuẩn phong vị từ người sáng lập gốc Thượng Hải, Susubao hứa hẹn sẽ mang đến cho bạn những trải nghiệm thú vị đến “ú òa” khi thưởng thức món bánh bao này. Không gian tiệm nhỏ xinh, phục vụ ngồi ăn tại chỗ lẫn mang đi khi được đóng gói chỉn chu. Bạn còn điều gì ngần ngại mà không mau lên kèo để thưởng thức những chiếc bánh ngon này thôi nào!

Địa chỉ: 167A Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, P. Phạm Ngũ Lão, Quận 1
Thời gian: 9h - 21h

When pursuing economic growth, the sustainable development strategy compels businesses to strike a balance between economic, social, and environmental factors. “Sustainable development” is one of BAEMIN's core focuses to grow business in the long-term.

At BAEMIN, sustainability comes from not only how we treat the environment or operate our businesses but also our partnerships with the merchant partners and deliver our goods and services to consumers.

BAEMIN’s Initiatives towards Sustainable Partnerships with Merchants

To establish sustainable development through partnerships with local merchants, BAEMIN’s approaches are to focus on supporting merchants towards sustainability, to pay attention to building an integrated community between BAEMIn and merchants, and improve their capabilities to earn extra profit. 

Some initiatives of BAEMIN to the merchant community include:

1. BAEMIN Academy

BAEMIN Academy is an education platform in both online and offline channels to support and provide new knowledge and skills needed to run a smooth and effective business model for merchants. 

One of BAEMIN Academy’s initiatives is “Bếp Biết Tuốt” ( Kitchen Know-it-all) - the latest project in a livestream platform in social media to actively listen and directly answer questions from merchants transparently.

1. BAEMIN Merchant Gathering

BAEMIN Merchant Gathering is an opportunity for merchant partners to have an engagement gathering periodically in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to come together and share knowledge, discuss all their operation stories, and connect and bond with BAEMIN and one another. 

1. B2B Mall

B2B Mall is an MOU partnership between BAEMIN and Serveone - a Korean leading purchasing solution expert in the domestic market, to provide merchants with eco-friendly packaging. 

1. Customer Service

Customer Service in BAEMIN for merchants is always of great care and importance. Especially, our key merchant partners will always be able to have one BAEMIN sales PIC to take care of and support on-site for sales operations.

1. BAEMIN Bridging Merchants to Non-merchant Partners

From merchants to non-merchant partners, BAEMIN supports closely in bridging and enhancing partnerships to bring more orders generated to merchants. They are the payment platforms from banks that can offer consumers more accessibility to use apps and trigger ordering. One of them is our close partnership with Shinhan Bank which with Shinhan cards can bring more promotion offers to consumers when ordering in BAEMIN.

BAEMIN’s Thought Leadership in Sustainability with Merchants

More than anyone, BAEMIN’s leaders do greatly care and inspire BAEMINists in sustainable development regarding long-term partnerships with merchants. A great example is when Mr. Jinwoo Song - BAEMIN’s CEO, joined a panel and made a speech in Vietnam Food and Beverage Conference 2023 by Vietcetera and Mastercard to spread awareness and inspiration regarding the importance of sustainability in merchant partnerships.

 “At BAEMIN, we are always looking for opportunities and initiatives to connect stakeholders within our operating ecosystem, helping them understand each other better and thus forming closer relationships. In the future, BAEMIN will continue to leverage its strengths to offer more unique products and services, helping everyone lead happier and more convenient lifestyles every day” - said Mr. Jinwoo Song, BAEMIN’s CEO, in the Conference.

Being aware of the importance of doing green and being green in business scope, BAEMIN has recently joined the EVs (electric vehicle) transforming trend in the delivery services market.

Currently, BAEMIN is in partnership agreements with SELEX MOTORS and DAT BIKE, the two manufacturing businesses providing EVs. The initiative is to pilot EVs for BAEMIN's riders, aiming to gather feedback and evaluations from riders when using EVs. By that, BAEMIN can propose policies to help riders save delivery costs. 

The upcoming plan of BAEMIN’s EV transformation is promising. An interview with our CEO has been conducted to deep down understanding about the potential movements of EV in the delivery services market.

1. After more than 1 month, BAEMIN cooperated with EV manufacturing businesses to pilot the use of electric motorbikes in transportation. How is the current positive result?

The pilot cooperation with SELEX MOTORS and DAT BIKE took place for the purpose of surveying and collecting opinions from rider partners when using EVs to deliver orders, from which BAEMIN will offer cooperation policies and appropriate rider assistance programs to help them save costs during order delivery.

After more than 1 month of implementing the EVs test program, we have received positive feedback from the rider team of BAEMIN. During the delivery process, our riders all appreciate that the process of using EVs is quite convenient, the bike moves smoothly and quickly, helping to increase the number of orders in a day and at the same time help them save costs compared to traditional petrol bikes. These are all desirable results in this pilot phase, demonstrating the great potential of the use of EVs in the future delivery process.

2. How cost-effective is the transformation to EVs compared to petrol ones?

Considering the current cost structure, it can be seen that BAEMIN's riders currently have to bear many expenses, such as fuel and maintenance fees. However, the use of EVs will help riders save fuel costs significantly, when with just 1 charge, the bikes can travel the same distance but the cost is much more economical than filling traditional gasoline. Especially for maintenance and maintenance fees, our riders think that they can save up to 50% of costs compared to using traditional petrol cars. This could help us reduce operating costs by 30% if we can successfully provide our riders with EVs in the delivery service.

In the future, BAEMIN will continue to support riders by collaborating with EVs manufacturers to design the most cost-effective means of transport and build battery exchange and fast charging stations, thereby encouraging BAEMIN riders to use EVs

3. What are BAEMIN's green transformation strategies in the coming time?

In 2023, BAEMIN will continue to carry out activities following previous projects, to promote environmental protection, in the field of online food delivery and retail. Regarding the use of envi-friendly delivery vehicles, after the end of the first phase of testing EVs for riders in Ho Chi Minh City, BAEMIN wishes to widely deploy the application of EVs to the riders’ delivery process, in order to reduce harmful emissions to the environment. We go from the reality of the EVs model introduced to the Vietnamese market to identify and evaluate this ecosystem. We focus on EVs factories and BAEMIN, and also banks and insurance companies to ensure the development of the EVs ecosystem and better plan when bringing more EVs to the Vietnamese market.

To reduce the use of single-use packaging, BAEMIN will continue the project "BAEMIN B2B Mall" and promote the use of environmentally friendly packaging to solve the problem of sustainable consumption and circular economy, setting the goal of replacing traditional plastic packaging with products made with eco-friendly materials at restaurant partner branches across Vietnam.

At the same time, BAEMIN also wishes to promote cooperation with experts and professional units in the field, to organize educational activities in the form of seminars, contests, etc. to raise awareness of the community on environmental protection, encouraging young people to learn about environmental legislations and propose solutions to protect the environment sustainably.

4. Through cooperation with the EVs company, how BAEMIN specifically evaluates the business benefits of the order delivery platform?

We evaluate the business benefits from both the business perspective, the rider team, and the EVs factory. First, manufacturing plants can sell more EVs and reduce production costs. Second, riders can save money on repair and warranty costs. Third, our application from there can both reduce transportation operating costs and emissions control costs.

The use of EVs not only helps to reduce harmful emissions but also optimizes operating costs through a fast battery change/charge mechanism. This brings economic benefits to the riders and provides a more comfortable travel experience since it does not cause noise and gas fumes. Thereby, BAEMIN provides better online delivery services, especially in crowded urban areas, helping partners improve service quality and satisfy customers. This cooperation not only brings benefits to both parties, but also brings sustainable value to the entire ecosystem, benefits users, riders, and merchant partners and minimizes the impact of business operations on the environment.

It can be seen that this cooperation is a combination of two extremely potential fields, in both the online food delivery field and the EVs market, promising to bring to the community sustainable values. In addition, when combining testing with a variety of EVs manufacturers, BAEMIN riders will have diverse experiences and make more comprehensive assessments and comments on the features of each EVs brand.

What does it mean to be user-centric? What do we do to understand our users? Come talk to our UX Researcher and learn about this exciting field.

Nice to meet you Phuong, could you tell us about UX Research?

Phuong: Hello! UX Research stands for “User eXperience Research” and it’s a relatively “young” field. We’re still a small team, so it’s only natural that not many people have heard about us.

Generally, we do UX Research to understand our users, and leverage those insights to develop or improve our products & services. 

I also think that UX Research has another benefit, which is to immerse ourselves in the context of the users. Not just the UX researcher, but designers and product managers join the full research cycle, from formulating hypotheses, creating a plan to test users, observing the interview, debriefing and brainstorming on the results. This immersion helps us empathize with them. “In the same context, with the same personalities, what would the users do?” 

If we empathize with our users, we will design and make our products in a way that’s relatable to them. If we truly understand our users, we don’t only know what the users want, but we can also predict what they will need - even before they themselves are aware of it.

Wow, that’s such an exciting goal! How do you manage to pull that off?

Phuong: More often than not, while we are striving to understand our users, we discover that we don’t understand our colleagues well enough or reach an agreement among ourselves. For example, one team may think that the current feature doesn't work well enough, so they ask to make another one. Tech on the other hand may be skeptical and question that request, because they think it’s a subjective judgment. 

And it's perfectly normal for everyone to be critical, to make sure our product stays true to our strategy. So in such cases, UX Research can provide all parties with the data to resolve the dispute, and reach a common direction for our product development.

I can totally imagine different teams having different views and concerns. So what exactly do you do then?

Phuong: While planning and improving our products, there are a lot of ideas and we assume the users will behave in a certain way. During UX Research, we meet real users to check out those assumptions. For qualitative research, we interview them directly. For quantitative research, we design an online questionnaire and encourage our users to do it via the BAEMIN mobile app.

After that comes the fun part: we’ll look at the collected data and make some sense out of it.

I understand about the online questionnaire, but what do you mean by “interview” the users? And how do you manage that part, now that we're working hybrid?

Phuong: We tend to be flexible with the interview mode. Sometimes, we invite users into the lab and let them interact with our product or interview them on-site, depending on which user we're interviewing. We can easily observe their facial expressions, hand gestures, and more or less have better control over the test environment. 

Since the pandemic, we have learned to conduct interviews online too. That means less control and more tasks, such as training the users to use video conferencing software. To compensate, we have to get better at multitasking: asking questions, observing their facial expressions on the camera, instructing users, taking notes, and many other administrative tasks of hosting a video call - all at the same time. 

Furthermore, security also requires attention, since the users are not in our proximity. Prototypes must be secured, demo roles must be manually assigned and then removed after the session completes, for example.

So many things to keep track of! But I bet those hard works pay off. Can you share some insights, if they’re not confidential?

Phuong: It’s quite hard to say in detail, but through UX Research we’ve been surprised to discover that the users don’t behave the way we assumed them to, at all. Buttons that we thought to be intuitive may not be understood as clickable by our users, for instance.

I guess as a team, we have been working together closely, so there’s a risk of developing a collective style. Even when we ask our colleagues for feedback, after all, aren't we working in the same environment, with more or less the same background and education, even having similar perspectives? It’s all too easy for us to have the same blindspots. UX Research helps us to think more objectively and inclusively, and sheds some light to illuminate those blindspots. We’ll see how our product is actually used “out there” by real users. Is it used the way we intend it to?

When you invite real users to try a new feature, how do you select them?

Phuong: BAEMIN has a clear user profile with particular attributes. You may think that we select the very same target group for UX Research, but that’s not the case. In fact, we’d like to talk to a varied audience. 

The reason is that our products are used by not just the typical user, but by others too. A diverse user group will bring us diverse perspectives to do a mindful and inclusive design. The ultimate goal here is for everyone to enjoy our services equally.

Inclusive design - we love this mindset. But I guess that your job has certain difficulties too. 

Phuong: That’s right. There are several old perceptions: that research is a long, effort-consuming job, or that deadline takes a higher priority over output, or that UX Research is useful only when 2 parties argue over an assumption.

On the contrary, UX Research should be considered the North star giving us a direction to follow, instead of a nice-to-have task to be skipped when convenient. We hope that UX Research can help us to be even more user-centric in our work. In the development cycle, we should do research the sooner the better. If we test it while it’s still in ideation phase, it’ll be easier to adjust and we’ll save on resources later on. 

Sometimes if you want to play safe, you skip UX Research and do competitor research instead. That may save you time, but you’ll forever be a game follower. To be a game changer, we must understand our users and lead the changes.

Thanks for your heartfelt sharing. I think we gained some insights in the UX Research field and our own working culture as well!

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Written by: Phương Hàn - UX Researcher 
Edited by: Anh Vũ - Developer Relations 

Group Order (GO) has always been one of the most requested features for a long time, and in 2023 it’s finally come true. In this article, let us take you backstage where the feature was developed.

1. Why?

a. From the user's perspective: Group order doesn’t have to be painful.

In daily life, it is generally considered good hospitality to invite or join others for food and drinks. Sure enough, there are many special occasions that people want to eat and drink together: it can be someone’s birthday or anniversary, an occasion like Women’s Day, or just a normal TGIF moment where everyone likes to have a nice treat. It can also be the daily lunch and tea break when you want to merge your order with other people to share the delivery fee.

So you decide to host a group order. How do you do that?

The usual “process” is that you send the resto name and perhaps some screenshots of their menu to the group chat, then people reply with what they want, and you manage the order manually. Another way is passing your phone around for everyone to order, of course that comes with the annoying screen sleeping and phone auto-locking, not to mention that there’s no way to keep track of what each person selects. When the order arrives, more often than not some people can’t recall their items, and mix-up will likely happen.

Afterwards comes a round of splitting the bill between yourselves: once more each person needs to recall what they had, looks for that item in the order screenshot, does some petty maths, then they finally are able to pay back to the host. Or the host could do the math for everyone, then inform each person what they owe.

It’s easy to see how hosting an order can be a petty nuisance. The more people join, the more complicated it becomes. That’s where GO comes into play.

b. To business demands: Everybody wins.

Now let’s put on our business-thinking hat and look at GO from another angle. What do we expect to gain from this feature?

Firstly, it’s a window to acquire new users. When your colleagues join a GO on BAEMIN, if you want to join them you’ll need to download the app and create an account (if you’re new). So when we promote GO as a new feature, we can consider combining the new user promotions to make it even more enticing to trigger and convert non-users.

Secondly, GO aids upselling. GO encourages and enables many users to merge their purchases into one single order to save delivery cost and claim coupons. This leads to bigger baskets, which is obviously beneficial to the business.

Thirdly, GO helps Merchants to increase the size of the order, thus increasing their revenue. Furthermore, it fastens up the process, because generally it takes less time to prepare a 5-item order than 5 single-item orders. 

It’s obvious that GO enables this win-win-win relationship between the user, BAEMIN, and the Merchant: Users can enjoy more promotions, Merchant can sell more items, and we generate more revenues.

2. How it came to be

a. Complex user flow

Although GO is quite simple from a single user’s standpoint, no matter if they’re a host or a member, it’s a different story from the technical point of view.

First of all, we had to create a brand new experience that’s totally different from the normal individual order. That means we have to educate our users about new behaviors, for example, guests have to confirm their items after adding, or users can check the splitted bills after placing an order.

Next, for a group order, communication is key. Until now, users communicated outside of the BAEMIN app. With GO, we try to convey order information well, so that users don’t have to discuss back and forth via chat apps. Therefore, we must handle and notify users of all changes including user activities and item/order status. Considering what’s happening outside the app, the usage context, and the number of participants in a group order, the number of use cases and errors generated could be considerable and complex.

And finally, for the normal individual order, the necessary sequenced actions to place an order are done by one user only and are unchanged. However for a GO, many users participate in the sequence with different roles (one host and many guests). Our job was to anticipate most scenarios, and how best to facilitate those real-life interactions with an online user flow.

After careful planning and development, it’s time to put our assumptions to the test.

b. First impressions

To check its usability and effectiveness before launch, we ran two internal tests: a usability test by the UX Research team, and a pilot with 100 BAEMIN employees. In this pilot, from 10 Feb to 07 Mar 2023 these employees could host group orders in HCMC, Hanoi, and Danang.

We were glad to see that our assumption was true.

Most people were happy with the GO feature, but many still tried to add valuable inputs regarding its usability. Thanks to the thorough comments of our colleagues, many adjustments were made to improve the feature further. At the beginning of March, it was ready for mass users, and we rolled it out on production gradually from 10-31 Mar. From 01 Apr 2023, all BAEMIN users can host a GO.

3. Moving forward

Even after production rollout, the user flow would still be enhanced further in our next releases. There are some new additional features that we’ll tackle in the next phase and other interesting add-ons that will increase user experience.

Thanks for reaching this far. Please enjoy the feature and watch out for our next release. 

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Written by: Trí Nguyễn - Product Manager
Edited by: Anh Vũ - Developer Relations 

A straightforward dialogue with Tung Phan (Site Reliability Engineering Manager) and Dong Phan (Head of Engineering), where we talk about money and liken system monitoring to stock trading.

Let’s skip the niceties and address the biggest elephant in the room: Money is our major concern.

Dong: That’s true. At the moment, return-on-investment is the key concern for most tech companies globally, and certainly in Vietnam we’re also feeling intense pressure. That’s why cost optimization is our current focus. 

Tung: Actually cost optimization isn’t a new directive, at least from Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) point of view. It’s something that we’re constantly mindful about. For example, if there are two systems with similar performance, but one costs twice as much to run, you would say that it’s not efficient. 

Imagine how a symptom signifies a sickness, in the same way, cost efficiency alerts us to the health of our system. It’s also a common requirement to build and run a product at the lowest cost possible.

Glad that we see eye to eye right off the bat. So how are we doing on that front?

Dong: We’ve been optimizing costs gradually in phases. After several months of experiments and fine tuning, we’re happy to say that there have been visible improvements in Phase 1, and there will be even more in the future.

Could you elaborate?

Dong: Phase 1 is mostly about computing resources. We use Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for data storage and analysis, Amazon Web Services (AWS) for infrastructure, and some other services. We succeeded in slashing both GCP and AWS costs with 3 key initiatives:

• Automatic scaling of resources to match the incoming traffic;
• Auditing and removing obsolete resources;
• Improving the evaluation and estimation process of capacity planning.

Apart from optimizing cloud computing budgets, there are other ways to bring down our spending that we’re tackling in Phase 2. They are all quite big projects and will yield results later this year.

Alright, so let’s talk first about what we already achieved in Phase 1. How did we cut costs without negatively impacting products and services performance?

Tung: Ah, let me explain it. Cloud computing spending can be classified into fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs, such as databases, cannot be scaled quickly when the traffic fluctuates. Variable costs on the other hand can.

For fixed costs, we review and analyze the traffic trends every 2 months, then make adjustments to the database management accordingly. That’s why you’ve seen that the database cost has steadily declined. We do it every 2 months because it’s long enough for a meaningful analysis. A shorter time period means fewer fluctuations in traffic trends, leading to riskier evaluation.

What about variable costs?

Tung: Variable costs largely depend on the day-to-day traffic, and because the traffic fluctuates by a great margin, SRE team has to monitor the system closely. It involves looking at a lot of charts, anticipating how traffic would shift and by how much, and then adjusting various resources to accommodate. 

So to summarize, our goal is to minimize the gap between our expectation and the actual traffic. Funny enough, that is strangely similar to trading on a stock market: you also look at huge charts, predict how a stock would react to a social-economic event, and then buy or sell your assets accordingly.

Oh, I’ve seen some so-called recipes to predict stock market trends circulated on the internet. Do you by any chance follow some best practices like that?

Tung: That’s another funny similarity between system monitoring and stock trading. We have our own “rules of thumb”, but they’re technical of course. These best practices are collectively developed from the way our infrastructure is engineered, combined with the actual experiences of the team in charge of system monitoring. 

For example, for a task with boot time of 5 minutes, auto scaling should be around how many percent, health check should take how many seconds, and so on.

Wow, even when equipped with best practices, system monitoring does sound like hard and delicate work!

Tung: The monitoring and tuning of our system is truly an art. Not only does it depend on the team’s hands-on experiences, but it is also strongly impacted by the actual user traffic - something that we can only anticipate to some extent and with a safety margin. Because there are simply too many factors that affect a campaign’s traffic that nobody has full control over.

I’m assuming that each team anticipates a campaign differently.

Tung: That’s correct. For example, the Sales team may focus on the number of orders. However from Tech perspective, traffic volume is our topmost concern because we have to ready the infrastructure to afford that traffic. 

There has been a campaign where the traffic increased by 1,800% in one minute. It was a field trip for our team.

Let’s cut to the chase: How much did we save exactly?

Dong: As usual we can’t disclose the exact figures, but I can say that for GCP as of last December, we spent only one third of the cost in May 2022.

Tung: For AWS, we were able to decrease the cost quite significantly down to 70% compared to last June.

That’s amazing. Did the effort to cut costs hurt our capacity for product development?

Dong: As Tung mentioned in the beginning, cost efficiency is actually tied to SRE’s SLAs, therefore the bulk of these tasks are in their scope. So our capacity for product development hasn’t been affected. The Tech Division has kept up the release schedule to meet BAEMIN’s business requirements.

How about the product's performance? 

Tung: The performance of our products and services has been stable despite decreasing cost. Performance is tracked by many metrics, so let me single one out for example. 

The following chart shows the 90th and 99th percentile, or P90 and P99 respectively, of Elastic Load Balancing’s response time in the last 6 months.

Simply put, P90 and P99 represent the threshold response time that 90% and 99% of users are happy with when using our app. As you can see, both P90 and P99 have stayed pretty much in the same range throughout the last 6 months. So we can safely say that 99% of users don’t experience any change in app performance, in spite of all the cost optimization we’ve pulled off behind the scenes.

Dong: I’d like to chime in that many components collectively contribute to the app performance. There’s our codebase of course, but there are also multiple third-party services and the client device itself to factor in. And with Phase 2 in this year, I believe that our products and services will be able to run more efficiently and at even lower costs.

Can you tease a little about what we’ll do in the next Phase?

Dong: There are actually several initiatives, such as database refinement, third-party service usage, or codebase optimization. Personally, I’m very enthusiastic about transitioning our architecture to microservice design. Although it’s a formidable project, it will let us scale the service in a more flexible and economical manner.

Tung: From the SRE side, recently we’ve seen the new trend of applying AI. Now, we are relying on human’s experiences, but these experiences and historical Marketing data could be collected and learned by AI models. With enough data, the model could detect patterns and suggest the best course of actions to handle a similar situation. This could be a complementary solution to efficient monitoring - but we still have a long way to go yet.

This has been an enlightening talk. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the next exciting updates from you!

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Interviewed by: Anh Vũ - Developer Relations