How to use the GrabMerchant app to run your store

The GrabMerchant app is where you run your GrabFood store, the food delivery app your customers order on. Six tabs do the daily work: Orders to see each order and track its delivery partner¹, History for your daily orders over the past 30 days², Scheduled for advance orders³, Menu to switch off what has run out⁴, Inbox for Grab's updates⁵, and More for your hours, your availability and the help centre⁶. Using the GrabMerchant app well is mostly about habits: the right roles for your team, notifications that ring, the Ready button pressed at the right moment, and sold out dishes switched off before a customer orders them. Each of those habits changes figures Grab reads about your store. This guide goes through them in the order a service runs, citing Grab's own help centre, mostly Singapore's, whose articles describe the same app.

What does each tab of the GrabMerchant app do?

• Orders: every incoming order, its details, and where its delivery partner is¹.
• History: your daily order history for the past 30 days².
• Scheduled: orders placed in advance, between 60 minutes and 2 days ahead, so the kitchen is not caught at the last minute³.
• Menu: your items, and the switch that makes one unavailable when you run out of stock⁴.
• Inbox: Grab's updates⁵, and, in Singapore, your customers' chats²⁶.
• More: your outlet's availability and hours, and the help centre⁶.

The GrabMerchant portal, on a computer, adds what the counter does not need: real-time updates to your menu³⁵, your reports, your insights. Use the app at the counter and the portal for the weekly review.

Who on your team should have which role?

Grab gives three roles. The Owner has full access to the portal and the app, and adds employees and sets what each one can see⁷. A Cashier has limited access, primarily for managing orders and daily sales⁸, and cannot create ads or promotions¹⁰. One default is worth changing: by default, Cashiers can edit the store menu on the app⁹. If staff at the counter should only switch dishes on and off, set the menu edit behind a PIN, so prices and descriptions are changed by the owner or the store manager only.

How do you make sure no order goes unseen?

An order that rings late is prepared late, and an order that never rings can end cancelled. On Android, check that GrabMerchant notifications are on and their importance is set to High or greater¹¹. Huawei and Xiaomi phones have task killer services that may interfere with notifications¹²; add GrabMerchant to the allowed apps in the phone's security settings. Give each kind of order its own sound, so the kitchen hears whether an order is new, scheduled or cancelled¹³. And keep the counter phone off silent: notification sounds won't work if your device is on Silent mode¹⁴.

What should you do when an order arrives?

Look at the estimated preparation time at once. You can edit it within the first three minutes of receiving an order¹⁵, and you should when the kitchen is busier than usual: an accurate time brings the delivery partner when the food is ready, not before and not after. Grab Singapore recommends preparing orders within 15 minutes¹⁶.

Why does the Ready button matter so much?

Because Grab learns from it. Tap Ready only when an order is completely prepared and packaged for pickup¹⁷. Used correctly, it helps Grab's system adjust the estimated preparation time for your future orders²⁰. Pressed too early, it can raise your order delay rate and lower your quality score¹⁸, affecting your ranking and visibility on the platform¹⁹.

Singapore says what is at stake. Stores that meet their estimated preparation times may enjoy improved in-app visibility with a dedicated carousel and optimised radius²¹. Stores with a significantly low on-time preparation rate may face limitations in campaign participation and a slight reduction in radius²². The button costs one tap; the habit decides how far away customers can still find you.

What do you do when a dish runs out or the kitchen is full?

Act in the app before the next order, not after it. In the Menu tab, make the item unavailable⁴. If you cook a fixed number of portions, a sales limit can help prevent overselling when stock runs out²³. When the kitchen is full, switch to Busy: your store stays open and receiving orders, but with a longer preparation time²⁴. Each of these stops a cancellation that would otherwise count against your store.

How do you answer a customer after the order?

In Singapore, customers can start a chat with you for up to 3 hours after their order is completed²⁵, and you find the chats in the Inbox, under Chats²⁶. Use chat for what you can fix: a clarification, a missing side dish, a redelivery or replacement at your own cost³⁶. For stores where direct chat resolution is switched on, which Grab says is available to only select merchants²⁸, speed matters: if you don't reply within 30 minutes of a customer's first message, the system tells them to escalate to support²⁷. A quick, polite answer can keep a complaint from becoming a low rating.

Where do you read how your store is doing?

Two places. The History tab shows your orders, and marks with an "Ads" label each order an ad influenced²⁹. In Singapore, an order counts for an ad if it was placed within 24 hours of an ad click³⁰ or 1 hour of an ad view³¹: that label tells you which orders your ad budget really brought.

Insights, in the app and the portal, show your sales, your customers and your operations. Its offline rate shows how often your store was paused during the scheduled opening hours³². In the portal you can compare one store or several over any dates within the past 90 days³³.

Should you ever log out of the GrabMerchant app?

Only when you must. Grab warns that after you log out, your restaurant will still appear as available to customers, but they will not be able to order³⁴. A customer who finds you open and cannot order goes to the next restaurant. To close for the day, set your hours or your availability in the More tab instead⁶.

What should you check each day?

• The counter phone: notifications on, importance high, not on silent, GrabMerchant allowed to run in the background.
• Each new order's preparation time in its first three minutes.
• Ready tapped when the bag is closed, never before.
• Sold out dishes switched off, and a sales limit on the dishes you cook in batches.
• Busy mode at the rush, back to normal after.
• Customer chats in the Inbox, answered within half an hour.
• Once a week: the Ads labels in History, and your offline rate in Insights.

Kontimo reads your GrabMerchant figures each month and says, in plain language, which habit in the app is costing your store orders, so the next thing to change is the one that matters.