Kulon Pte. Ltd.
Kulon Pte. Ltd. is an F&B business located in Singapore. They specialize in bakmi (Indonesian dry noodles). Opened in October 2020, they had a short window where the pandemic situation became more stable before another set of lockdowns forced them to quickly explore different ways to reach out to their customers. My knowledge in CMS web development and design proved helpful in their operations. I took on this job as it was something interesting that was out of my area of expertise which I felt I could learn from and also contribute to. I’ll be highlighting some of the more interesting things I was involved in. This is a pro-bono position.
Online Food Ordering Platform • Copywriting • Other tasks
Online Food Ordering Platform
What was initially developed as a regular restaurant website had to be converted into an online food ordering platform when another lockdown happened in June 2021. I took around 36 hours over Saturday and Sunday to devise a plan, clean up the old website, test out options, and get the new website up and running by Sunday night.
Overhauling a website over a weekend
- Fills a gap in Kulon’s operations by leveraging on tech
- Quick turnaround for a mission critical feature
The original plan for the website was to provide a stronger online presence for Kulon. However, the fast changing pandemic situation meant that Kulon had to utilize the resources it already has and alter its operations to better suit the current set of guidelines. The lockdown in June 2021 prohibited dining in and limited the number of customers that could be in the premises at any one time.
The overhauled website allowed Kulon to reach out to several demographics that were otherwise unreachable in that situation. Namely, people who aren’t able to go out on their own and people who want to spend as little time as possible in public.
A bonus to it was that it allowed people who knew they’d be passing by or essential workers who had to be in the area the ability to plan ahead and pre-order their food before collecting it at their preferred time slot.
The platform also ensured that orders are properly managed on the backend so all they needed to do was have a laptop. It will play a chime when an order comes in and the staff can change the status of the order as they process it. Sales reports are also updated in real time; providing valuable information that complemented the Point of Sales machine.
In line with the safety measures, payment was only able to be made through contactless means. I leveraged on the existing QR code based bank transfer (PayNow) and mobile wallet (PayLah!) options that Kulon is already using.
I set it up so that a receipt of the transaction along with the QR code would be emailed to the customer to review the purchases and make the payment if they had navigated away from the page.
This initiative provided a bulk of the sales that occurred during the lockdown. Some customers mentioned that it made Kulon a preferred choice for them due to the convenience and liked that it provided a self-pickup take-out service without additional charges to the middleman on existing food delivery platforms. The platform proved to be well received that it is still in use at the time of writing despite the loosening of pandemic measures.
Copywriting
I assisted the Kulon social media team in their social media strategy. While I helped brainstorm for content, my main duty was in copywriting. Other than the social media posts, I helped with official communications from replying customers’ inquiries to preparing templates for commonly asked questions.
Other tasks
- Assisting with designing floor plan, planning and optimizing the space with service design principles
- Assisting in product research
- Last mile delivery when ingredients are running low
- Front of house service and dishwasher
- Working with the owner to 3D print and hide chicken figurines around the shop with no explanation as a fun Easter egg