Category: Articles

Food Delivery, Uncategorized

Fiesta Meals to Add in Your Noche Buena!

Nov 22, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

Every home gives their best when it comes to preparing delicious meals to the table for everyone to share. Good food, deep conversations, boisterous laughs, big stories, important announcements, and loud music are just some of the things we think about when the Christmas Season comes near. It’s always exciting and warm to anticipate and look forward to.

It doesn’t come off as a surprise to say that Filipino —especially during the holidays take things up a notch in the food scene. Noche Buenas are like mini fiestas. Every family has their own way of celebrating with their relatives and friends and usually, it won’t be complete without a table full of appetizing dishes and scrumptious treats & desserts for everybody to try! If you want to amp up your fiesta menu and have a hassle-free holiday preparation, check out some of our E-Store Merchant’s that you and your relatives would surely love to bond over when you order online!

Fiesta To Go 

If you find yourself having trouble deciding on what to serve for the upcoming Fiesta celebrations, Fiesta To Go can help you curate the menu that will satisfy your family and friends. They offer a variety of mouth watering classic Filipino favorite dishes perfect for any occasion of different sizes. Their overflowing list of delicious food will definitely get you excited and create a memorable occasion for your guests.  

Order Here!

Giligan’s

Giligan’s is one of the most beloved local Filipino restaurants in the country. With over 100+ branches nationwide, they offer affordable and appetizing Filipino dishes perfect for a fiesta celebration or any occasion. Established in 1997, they take pride in providing quality food at a reasonable price. Sizzling Sisig and Fried Garlic Chicken are just a few of their yummy specialties. Just looking at their delicious menu would make you crave for every dish you see. 

Order Here!

Vito’s BBQ

A Fiesta won’t be complete without barbeque. Vito’s BBQ has one of the most savory grilled menu in town. Philippine Daily Inquirer even tagged them as one of the Top Food Take Outs of the Year. A testament of their good food and great service. This restaurant was founded by Mike and Karlene Pelayo with a shared goal of serving the most delicious chicken barbeque in town. And clearly, they have done just that with the overwhelming and top reviews from all of their customers. But Barbecue isn’t the only food they serve. Among their menu are classic Filipino dishes like Pancit Malabon, Classic Spaghetti and the fan favorite, Shanghai. 

Order Here!

King Chef

Give your fiesta celebration a taste of Chinese cuisine with King Chef’s best-tasting and healthy authentic Cantonese food. King Chef is a well-loved Dimsum and Cantonese restaurant. They offer bundles and trays of their dishes you can choose from, enough for all of your hungry visitors. A serving of good stir-fried noodles should also never be left out on these occasions. As Filipinos have this belief that eating noodles can prolong their life. Check out their Chef’s Recommendations and get a taste of their Cantonese culinary creations.  

Order Here!

Food has always brought people closer and made celebrations more memorable. But preparing food should also be fun and stress free. With these restaurants, celebrating with your loved ones will make it extra special. So what are you waiting for? Save your time and money by heading over to these restaurants’ websites. Curate your fiesta’s menu and have your food delivered right to your doorstep.

Business, Marketing

Holiday Email Marketing Strategy for you E-Stores 

Nov 15, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

Traffic spikes, email topics and what to offer, special design elements and how to make them unite into an effective email offer — there are so many details to consider especially when thinking about the holidays. Whether it’s mega shopping holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, or shopping spikes that occur more regularly, like seasonal blow out sales, it is best to make sure your customers get all the holiday updates and deals they could. That’s why we have prepared the article just for you- holiday strategy apps for your E-Stores! 

What Is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a direct marketing channel that lets businesses like yours share new products, sales, and updates with customers on their contact list. Think of it as a way to communicate better with your customers to offer your best deals and promotions. You can also do personalizations in your writings and design, segmentation of your customers, and target specific sets of people that you want to reach out to and offer your deals.

This coming holiday season,  we understand that building promotions is not always an easy task to brainstorm and execute with everyone in business getting busy! So to help our merchants and also future F&B merchants out there. Here’s some basic steps to set up your promotions this coming Holiday! 

Setting Up Your Email marketing

Sending emails helps build up in anticipation of sales. Aim for an initial announcement email, followed by a couple of valuable emails designed to keep your product top of mind. Also, consider offering exclusive pre-sales coupons only for email subscribers.

To really get the most out of email marketing for Black Friday & Cyber Monday use these tips when setting up your email marketing! 

  • Subject lines. Try to test out a range of subject lines in advance. Your client’s subscribers are going to be swamped with emails around BFCM, so you need to make sure you stand out. Make sure subject lines clearly state the offering.
  • Transactional emails. Make sure you tailor all outgoing transactional emails to BYCM promotions. Encourage shoppers to return to your client’s online store for future purchases with a time-sensitive discount coupon.
  • Last minute reminders. Target shoppers who have abandoned their carts or browsed without buying.
  • Landing pages. Make sure you create landing pages for your top sellers and link to CTAs within promotional emails. Always double check that all links work correctly and are being tracked using UTM parameters.

Drive traffic to the retail store (and vice versa). For clients who have a brick-and-mortar store, use email marketing to drive foot traffic from their online store to their retail store, such as offering in-store only promotions.

Business, Success Stories

Vito’s BBQ : From Home to Successful Business

Nov 11, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

Vito’s BBQ is commonly called the Pambansang BBQ! They started as a home-grown family business with just the intention to send their BBQ to their family members and other relatives during the pandemic to show their concern and care for their loved ones. Who would have thought that it could lead to where they are right now? Here’s their success story! Read on.

What’s The Story Behind Vito’s BBQ Branding: 

Ms. Karlene Pelayo, the owner of Vito’s BBQ shared their story via our Zoom Interview on Online Selling: Tips from the Experts.  She shared their beginnings and their transition from being a home business to now having 7 successful branches: The Alley Acropolis QC, Ronac Art Center, San Juan, Chino Roces, Makati, BF Aguirre Paranaque, Greenhills, Banawe QC, SM North Edsa and with more branches to soon open! 

Vito’s BBQ was named after their son Vito who was 5 years old then , when they decided to take a chance on their business venture. They wanted their product to be fun and relatable to the millennials and that translated to their use of colors in their packaging and overall branding. Every detail including the artworks we see in their branches, the graffiti look in their stalls, and artwork doodles in their branding is inspired to their son Vito’s favorite toys! To the mass- it’s fun, new, and exciting!  Ms. Karlene shared that they wanted Vito’s BBQ to be different in the Food Industry here in the PH- which is why they decided  to go this kind of route of creativity. They have shown how to adapt to the changes given the Pandemic and stayed guided with their principle and core belief of their brand.

Growing and Scaling 

Vito’s BBQ was known because of the quality of the taste of their boneless chicken BBQ which started as a gift and now continues on as a gift product from families to other families in any occasion. Ms. Karlene Pelayo shared during the interview “ For your business to scale- you must earn trust. That’s the way you can scale and grow, when people trust your product and service.” She even shared that selling online with the help of ZAP  helped her business grow. It’s about being open and adaptive to changes in how one offers a service/ product to the mass. “ZAP helped set up our online operation that gave us the ability to focus on our food and made our process so much easier.” – Ms. Karlene shared in the interview.  Businesses scale because of the quality of one’s service/ product.

Your Food Industry with ZAP 

Vito’s BBQ has been a merchant partner working with ZAP to continuously grow to be successful in the Food Industry. One of Ms. Karlene’s favorite features of ZAP’s E-Store is the real time update for order because it’s easy to follow up and update your store’s products and customer orders! It makes every process in the food industry seamless and effective for generating sales and growing your business! 

Having an E-Store for your business allows you to build a personality of your brand and help you be connected to your customers. It’s a platform that will help you be proud of what you will offer! An easy transaction for your customers and your business. What’s Vito’s BBQ now? Better! “People are curious and they always want to know and try new things.” – Ms Karlene. Vito’s BBQ is an example of something that’s new in the Philippines Food Industry! That uniqueness and drive to be creative with your branding will reflect on how your business will go about and thrive. Right now they are collaborating with other companies to be more accessible in Metro Manila and maybe Nationwide! They’re also offering franchising which you can visit in their E-Store. Want to start your own successful online business? Work with us.

Food Industry, Marketing

ZAP Loyalty for Nature Republic : Online + Offline Loyalty for Customers

Oct 25, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

When we hear Nature Republic, we instantly think of skin care products! Nature Republic is known as a brand that advocates wellness by using 100% natural ingredients found in nature all around the world. Every product item is authentic from South Korea. The skincare enthusiast in you might be screaming in joy, but there’s more for you in store! 

Today, selfcare no longer means just going to spas, but actually taking the time to invest in healthcare such as skincare products and doing it at home! Their tagline “Journey to Nature” speaks more about the quality of every product that they are offering us. They use a variety of natural ingredients like aloe, argan oil, marine collagen, green tea, shea butter and more. 

Nature Republic Rewards

Like any business, Nature Republic wants to make every customer’s journey exciting and fun! Who wouldn’t want to reward such loyal consumers? That’s why  Nature Republic partnered with ZAP with their loyalty program that’s integrated in their website’s system. Now, customers get to earn points and rewards after shopping and are already looking forward to their next purchase to accumulate more points and to save more! 

The process is easy and the benefits for your customers are great! 

How to Join the Loyalty Program in Nature Republic

  1. Register in their store: 

You can join the Loyalty Program by simply registering your phone number on the tablet when you pay and visit their store.You’ll instantly get notified of your points balance and you can use it for every purchase. 

Ready to spend your points? Enter your mobile number again and get your one-time pin to pay for purchases using the points. Click here for the step by step process. 

  1. Register Online: 

Can’t visit the physical store? You can also register and shop online, as well as redeem points just like visiting an actual branch! Simply go to Nature Republic’s website and click the NR (Nature Republic) Rewards widget on the lower right corner of the screen. 

Step One: Enter your number. 

Step Two: Get notified and enter the one-time pin. 

Step Three: Enter the number of points you want to redeem! 

Now your points will turn into Shopify coupons that you can use at check out. Click Here to join Nature Republic’s Loyalty Program and earn points & rewards! 

ZAP’s Loyalty Program: Offline + Online Loyalty for Customers

ZAP’s Loyalty Program enables merchant’s like Nature Republic to recruit loyal customers and make their membership and shopping experience exciting and rewarding both offline and online! Sustaining your company’s edge in the marketplace and giving value to your customers shows the growing success of your business. Interested? Contact us. 

Business, E-Commerce Site

E-Store for Business:  Why Do We Need a Website?

Oct 11, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

In 2021, around 2 billion people in the world were already doing their shopping digitally. In the same year, global e-commerce retail sales reached 4.9 trillion dollars which is also expected to increase by 50% in the next four years. This just shows how big of an impact a website can have on the growth and sales of your business.

Worldwide Reach

Unlike a physical store, an online store operates 24/7. This gives your customer the convenience of scanning your products whenever and however they want. Wherever they are in the world or what device they’re using, they will have access to your business. It also helps you introduce your business to the international market and increase your sales. You can make your business go global from the comfort of your home. Once you have established your online presence, anyone from anywhere can become a prospective customer.

Brand Credibility

Consider your website as the digital frontline of your business. An all-in-one digital store where you can post information, updates and announcements relevant to your audience that will catch their attention and spark their interest in buying your products. This is where they can get to know you and contact you. An online presence also builds your customer’s trust and assures them of your brand’s credibility since most shoppers start their product research by looking it up on the internet. They base their trust and judgment of your business according to your online information.

Cost-effective

Websites are flexible and affordable. The online store saves you the cost of leasing a space for your business, unlike the traditional brick-and-mortar store. You can create and customize it anytime. Try different designs and styles without having to spend money and time buying displays. You also won’t have to stress about hiring different people to manage your online store since you can simply manage it all on your own.

Take-away

Starting your own website and online store can be overwhelming. But with the right e-commerce platform, creating one can be worry-free. Shopify is one of the most trusted platforms of business owners to jump-start their online journey. Kickstart your website with Shopify and ZAP now and have your business be part of the growing community of successful business owners. 

Food Delivery, Food Industry

Healthy Mukbang Options for You! 

Sep 27, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

Yummy Mukbang videos have emerged and stayed as a trending food culture due to lots of people wanting to try out various food options that are mouthwatering and delicious! The dessert lovers choose their sweet treats from ice cream, candies, cakes, cookies, and more. Meat lovers have their  chicken, pork, and beef cutlets! But what about vegetarians and vegans- don’t they get to have mukbangs? Sure they can! 

Most Vegans can relate to the struggle of finding fast food restaurants that have plant based food options in their menu. It’s hard to ensure that you’ll always find something within your diet and chosen lifestyle! Behold! We’ve got these top healthy food picks for you to try and enjoy with your friends as a mukbang. 

Brother’s Burger:

Brother’s Burger was known for their uniquely-seasoned flame-grilled designer burgers and sandwiches. Since the burger industry continued to grow and innovate, it was only recently that they decided to  explore other styles of making burgers special! Hence the creation of their plant-based veggie burgers!

  • Brothers Veggie Burger

Healthier Version of the Brothers Burger Grilled Vegetarian patty with tomato catsup, homemade Mayonnaise, topped with fresh lettuce, onions and tomatoes on a warm toasted oatmeal bun! Order here. 

  • Brothers Veggie Lettuce Wrap

One of their best-sellers is their Veggie Lettuce Wrap! Their ingredients are fresh pickles and tomatoes with wrapped lettuce and your choice of added toppings and dips. This meal is 100% meatless! Order here. 

Take Root:

Take Root is a junk-free snack company! They’re known for their best-selling Kale Chips that’s gluten-free and vegan! They are committed to serving natural products, they source their pesticide-free veggies from small local farms and season their vegetables with nuts, herbs, and spices. They don’t fry, but only dry their vegetable chips!  

  • Kale Chips

Here’s an alternative healthy chip for you! Take Root offers you their flavorful kale chips like rosemary peppercorn, balsamic vinegar, cheezy vegan, and more! These chips are equivalent to 2 servings of your daily greens. Take your pick and Order here!

  • PB Cups

Looking for ways to satisfy a sweet tooth, naturally?  Peanut butter cups are an all-time favorite treat of Take Roots! When they say their Peanut Butter Cups are CLEAN, they mean it! There are no artificial additives or preservatives in their recipe- just a few all-natural, quality ingredients that you can feel good about. Utterly irresistible. It’s also Gluten-Free and Vegan. Order here! 

Pizza Plant:

Pizza Plant offers you 100% fresh, delicious, and plant based pizza with different flavors for you. They have branches in Eastwood, Quezon and also San Juan in Metro Manila. They also have an online store for easier and faster ordering!

  • Margherita

Their Margherita is a simple and classic pizza appreciated by everyone. Allergens: Cashews, Gluten. Order here!

  •  Italian Sausage Pizza   

A fresh take on our version of Italian sausage using soy protein to round off with crisp onions and bell peppers. Allergens: Cashews, Gluten, Soy. Order Here! 

Excited and pumped to have your own healthy mukbang? Visit their websites and shop now! 

Business, Marketing

Innovative Marketing Strategy This Holiday Season

Sep 20, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

It seems as if the whole economy has undergone transformation ever since the pandemic, prompting fresh approaches for their businesses. As the holiday season is fast approaching, everyone  strives to make the best out of this season, but how? 

Read on for a step-by-step approach in creating the perfect holiday marketing strategy for your business!

Brainstorm Ideas and Concepts: 

While some shoppers procrastinate until the last minute, others get their holiday presents months way ahead of time. Get their attention by notifying them with holiday ads and special promos starting a few months in advance. Using this approach, you can encourage your early customers to buy your products/ services. Developing a marketing strategy is essential for a business to succeed. A meaningful brainstorming session is an excellent place to start. 

Be Creative:  

In order to prepare for the biggest shopping season of the year, businesses must implement their marketing strategies. You should try to come up with a fresh concept that will attract and retain customers during the entire holiday season. Here are some innovative marketing strategies to help you. 

  • Personalized Campaigns

Using personalized communication in your marketing efforts, including emails, SMS, website, social ads, and landing pages can help attract customers this holiday season. ZAP Fetch is an example of an effective marketing tool that helps businesses target your customers, create offers that are based on customer data, and has an analysis of your monthly progress. This helps create a genuine foundation for customer relationships that will help the company in the long run, leading your customers back to your website to shop.

  • Customer-Centered Content

A unique angle for your Christmas marketing campaign could be to center it around your customers and make it as your advertising material. You can shift your attention to the experiences of your customers- be it inspiring or even funny! This way, customers will appreciate the fact that you valued their stories and feedback.

Food and Ecommerce Industry with ZAP:

An ideal marketing strategy is useless without a solid plan to put it into action. ZAP provides a fully branded program, powering everything behind the scenes. We provide restaurant owners with the opportunity of setting up your own e-store, making loyalty membership more exciting, upgrading your marketing arsenal through automated non-visit reminders, reaching out to your customer base through SMS/ Emails, On-Field Management, and so much more!

For more information visit this link! 

Business, Success Stories

The Success Behind Jipan’s E-store: The Artisanal Japanese Cuisine

Sep 15, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

Every company knows that the F&B Industry is very competitive, fast-paced, and busy. One needs grit, passion, and the right attitude to be able to thrive and think on their feet to make their business run long-term. Jipan is known as the home of artisanal Japanese Cuisine. Famous for its deliciously baked pastries and well-loved goodies, it’s no mystery that it’s part of what brought success to their name in the business. Read further to learn more! 

Jipan’s Beginnings:  

Steph Brimo, the owner of the sensational Jipan- has over a decade of experience in the Food and Beverage Industry. Her passion in her business led her to step up their marketing efforts especially during the pandemic. She partnered with ZAP to set up their online store for Jipan in hopes that it will help their business cater to customers who wanted to purchase without them leaving their homes due to the current situation brought by the pandemic. She saw great potential in the seamless transactions they could offer to her customers with ZAP. In 2021, Jipan gained a 66% increase in their total sales by opening an additional sales channel to cater to more customers in their E-store! 

Creative Marketing Strategies:

In a webinar called November Holiday Season Sales, Steph Brimo shared that when Jipan’s e-store was created they began making their marketing strategies more creative in order to engage customers and reel them in through activities like online shopping “It helped spread the word of our brand and help customers buy bread without having to go to the store.” She shared. Strategizing production, ingredients, testing, thinking of items that are “stay at home” themed and DIY packaging for gifting it are just some of the things that they thought to incorporate with their products. In order to communicate better with their customers, Jipan, along with ZAP Team’s services utilizes Shopify’s email blast and sms blast, tailoring it to their offers to the customers.  

Customer- Centric

Jipan also shared that they are continuously building relationships with customers with their products and services through being active online with their pages and website. Flyers with a code directing customers to their estore are also included in all their packaging in-store,  so that their customers will be reminded about their estore.

Jipan with ZAP E-store

Jipan along with more than 2,000 merchants have trusted the ZAP Team to help them thrive and set up their online success by offering e-store platforms , ZAP Fetch, and Loyalty Programs to make the best out of their marketing efforts. ZAP will equip you to accept, fulfill, and deliver orders to customers with ease with your very own branded eCommerce website. Give customers an easy-to-use online ordering platform for instant or scheduled pick up or delivery. Interested? Contact us! 

Shop Here
Business, Food Industry, Marketing

ZAP’s Loyalty Food and Beverage Merchants: A Testimony

Sep 6, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

If you’re in the Food and Beverage Industry in 2022, transitioning into digitized service to make a more efficient and effective marketing approach is the game to serve your food and drinks better. 

Here’s a closer look at how digitalization has helped restaurants bounce back. Hear from our Loyalty Merchants! 

The Rise of Digitalization on The Food and Beverage Industry: 

The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), expects six percent sales growth in the Philippine Food and Beverage Industry. It’s because of the rise and transition of businesses being able to make their products and services available online and implementing loyalty programs for their customers. 

Digitalization has aided restaurants in operating more efficiently with the implementation of self-ordering kiosks, which is ideal for collecting relevant customer data, reducing the time and money spent on manual errors, and cutting down on labor costs.

The rise of digital technology have helped restaurants provide more than dine-in offerings. It has allowed customers to enjoy their food without leaving the house. Contactless payments, delivery services, online and in-app ordering options, loyalty and rewards programs, drive-thru, and curbside pickup are some examples of innovations restaurants are trying to adopt.

Testimonies of ZAP’s Loyalty Merchants:

ZAP’s Loyalty Program: Even Beyond Covid-19

Launching a membership program can be daunting as it is something new to your marketing strategy. With the ZAP team, we make your life easier by offering premium account management services. We will guide you through the creation of the program, launch and in-store training.


ZAP’s Loyalty Program enables merchant’s to recruit loyal customers and make their membership and shopping experience exciting! With the Philippines’ growing Food and Beverage Industry, sustaining your company’s edge in the marketplace is a must. Discuss your business with us!

Food Delivery, Food Industry

Chinese Cuisine Top Picks For You to Try! 

Sep 2, 2022 by Catherine Alcalde

Wondering where to order some traditional Chinese food? Don’t worry! If you want to satisfy your cravings —our top picks are definitely the best place to start! You won’t feel unsatisfied once you try some steamy flavorful noodles or different kinds of meat servings, dumplings, pork cutlets, tender chicken dishes, and more! These top picks truly capture traditional Chinese Cuisine!  

Wu’s Kitchen

Wu’s Kitchen is a Filipino-made brand that was inspired by the owner’s love for the authentic Roasting food practice from Hong Kong. Wu’s Kitchen launched their online presence in 2016 and the concept quickly gained popularity. If you’re not sure what to try or where to start, their Premium Roast Duck dish is undoubtedly their best-seller. What are you waiting for? Order online! 

Tuan Tuan Chinese Brasserie

The signature curry & noodle soup at Tuan Tuan Chinese Brasserie is widely perceived as the best quick and hearty Hong Kong comfort meal. Particularly noteworthy is their Hong Kong Soy Chicken on Clay-pot Rice which is absolutely mouth-watering! At Tuan Tuan, you get a one-of-a-kind dining experience by elevating classic Chinese cuisine within a sleek yet welcoming French inspired setting. You may order online!

Yao’s Kitchen

The signature curry & noodle soup at Tuan Tuan Chinese Brasserie is widely perceived as the best quick and hearty Hong Kong comfort meal. Particularly noteworthy is their Hong Kong Soy Chicken on Clay-pot Rice which is absolutely mouth-watering! At Tuan Tuan, you get a one-of-a-kind dining experience by elevating classic Chinese cuisine within a sleek yet welcoming French inspired setting. You may order online!

Golden Bamboo

Golden Bamboo Restaurant takes great pride in preparing traditional yet innovative Chinese dishes with only the freshest ingredients. It’s ideal for group celebrations with friends and family who love exquisite contemporary Chinese cuisine. Satisfy your cravings with their handcrafted Dimsum and spicy noodle soup and order online. 

Little Beijing

Despite only being in the market for less than a decade, Little Beijing has made its way in competing with some of the most renowned Chinese restaurants. Little Beijing is one of the top Chinese food restaurants in town that’s reasonably priced. They provide catering services, online deliveries, take-out options, and curbside pick-up! And while you’re at it-  General Tso’s Pork is definitely a dish to order!

Takeaway:

It’s not hard to understand why people enjoy dining at restaurants. The opportunity to leave the house and have a meal prepared and served to you is too good to pass up. It’s a great way to spend quality time with loved ones with an ambiance that’s new to us. But oftentimes, after a long day, nothing beats having your food delivered to you and enjoying it in the comfort of your own home!