Leveraging online food delivery platforms: the role of entrepreneurial competencies among Malaysian SMEs

Significantly, the rapid development of digital technology has revolutionized the food service industry, with online food delivery services (OFDS) becoming the new dominant form of food consumption in Malaysia. This is facilitated by the proliferation of smartphone technology, mobile payment systems, and platform-based logistics, which have transformed the way small and medium-sized enterprises in the food service industry access the market and interact with consumers (Tan et al., 2024). The factors of convenience, time-saving, and ease of access have become key influencers in the consumption of food delivery services, with the COVID-19 pandemic playing a significant role in accelerating these trends (Suali et al., 2024). Therefore, the phenomenon of OFDS is no longer on the periphery of the food distribution chain in Malaysia, with the service now becoming structurally embedded in the food consumption market in the country, as discussed in the study by Chang et al. (2024). However, the existing research has mostly concentrated on the behavior of consumers, service quality, and technology acceptance. There has been less focus on the entrepreneurial skills required for the effective use of the platform-mediated environment. Malaysian SMEs are confronted with unique challenges in the context of the OFDS environment. These challenges include the high commission fees charged by the platform operators, the high level of rivalry among the platforms, the limitations in terms of platform visibility based on the algorithms used by the platforms, and the changing expectations of the consumers with regard to the quality of the food provided and the reliability of the services (Sulaiman et al., 2023).