Vietnam's online shopping orders for essential goods surge, overwhelms retailers

Due to the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic , the number of online orders from major grocery stores and supermarket chains in Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam has reached an unprecedented scale , many orders have been canceled and the delivery time of goods has been delayed.

Some residents living in Ho Chi Minh City said that even if they called supermarket employees early in the morning to place online orders, they would not receive a reply until noon, and most of the messages were "out of stock." Local residents said that due to the increase in local infection cases , many major grocery stores and supermarkets near where she lives have been temporarily closed , and traditional offline sales channels have been greatly affected .

She said that since she couldn't order online, she had to go shopping at noon to avoid crowded places .

But some residents living in District 11 said that after placing an online order at a supermarket near their home, fresh vegetables, fruits and food will be delivered the next day.

Local retailers say they are working to grow their online shopping business while adding staff who can provide home delivery services amid the ongoing lockdown and strict social distancing requirements, but it remains a daunting task .

Data shows that online shopping demand in the region has surged by 300-600%. The sales director of an e-commerce platform said that the epidemic has accelerated the transformation of retail from offline to online.

He said quick delivery of goods within two to four hours was very important for online orders of vegetables , fruits and food , but this service was becoming unavailable due to the boom in online groceries.

In Ho Chi Minh City, where traditional markets account for 60% to 70% of total retail sales of agricultural products, food and food products , 93 of its 234 traditional markets have been temporarily closed in response to the outbreak.

The city's Department of Industry and Trade said that on July 1, the city's three wholesale markets that were still operating had delivered less than 4,600 tons of goods, down 11% from normal levels.

Compared with a week ago, prices of vegetables, fruits and seafood at Thi Nghe and Ba Chieu markets in Binh Thanh district and Tan Dinh market in District 1 increased by 5-25 percent.

Vietnam

Online shopping