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Online groceries thrive as customers avoid supermarkets
Online food marketplaces are reporting rapid growth in orders as customers stay at home to minimize the risk of catching the novel coronavirus.
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Online food marketplaces are reporting rapid growth in orders as customers stay at home to minimize the risk of catching the novel coronavirus. (Shutterstock/File)
F
or Namira Suniaprita, buying groceries at the supermarket is a hassle amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She has to wear a face mask, use latex gloves and immediately wash the clothes she wore to the store upon returning home.
“I’m too scared to go to the market. That’s why I buy food supplies online,” said the 22-year-old employee who lives in North Jakarta. As of Tuesday, the North Jakarta administration has reported 25 COVID-19 cases in the area.
She said the prices at the online marketplaces were not much higher than at the traditional market, and some marketplaces also offer organic options. She has bought fruits and vegetables, spices and ready-to-cook food, such as instant noodles, from online marketplace Sayurbox.
Namira is not the only individual turning to online marketplaces. Food e-commerce has seen rapid growth in customers since the government urged people to stay at home amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Sayurbox chief finance officer Arif Zamani told The Jakarta Post on Monday that, since the government declared a state of emergency over the pandemic on March 20, the number of buyers had tripled and kept rising.
“We are currently only available in the Greater Jakarta area, and we see significant demand growth in Jakarta,” he said in a text message, adding that more people were buying fruits and vegetables, but demand for spices had also tripled.
Arif said asking prices from Sayurbox’s local farmers and suppliers were still normal, but prices for imported goods, such as garlic and onions, had risen due to short supply.
