Best fruit forward: Grab, Zalora and the lockdown pivot to grocery

Despite severe shortages and delays, online delivery services in Southeast Asia are having their moment in the sun. But retaining customers post-lockdown will be the real challenge

Covid-19 pandemic is accelerating the adoption of grocery delivery services

Orders have soared by 15X for some; delivery slots are elusive due to manpower shortages

Those not in the space are pivoting to delivering grocery and other essentials in the short-term

But grocery delivery, with its low margins and need for scale, is tough. Not everyone will succeed

Jelly Zialcita usually shops groceries in person. When Metro Manila went under a lockdown mid-March to combat the spread of Covid-19, she ordered from local online grocery delivery service MetroMart for the first time.

“The waiting lines were just too long outside the supermarket. We’d spend around two to three hours lining up.”

Her mom, who lives in a neighbouring city, avoids the supermarket altogether because she worries her high blood pressure is a risk factor. She resorted to ordering online through homegrown company Zagana, which delivers farm products.

The pandemic is proving to be the perfect opportunity for online grocery services.

AUTHOR

Jum Balea

Jum is a Manila-based reporter for The Ken, where she covers startups and business across Southeast Asia, with a focus on the Philippines. She previously was editor for Tech In Asia, and business editor for Philippine media companies Rappler and ABS-CBN.

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