Consumers flock online after HCMC shuts down street markets to contain Covid

A shopper scans a QR code on an online application of a supermarket. Photo courtesy of online shopping app VinID.

Loan of Go Vap District shops online for groceries using supermarkets’ applications.

She said: "I place orders for vegetables and even meat and fish. The prices are reasonable, and I do not have to travel while the Covid-19 situation is worrisome."

Nguyen Thi Bich Van, head of communications at Thai retailer Central Retail Vietnam, which owns the GO! Supermarket chain, told VnExpress that immediately after the city banned street markets the number of online orders experienced a surge.

"Supermarkets have increased the number of delivery employees to meet the demand."

They have also increased stocks by 50-60 percent, she said.

A spokesperson for retailer Saigon Co.op said the number of customers placing orders online and through phone jumped threefold on June 21 after the street markets were closed down.

VinMart reported a 526-percent increase over last week in the number of orders made on its VinID application, a 1,200-percent rise in the number of orders on its website and a nearly 680-percent rise in the number of orders on e-commerce platform Lazada.

Most supermarkets said they have been increasing stocks and the number of employees to meet the surging demand.

HCMC is now the second worst Covid-hit locality with 1,973 cases as of Wednesday morning.