During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses in Malaysia struggled to keep afloat amidst all the lockdown restrictions. One industry that had no issues growing during the pandemic was the e-commerce industry, particularly online grocery stores in Malaysia. Customers, unable to visit their traditional grocery stores because of lockdowns, turned to online shopping to feed them.
Many online grocery stores in Malaysia have seen their business boom over the past year. It is believed that even when the pandemic is over, a large percentage of that new business will remain as customers. That’s because the online grocery stores in Malaysia were able to establish trust that their business is safe and convenient.
Especially in rural areas of Malaysia, the concept of grocery delivery is a bit foreign. Most are used to visiting their local market or grocery store on a daily basis to get their food, seeing the food before buying it. This type of consumer behavior was hard to break, but necessity dictated that changes had to be made.
Now that the proverbial “flood gates” have been opened, online grocery stores in Malaysia have earned the trust of consumers, but that still hasn’t persuaded all to feel comfortable buying online.
To help quell apprehensions about shopping for groceries online, we’ve addressed some of the misconceptions about online shopping for food.
The Fresh Food and Produce are Clean
Malaysians are accustomed to buying their fresh produce and food from a market or a grocery store where they can touch and feel the food before they buy it. People like doing that because they want to make sure the food is clean and of good quality.
When considering buying produce online, many are apprehensive about the cleanliness of the food. They think that the food sits in a warm warehouse, accumulating bacteria and ultimately being unsafe to eat.
In reality, most online grocery stores in Malaysia have refrigerated warehouses that are organized much like a supermarket is. Produce is separated by category and kept clean and safe. The company’s internal quality control department ensures that all produce for sale is free of anything that customers would feel dissatisfied about.
Similarly, some services are actually just surrogate grocery shoppers. In this case, the pickers will judge the quality of produce with high standards before buying it.
The Food is Fairly Priced
Another common misconception is that online grocery stores in Malaysia will overcharge for the same goods. In reality, the opposite is true.
Most online grocery stores will work directly with distributors to source their products. And, because they don’t have the same overhead costs as supermarkets, they can keep the markup much lower than supermarkets do.
Most supermarkets mark up prices by at least 50%, where most online grocery stores in Malaysia only mark up 30%. That 20% savings are a big difference. With all that savings, you can afford to tip your delivery driver for their hard work helping you out.
