How the Pandemic Grew the Online Vegetable Delivery Industry

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing tremendous lockdown and safety measures limiting people’s mobility, many have turned to e-commerce to satisfy their shopping needs. While many were already accustomed to buying goods like electronics, clothing, and household items online, the COVID-19 pandemic expedited consumers’ demand of the online vegetable delivery industry. 

Slowly, the online grocery delivery market has been growing over the past decade. In countries like Singapore, where most don’t have a car, online grocery delivery was a necessity. Big players like Redmart specialized in grocery delivery and dominated the market. But market research revealed that many chose to buy dry goods from Redmart and avoided the idea of online vegetable or fruit delivery. Produce was bought in person.

Elsewhere, in markets where more people have a car, like the US, or where there are supermarkets on every corner, like Hong Kong, online grocery delivery was nascent, and online vegetable delivery non-existent.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of that, and now online shoppers worldwide are accustomed to ordering fruits and vegetables online for delivery instead of buying them in stores. 

How the Pandemic Helped Grow the Market

This recent upswing in e-commerce growth follows a similar trend to what happened in China around twenty years ago. The SARS pandemic in the early 2000s was the big catalyst for the growth of e-commerce giant Alibaba, since China’s shopping centers were closed. Stores needed to source parts and goods to keep their businesses running, and Alibaba provided the solution. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been much more impactful in terms of what new innovations have stemmed from the pain points it created. While online vegetable delivery was nothing new or novel, the concept was foreign and hard to fathom. We all have our quirks and tricks on how to pick the right produce from the store, how could that be replicated online?

Yet, necessity breeds acceptance, and people with no access to a safe supermarket were forced to buy online. 

Online Vegetable Delivery is Safe

One of the major pain points with consumers accepting online vegetable delivery is the concept that the produce would not be clean. They create visions of some unkempt factory picking produce from an unclean shelf and stacking it on a dirty table. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Logistics facilities that service online grocers have special refrigerated zones in their warehouses where fresh produce is stored. Much like a supermarket shelf, these facilities are clean and kept at optimal temperatures. 

Similarly, many grocery stores themselves act as warehouses. There are some online vegetable delivery companies that will have a delivery person go to the supermarket and “do the shopping for you”. These services are certainly safe and ensure that the produce received is no different than what you would get from the store yourself.

COVID-19 created the demand for online vegetable delivery services, and companies have exceeded expectations with flying colors.