Online grocery shopping soars amid resurging COVID-19

An insulated bag developed by SSG.com for overnight delivery service / Courtesy of SSG.com

By Kim Jae-heun

Online grocery shopping is gaining popularity rapidly ahead of the government's anticipated implementation of its Level 3 social distancing scheme up from the current Level 2.5.

Sales at major discount stores and e-commerce firms have been soaring since last Friday when the number of daily COVID-19 cases jumped to 900 from 600 the previous day.

Currently, the social distancing measures are divided into five tiers. The government imposed Level 2.5 on Dec. 8, under which all sports and entertainment facilities are closed but bars and restaurants are able to continue operating until 9 p.m. However, this appears to have failed in curbing the spread of infections ― prompting calls to raise the level to the highest.

Under Level 3, all department stores and supermarkets over 300 square meters in size must close down.

Discount store brands like E-mart and Lotte Mart have requested the government to exempt them from the regulation. The government said it will consider a possible exemption.

This led people to hoard daily necessities ― increasing sales of Market Kurly between Dec. 11 and 15 by 29 percent compared to that of a week ago and 43 percent compared to that of one month ago. Market Kurly is the country's first online grocery delivery platform.

Local retail giant Shinsegae's online unit SSG.com also saw a 20 percent leap in its sales from last Thursday to Tuesday compared to that from a week earlier and a 30 percent increase compared to a month earlier.

Sales have increased mainly for food. Lotte Mart's sales went up by 13 percent compared to a week ago and revenue created by selling instant noodles took 31.1 percent, followed by instant rice with 12.7 percent and rice porridge with 12.4 percent.

E-commerce firms are already reaching their limit for delivery service as anxiety spread amid the third wave of COVID-19. As of Tuesday, SSG.com recorded a 99 percent order closing rate and 97 percent overnight delivery service operation.

Another e-commerce firm that can process 100,000 orders per day had to close an hour earlier than usual as it couldn't fulfill any more orders. A number of retailers are hiring temporary workers to cope with the shortage of personnel.

Meanwhile, the country's daily virus cases topped 1,000 for two consecutive days, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Thursday. It also added 22 COVID-19 related deaths, raising the death toll to 634 with a fatality rate of 1.36 percent.

The KDCA's guideline indicates Level 3 of its quarantine scheme is to be enacted when the average number of daily infection cases reaches over 800 across the country for seven consecutive days.