According to Mydin, its online sales increased by 500% this year, however, its sales of Hari Raya goods decreased 75%

by NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK/ pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

DUE to the unique circumstances of this year’s Ramadhan and Hari Raya festive seasons, consumers’ attitudes have changed due to the Movement Control Order (MCO).

Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd MD Datuk Dr Ameer Ali Mydin said the homegrown hypermarket saw a significant increase of 500% in its online segment as people were encouraged to stay at home during the MCO.

He said, however, although online sales have gone up by 500% this year, the volume is not big.

“Compared to last year, grocery sales increased by 20%, while sales of Hari Raya goods decreased 75%,” he told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR).

Mydin also saw a slight decrease of 15% on the sale of toiletries, noting the MCO and Conditional MCO had changed how Malaysians shop.

As they are at home longer than they are used to, international logistics companies have reportedly noticed changes in Malaysians’ online shopping habits, as clothing and hobby products used to make up 70% of the shipment prior to the MCO.

Since then, shipments have increased for luxury beauty items from 6% to 12%, as well as for men’s grooming items, kitchen and dining-related products.

Similarly, Shopee Malaysia also witnessed new shopping preferences as consumers spend an average of 20% more time on its platform per week, with sellers getting 60 times more orders on instant food and baking supplies compared to the same period last year.

Shopee had also reportedly started seeing a drastic increase in fresh produce being offered on its platform versus last year, with about 1,000 fresh and frozen sellers participating in the e-commerce platform.

Meanwhile, according to offline retail player Aeon Co (M) Bhd chief human resources Dr Kasuma Satria, it was noted that there are higher sales in groceries over other items such as home, fashion and stationery.

“Covid-19 has affected our sales performance and overall, we reported lower sales versus last year.

“The exception to this would be our hypermarkets and supermarkets which are all doing better versus last year on groceries and foodline sales,” he said.

The outbreak has drastically altered the dynamics in which Malaysians shop. Previously, we witnessed crowds going out to bazaars for Ramadhan and Hari Raya shopping, but since the pandemic, bazaars were called off to prevent any virus transmission.

Due to this, sellers and consumers alike had set up e-bazaars of various forms for sellers to continue their livelihood, and for consumers to purchase their favourite festive delicacies.

Among successful e-bazaar platforms developed during the pandemic include Bazaarcod.com by Mawar Rashid, e-Kitchen Platform Selangor and Dekatni.com, while e-hailing companies like Grab and Foodpanda had also developed Ramadhan e-bazaar initiatives during the fasting month.