Overcoming grocery supply problems in Vietnam during lockdowns: through digitalization

With Ho Chi Minh City currently facing “social isolation” restrictions, e-commerce was a quick way to supply residents with daily necessities.

With residents of Ho Chi Minh City requested to remain in their homes for over two weeks, the local authorities and voluntary forces have been scurrying to fulfill the grocery shopping needs of the most crowded city in Vietnam. 

However, the diversity of demand has created difficulties. This includes manual form-filling, redundant tasks and inefficient operational processes that have resulted in mistakes in ordered items, delivery and payments.

Amid this scenario, a commercial group that owns and manages hypermarkets and supermarkets in the country has partnered with the city’s Department of Industry and Trade to partner with the People’s Committee and local authorities of districts and wards to deploy their BIPBIP application. This is an online grocery shopping platform that where users can easily order, pay, and track shipments digitally via a mobile app.

Besides offering numerous secure payment methods secure, the platform engages customer through omnichannel pathways such as in-app, phone hotline, fanpages and Zalo messaging. With the support of the local authorities, shipments are guaranteed to arrive at the correct addresses!

Overall, the partnership reduces the workload for the local authorities while helping residents with smoother shopping processes. The roll out of the scheme to the districts of Binh Tan, Go Vap, 2 & Tan Phu was executed quickly and has been well received.

Not stopping here, Central Retail Vietnam is working with more district authorities to expand the coverage of the e-shopping platform featuring over 20,000 best-selling items from BIG C/GO! or TOPS MARKET.

Said the firm’s Group CEO Olivier Langlet: “Through the combination of applying technology solutions and strong grocery sourcing capabilities with affordable pricing, we are committed to supporting our community to easily access a supply of necessities and goods during this social isolation period.”