Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
Extended Sale! Save on premium data with Claim 60% OFF
Alibaba's Freshippo adds more couriers, still unable to meet Shanghai demand
Published Apr 24, 2022 05:32AM ET
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a logo of Alibaba Group at its office building in Beijing, China August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)'s supermarket chain Freshippo said on Sunday it was adding more couriers to meet high demand in Shanghai but this was not yet catching up with the rising needs of locked-down residents as the city battles a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Shen Li, a vice president at Alibaba Group's Freshippo, told reporters on Sunday that while the company's delivery capacity had recovered to about 60-70% of pre-outbreak levels as more couriers were allowed back on the roads, many difficulties remained.
"The biggest challenge we are facing now is that the demand and numbers of orders from consumers has increased by about two to three times compared with pre-outbreak levels," she said.
China's most important economic hub has locked down most of its 25 million residents for more than three weeks in an effort to stamp out the country's largest outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019.
After most supermarkets and stores were shut across the city, residents resorted to online buying to procure food and other essentials but have faced difficulties. Shanghai authorities have said they are trying to ease these bottlenecks but it remains a key public frustration.
Many residents have described waking up as early as 5 a.m. to try and grab delivery slots from online grocers such as Freshippo, only to find them sold out in seconds. While Freshippo and other vendors have launched bulk-buying purchase schemes, some people have complained about the inability to reach the volumes needed to guarantee orders.
Shen said Freshippo as of Sunday had 47 stores open for online deliveries in Shanghai and it also had set up six additional ad hoc warehouses for the city, due to issues with inter-province supply chains.
About 5,000 staff were working in these stores and its warehouses while a further 1,000 were working online from home, she added.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.