THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With outdoor shopping becoming a risky affair amid the Covid-19 threat, more people are ordering all essentials including vegetables and groceries online.Several popular shops in the city have started home delivery to cater to the needs of their customers and help them wade through the tough times.
“Everybody is trying to stay at home and minimise the need to go out, to avoid crowded places. I have started ordering essential commodities online. Also, I inform the delivery executive to leave the order at my doorstep to avoid coming into contact with the person. Confining oneself is the only way to prevent this virus,” says Anu Sanjeev, a techie.
At a time when social distancing is to be practised, the online delivery system is a boon for many like Anu. To substantiate this, G Padmakumar. manager of e-commerce of Ramachandran Shopping Mall, said they have been receiving hundreds of online orders.
“We launched our online delivery service before the outbreak but now it is flourishing because of the huge demand. Till last week, we used to get around 50 online orders but now it has increased. But we are unable to complete all deliveries on the same day due to the demand,” he said.However, small-time traders continue to be at the receiving end.
There are around 1.5 lakh traders in Thiruvananthapuram district and 60 per cent of them deal with essential commodities and perishable items.District president of Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti Peringamala Ramachandran said that the situation was rather bad. “A majority of the traders don’t have cashless transaction facilities. Only a small section of them can do home deliveries. Also, most of the traders are becoming vulnerable because of currency transaction -- which is said to be one of the main carriers of all viruses. If the state decides to go for a total lockdown, we will cooperate,” said Peringamala Ramachandran.Following the instructions from the state government, several shopping stores now allow only 10 customers in a shop at a time.