Red hot demand forces RedMart to suspend new orders, Specialty Stores marketplace

Singapore

ONLINE grocer RedMart has freezed new orders up till Saturday, while also suspending its RedMart Specialty Stores (RSS) online marketplace from Thursday, amid a demand surge triggered by the Covid-19 outbreak.

In a statement announcing the two-day order suspension on Thursday, RedMart said: "To help us ensure that delivery slots remain available and consumers can receive their essentials in a timely manner, RedMart will be making some changes to our product assortment and we will be updating our system." Upcoming deliveries will still be fulfilled.

Separately, RedMart also suspended the RSS marketplace with effect from Thursday until further notice. The platform allows small businesses to sell grocery, food and household items, while tapping RedMart's logistics.

In an email sent to sellers, which was seen by The Business Times, RedMart said that it will be disabling all RSS store products from the end of Thursday, which means that "these products will not reflect on the website and app and no new orders can be placed starting today".

According to previous emails viewed by BT, RedMart had similarly suspended RSS from March 17 to March 24, while earlier on Feb 11 and 12, it suspended the sales of dry and frozen products on the marketplace after Singapore's elevation of the Dorscon alert level to orange.

A food distributor on the RSS platform told BT that he has started searching for alternative means to clear excess inventory.

"For us to maintain jobs in our company, we will have to somehow sell our products. That exposes us to a bit more risk," said the seller, who typically earns about 15 per cent of his revenue via RSS and counts the platform as an "integral part of our growth strategy".

Confirming the suspension of RSS, a RedMart spokesperson said: "Our focus now is providing more customers with access to daily necessities during this time, as more Singapore residents are staying at home.

"Regretfully, we've had to make some necessary changes that affected our RSS sellers, including prioritising the daily essentials and warehouse fulfilment. We fully intend to work with RSS sellers again as soon as the situation improves."

Beyond the suspensions, RedMart will also be streamlining its offerings. When it resumes taking orders on Saturday, RedMart will be temporarily reducing its range of products, to instead prioritise daily essentials, such as rice, flour and eggs. Delivery slots will also be assigned based on location and be temporarily limited to specific days and times for each address.

Furthermore, orders will be limited to a maximum of 35 items and cannot exceed 100kg. Items also cannot be added to orders once they are placed. Deliveries will be left at customers' doorsteps to minimise physical contact.

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