Quick commerce: Sa Sa HK can now fulfil delivery orders in as little as 10 minutes

This service has been piloted at 20 stores offering around 700 selected products on foodpanda mall. The Hong Kong-based company said has plans to roll it out to more outlets in the future.

The company has launched this service in response to the new consumer habits that have formed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a report from Deloitte, just over half of global consumers (54%) reported that they felt safe shopping in-store and expects them to rely more on delivery and services like click and collect compared to pre-pandemic.

“Online shopping is gaining traction. The trend is especially more pronounced amid the raging pandemic as more consumers would rather stay at home than go out to protect themselves against the disease. We believe that foodpanda’s quick delivery meets our customers’ increasing demand for convenient, fast online shopping service,” ​said Simon Kwok, chairman and CEO of Sa Sa International.

The launch of this on-demand delivery services comes at a gruelling time for Hong Kong as it is still in the midst of its worse COVID-19 outbreak.

“In the light of the urgent demand for anti-epidemic products, we are offering them at foodpanda mall in the hope of providing citizens one more convenient shopping channel to help fight the pandemic,”​ said Kwok.

According to the company’s press statement, the partnership with foodpanda would allow it to fulfil deliveries in as little as 10 minutes.

“Via our mature logistics infrastructure, our dedicated delivery fleet and ongoing data analysis, we hope to continue to pioneer 'Q-Commerce', providing quick and convenient delivery service to meet the needs of Hong Kong people,”​ said Ryan Lai, managing director, foodpanda Hong Kong.

The launch of the new on-demand delivery service would further enhance the firm’s ambition to merge its physical retail and online businesses.

CosmeticsDesign-Asia ​previously reported​ that on-demand deliveries were becoming the post-pandemic norm in China, with beauty firms including Sephora, Amorepacific and Watsons stepping up their instant delivery game.

This new habit is set to expand across the region. Watsons has pre-empted this by partnering with Grab and Amazon to offer same-day deliveries in Singapore.

In June 2021, Sa Sa announced that it was to shutter more stores and focus on strengthening its online channel. As of December 2021, it reported a total of 87 stores in Hong Kong and Macau, down from 103 stores from a year before.

At the same time, it strengthened its online channel by expanding initiatives such as the click-and-collect service in Hong Kong and Macau in 2021.

“Online business has become the new focus of the retail industry. We are dedicated to expediting development in the new retail landscape by investing more resources in our online business,”​ Kwok said.

In 2021, the company’s online business rose by 45.5%, as sales from its third-party platforms and its online-to-offline (O2O) business showing year-on-year growth. Online sales accounted for 16.5% of the total business.