Online marketplace app Smile Shop became the third supplier of fresh foods and other grocery products to people in restricted areas. Post Staff
Online marketplace app Smile Shop became the third supplier of fresh foods and other grocery products to people in restricted areas after it reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Commerce.
Chinese businessman and Smile Shop co-founder and CEO Jack Lee on May 1 virtually signed the deal with a ministry representative to join hands with the government in providing access to the online marketplace and free delivery services for people to place orders and pay digitally.
Lee said that through government efforts to overcome these difficult times, Smile Shop will provide a very convenient portal for people in designated red, orange and yellow zones, with direct and prompt delivery.
“We do appreciate the government and the Ministry of Commerce allowing us to supply products to people in locked down areas to maintain market prices. The MoU will open up more opportunities for Smile Shop, one of Cambodia's leading online market platforms, to participate in solving the difficult situation for people in the red, orange and yellow zones. Smile Shop will provide food packages, spices, fish and fresh meats, and deliver to those zones.
"We sincerely hope that Smile Shop will contribute to the Royal Government in providing adequate food to the local people, minimising the risk of infection, and especially in controlling the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, where all customers can easily make cashless payments," he said.
On April 26, the ministry signed another MoU with Aeon Mall, Makro and Virak Buntham Express to provide essential food items for sale in red zones, in a bid to maintain prices and stabilise the supply of goods in the market during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in Phnom Penh and adjacent Takmao town in Kandal province.
That announcement comes days after the ministry launched an online marketplace (shop.moc.gov.kh) on April 21.
From April 21-29, food stalls set up by the ministry in red and orange zones sold, inter alia, 33,331 50kg sacks of milled rice, 9,665 boxes of instant noodles, 5,524 packs of canned fish, 2,853 cases of fish sauce, 2,823 cases of soy sauce and 292 packs of bottled drinking water.
Ministry spokesman Pen Sovicheat told The Post on April 30 that foodstuffs that the government has authorised the ministry to sell in lockdown areas in Phnom Penh are below market rates.
“People can buy them in-person or order online and the ministry is providing doorstep delivery services in red zones,” he said.
According to Lee, Smile Shop is ready to provide a wide range of products sourced from farmers and increase their domestic and international consumption, especially in China.
