As pandemic drags on, South-east Asia’s retailers accelerate their shift online, SE Asia News & Top Stories

JAKARTA – When the first cases of Covid 19 were confirmed in Jakarta in March last year, sales at Mr Richwan Hartono’s two ice cream kiosks at shopping malls plummeted by 90 per cent.

By August the 29-year-old co-owner of Comeagain ice cream closed his physical stores and switched to selling online, helped by two-for-one offers and reviews from customers affirming that their orders of triple chocolate won’t melt on the way.

Now, Mr Richwan says costs are way down from where they were before the pandemic while sales have doubled and are “growing steadily”.

“We’re really happy to get the operational costs down and stay in business,” Mr Richwan told The Straits Times.

While the explosion of e-commerce in South-east Asia has helped mint multi-billion dollar companies, buying and selling online has remained relatively niche. E-commerce accounts for less than 5 per cent of retail sales...