Movement Control Order (MCO) 2.0 is here and you would have thought that with over a year of experience in lock-downs under our belts, we would be the subject expert of self-loving, home shopping and everything else on “staying home and staying safe” - our new sign-off message for any conversation.

But photos of cleared-out shelves at supermarkets that surfaced all over the internet and social media platforms right after the announcement show that many Malaysians are still clinging on to the old normal of physical shopping at the supermarkets and grocers.

Now, with only two from a household allowed to go out to buy essentials within a 10km radius from home, coupled with the thoughts of queueing to enter, gearing up with face masks, hand sanitisers, or even disposable gloves, you would think that better solutions are available to get your essential shopping done. 

Guest what? There is! 

Taking grocery shopping online

airasia fresh is a grocery shopping platform with products ranging from fresh perishables to your every-day necessities. It is now embedded as part of the airasia.com super app, accessed directly from your own mobile device. Simply look for ‘Fresh’ on the airasia.com super app, where you can also find other options such as ‘Food’, where you can order your favourite meals delivered right to your doorstep.

Maybel Chan, Head of airasia fresh shares how the business began: “airasia fresh, previously called OURSHOP, launched the Save Our Shops (S.O.S) campaign to help local businesses when the country’s first MCO started back in March 2020. The campaign allows merchants to sign up at zero commission and zero listing fee to market their products on the e-commerce platform. During the campaign, we helped almost 2,000 small independent physical retailers onboard their operations to our e-commerce platform. 

“From our past promotional campaigns, the top selling items are frozen and fresh produce. With that observation, we know that our focus should be on frozen, fresh and packaged food items. airasia Fresh was launched in October 2020 when airasia.com was rebranded as the Asean super app. From an array of fresh vegetables, fruits, frozen seafood, meat, dry goods and daily essentials, airasia Fresh delivers it to your doorstep with customisable slots to suit your timing too.”

Focus on freshness, convenience and value

Unlike shopping in a supermarket which is time consuming and sometimes inconvenient (driving there, parking, selecting the items, queuing up to pay, and carrying all the heavy groceries by yourself), online grocery shopping is time-saving and simple. 

“Currently our platform has more than 3,000 products from 200 merchants online, offering the freshest produce, as well as quality products, that are delivered right to your doorstep. Customers can easily navigate through our product categories, and filter by price range or merchants too. 

“Aside from next day delivery service fulfilled by Teleport, airasia’s logistics venture, we also now allow customers to schedule their delivery based on their prefered time. Hence it is also easier for customers to plan their purchase and ensure that their pantry is always stocked up with fresh ingredients,” Maybel added.

Levering on airasia.com’s ecosystem, customers can pay with BIG Points for purchases made on airasia fresh, giving them more savings and value. 

Support local, buy local 

The spread of the global pandemic has heavily impacted our local economy, including businesses, wholesalers and retailers. To support the local communities and SMEs, airasia fresh partners with 100% Malaysian companies, assisting them with e-commerce strategy, marketing and distribution of products. 

Maybel further commented: “At airasia Fresh, our team is ready to assist any business who are keen to move from offline to online. Our merchants will be supported with the necessary training including product listings, tracking and monitoring. They can also leverage on our extensive marketing efforts within the platform, social media, digital channels and the airasia.com ecosystem.”  

“Up to 80% of the products from our merchants are made in Malaysia. By buying locally made products, we are playing a part in stimulating the local economy, which can also lead to providing opportunities and employment to more people. To encourage this, we are partnering with our local merchants in producing customisable fresh packs which will be launched soon. In the pipeline, we are also looking into expanding our deliveries areas very soon so more local businesses can join our platform.”

To help Malaysians gain convenient access to grocery shopping during MCO, airasia fresh is offering Unlimited Free Delivery from 13 to 26 January 2021 for orders within Klang Valley with a minimum spend of RM30 using the promo code STAYHOME.