Nobody likes the lockdown of an entire city but if there is something positive about it at all, it is that the lockdown of Shangai has forced some businesses to think out some innovative products and buiness models.
Mankattan（曼可顿）, a bakery manufacturer that was acquired by Bimbo in 2018, said that it has boosted its social ecommerce targeting individual compounds in Shanghai, since the end of March, when the lockdown was put in place. People had to stay indoors and relying online ordering from a rather limited number of retailers who were able to do offline delivery, in addition to government free rationing.
Anticipating tough and stringent epidemic control measures, the company has put its more than 300 workerfbeds living and working in its Shanghai factory since 4 March. The ultimate lockdown evently occurred at the end of March, sending shockwaves across the country, prompting many other cities to raise their alert and issue more restrictive measures.
"Social ecommerce sales accounted for more than half of our total sales, which has forcefully supported the factory's operation," said Yao Ruibin, Senior Director of Supply Chain with the company, adding that a company has to have its supply chain act faster and more direct in order to "cover" communities.
Yao made the remarks in an online forum organised by FBIF, a media and event company serving the FMCG industry, today.
Mengniu（蒙牛）, one of the few national dairy companies in China, is also thankful to social ecommerce for its Shanghai factory. " (The lockdown) has promoted neighbourly harmony and facilitated group buying in communities," concurred Pan Guangyong, a supply chain manager from Mengniu.
Pan has lived and worked inside the Shanghai factory since 15 March. "We procured 40 bunk beds and had staff holed up wherever there is enough space, and some staffers left to pick up some clothes but were then confined at home just when the lockdown was clamped down."
Yongpu Coffee（永璞咖啡）delivered coffee to around 20 residential compounds a day in the first few weeks of the lockdown, but engaged third-party businesses to cover more than 200 compounds later, according to Tie Pi, Founder of the startup company.
Jingdong Daojia （京东到家）, a subsidiary of JD Group, said that as Covid-19 looks to persist and governments' epidemic control efforts will in future be more narrowly and precisely targeted at specific buildings or compounds, businesses' supply chain will have to become as granular accordingly, observed Yang Wenkui, a senior manager with the online ordering and delivery company.
Oatly, whose sales used to be 80:20 between the catering channel and the retail channel, also benefited from social ecommerce, which they gave more efforts to since mid-March, and thus substantially boosted the sales proportion of the retail channel.
"Our 300 some workers were under lockdown in more than 300 compounds," said David Zhang, general manager of Oatly, and they were conveniently mobilised to engage in social ecommerce.
He also said that its plant-based ice cream also sold well in Shanghai, with more than 200,000 such ice creams being sold in a week, overwhelming its suppply chain network, thanks to social ecommerce.
Fonterra has joined the social e-commerce wave and the dairy giant will introduce more small-pack-size cheese and butter to the China market, said Bo Shuangyu, a senior manager with the company, as the country is going to make it a daily routine to fight against and co-live with coronavirus.
Bo said, "we should embrace changes with an innovative mindset."
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