Bangkok (VNA) –Thai e-commerce and logistics operators said the ongoing coronavirus outbreakhas hampered parcel deliveries from China, and they are working to ensureaccess and rein in the prices of disease-prevention accessories such as facemasks and hand sanitiser.

Marketing manager of Shopee Thailand Suchaya Paleewong said Shopee users couldhave to wait for shipments from China due to recent developments of the novelvirus outbreak.

Shopee are taking stringentmeasures to ensure that its staff and warehouses in China are adequatelyprotected from the virus, she said, adding Shopee transit warehouses in Chinaare disinfected daily and the body temperature of all employees is beingchecked before they enter the facilities.

Meanwhile, Lazada Thailandannounced orders placed after January 20 are expected to have tardy processingand shipping, partly driven by the virus spread.

Lazada is exercising all efforts to debunk myths and better match demand withsupply by leveraging technology and logistics capabilities within Lazada andits parent Alibaba. All of Lazada’s warehouses are disinfected and all staffundergo daily temperature checks, while stringent sanitisation processes willbe followed before staff handle packages.

The company will work with brands and sellers to ensure that prices of facemasks are kept reasonable, it said.

Chief executive Sutthikead Chantarachairoijof Shippop, a local logistics aggregator startup, said 500 social commercemerchants are experiencing delays in shipments of products ordered from China.

With a delay of 7-15 days, those with small inventory, particularly PET plasticproducts, will suffer supply shortages.

He noticed that domestic e-commerce shipment volume in the first 15 days ofJanuary soared 14 percent year-on-year, as people avoided crowed areas andphysical shops and opted to shop online instead.

Chief marketing officer of e-commerce platform JD Central Thailand RvisraChirathivat agreed that shipments from China have been hit with a delay due tothe virus outbreak. He said if the company’s customers cannot wait, JD Centralwill fully refund buyers, or if customers are willing to wait, it will updatethe status of the purchase orders to ensure product delivery and minimiseimpact.

Chief executive of e-commerce price comparison website Priceza ThanawatMalabuppha said orders made through the system dropped 3 percent from December2019 to January 2020.

Thanawat, also president of the Thai E-commerce Association, said he could notconfirm whether the drop was caused by the virus as the situation may be due toeconomic stagnation./.