Starting from today (April 16) at 8pm, Singapore’s largest supermarket chain FairPrice will be charging a $ 3.99 service fee to all online orders, in a bid to accommodate the increased demand in delivery slots for its online platform.
According to an announcement on their website, the number of visits to its online ordering site has surged by almost threefold over the past two months due to Covid-19, as many people are now opting for grocery delivery to their homes.
Delivery slots are quickly snapped up when they are released, leaving many customers unable to purchase essential goods. To mitigate this, FairPrice has released delivery slots throughout the day to create more opportunities for online customers to place their orders.
FairPrice said that they have ramped up their manpower strength, hiring and training about 150 staff to become skilled pickers and packers. This has increased the number of delivery slots available for online customers by 25 per cent.
It added that FairPrice will continue to hire more staff in the coming weeks and also further increase their online capacity by another 30 per cent by converting a brick-and-mortar FairPrice store into another fulfilment centre for online orders, among other measures.
FairPrice is donating a matching amount raised from service fees to local charities helping needy individuals. This includes Metta Welfare Association, Assisi Hospice, Touch Community Services and Food from the Heart.
FairPrice will also introduce a new multi-tiered delivery fee structure, for varying basket sizes.
The new multi-tiered delivery fee structure for FairPrice Online will be as follows:
| Order value (SGD) | Delivery charge (SGD) |
| $ 79 and above | Delivery charge waived |
| Between $ 59 to $ 79 | $ 3.00 |
| Below $ 59 | $ 5.00 |
Featured Image Credit: FairPrice
