On Tuesday, Vientiane Capital. A seminar on E-Commerce for COVID-19 Response was held at Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) and Co-organized by Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF).
This seminar was joined by 5 E-Commerce companies and students offline and via zoom, with a discussion about “E-Commerce in Laos during the COVID-19 Pandemic”.
Mrs. Thanyalat Chaleunsouk, Managing Director of Delivery Hero Lao Sole Co., Ltd, shared during the panel discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic had both positive and negative effects on foodpanda business.
The positive effect came from the change in consumer purchasing behavior that needed to adjust to the “new norm”, where businesses needed to adapt their commerce strategy to be more online. foodpanda became one of the top online solutions for many businesses that wanted to expand their commerce online.
On the contrary, the increased pandemic restrictions by villages, districts, and provinces have impacted the ability of our riders to deliver to some locations during a decreased operational time, which had a negative impact on our riders, vendors, and customers. Once the restrictions get lifted, more of our riders are able to deliver food and groceries to our customers.
This has taught foodpanda a valuable lesson on how to always adapt to the business trends, to see opportunities from the obstacles we face each day.
When asked by one of the students on e-commerce start-ups, she added: “for anyone here that plans to start an e-commerce business, you’ll start an observer, looking for various problems to solve by using technology. You should consider the time and capital needed to reach your goals, in addition to whether or not your market is ready for the solution you have for the unique problem”.
Her final remarks to the student audience were for them to be life-long learners, to be open to new ideas, to give that extra effort to gain a new experience that will lead them to new skills. These skills gained through your experience will become significant tools that will stick with you for the rest of your life
foodpanda Lao will launch their internship program during Q2 of 2022, to provide newly graduated students who are ready to take that leap into the digital e-commerce world and a glimpse into the dynamic and progressive workplace of foodpanda.
