Before the time of COVID-19, delivery services were not widely used as most Myanmar people like to buy things by checking with their own eyes. Nevertheless, since COVID-19 is mostly spread through coughing, sneezing and droplets left on surfaces, the local authorities ordered the bars, dine-in restaurants, entertainment facilities throughout Myanmar to close. Besides, more and more people are practicing social distancing and staying at home. Therefore, services that deliver food, groceries, home essential, clothing, cosmetics, electronic devices, medical supplies and packages are widely used since March, 2020.

Yangon Delivery Services (Popular Food Delivery Services)

• Food2u
• Food Panda
• Grab Food
• Hi-so Mall
• Yangon Door2Door (Not only for food but also for packages and letters)

During COVID-19 period, these food delivery services are spreading their network with as many restaurants as possible in order to provide more varieties of food to the customers. They also offer a lot promotions with free of charge delivery to customers. Colorful bicycles from these companies can be seen in the streets of Yangon delivering food and goods to customers everyday.

People use delivery services in order to avoid the risk of getting infected by the corona virus. However, there is still risk of being infected between customers and delivery staffs. As delivery staffs have to enter several restaurants, touching the doors, counters and cash. To reduce the contact, customers can choose to leave the deliveries at doors. In addition, cashless payment can be chosen rather than cash on delivery.  But there are many customers who still use cash on delivery payment. So, it is needed to wash the hands for 20 seconds before eating to be safe.

Moreover, the delivery staffs also need to pay attention to the condition of food in delivering to the customers. If something happened to the food while delivering, they make sure to satisfy the customer as soon as possible or they will lose a customer soon as there are many choices.

In addition, customers can set the time and date to deliver as they want. So, if you set the perfect time for breakfast, your food will be at the door by the time you wake up.  Since the location can be changed each time, customers can also send food to their friends and families by paying for them from online.

Direct distribution and Door to door delivery services are widely used today’s distribution channels. Manufacturers/distributors deliver their products directly to retailers and end consumers through online sales. Mini vans are being used to carry goods during COVID period.

City to city Delivery Services in Myanmar

During this pandemic, there is an increase in demand of delivery services not only within the city but also city to city in Myanmar. Since people are not allowed to go to other cities without any apparent reasons so far, these deliver services are mainly used to deliver the packages or letters. There is also the door to door service which can keep the customers safe in their house. In delivering other cities, customers can choose the relevant packaging as well as shipping according to the kind of package. Moreover, the instant tracking is also available so that people can feel secure about their shipping. People mainly use the parcels andcourier services such as Royal Mail, Royal express, SBS Express and Marathon Express to deliver their packages or letters. They provide same day pickup and delivery in Yangon city. In the time of COVID-19, the Marathon Express also connect with taxi drivers and freelance cyclists in order to cover the increased delivery demand within the city. Moreover, the highway express company like Shwe Thia also offers city to city delivery services of packages even their main service, the passengers transportation, isn’t allowed so far. For major cities within Myanmar, overnight or next-day delivery service is provided since these companies have partnered with many local buslines and transportation providers nationwide. Efficient delivery services become active from China border (Muse) and Thai border (Myawaddy) to domestic market.

Inbound and Outbound Delivery Services

• DHL Express
• UPS
• EMS (International)
• Royal Express
• BeeXprss Courier Service Myanmar
• Others

Inbound and outbound delivery services are widely used especially during the COVID-19 period. These companies offer delivering small packages to oversized packages and products to and from other countries. There are also a number of available services such as pick-up services, door-to-door service and internet tract and trace services etc. Based on the size of package, the cost of shipping and shipping methods are differed. The common words they all assure are “security and reliability”. They are offering the secured and reliable inbound and outbound delivery services to the clients all across the world.

Other delivery services

With a population of 54 million and 22 million internet users, and 6.6% annual growth in those users, the country’s digital transformation is now very underway, alongside increasing demand for online services. There are also delivery service providers who work privately without connecting with express companies. These providers mainly use social media like Facebook in finding the clients. They post about their services on their personal pages as well as on the public groups. They also assure the safety and hygiene of the track and package so that the clients feel safe with the delivering process. Development of cold chain logistic in Myanmar is expected and huge market potential along with growing advanced delivery services.