Coronavirus: Singaporeans eye savings with bulk-shopping groups on WhatsApp, Telegram

Tens of thousands of Singapore residents have joined group-buying online communities since the start of the pandemic

While most groups focus on food, some larger group-buy networks offer household items such as cleaning supplies

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Shoppers at a market in Little India. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:00am, 23 Aug 2021Updated: 8:34pm, 23 Aug 2021

Every week, Singapore health care worker Toh Lixin offers about 4,000 of her neighbours the chance to get discounts on items such as fruit tarts, bottled coffee and baby lobsters.

Toh, 26, is the organiser of an informal network of consumers who use Telegram, WhatsApp and Instagram to organise group purchases. She started the group last October and usually gets around 50 weekly orders.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Singaporeans like her have launched at least 20 group-buying communities.

Residents in Bukit Panjang, a neighbourhood in the northwestern part of the island, can have baby lobsters delivered for just S$24 (US$17.50), which can be half of what restaurants downtown charge. While most groups focus on food, some larger group-buy networks offer household items such as cleaning supplies.

Buying through bulk purchases is a permanent way of shopping in other countries. Photo: EPA-EFE

Hosts, the local residents in charge of the groups, negotiate with businesses on prices and customers collect the items, often from the hosts’ homes.

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