More Lhasa residents shopping online for New Year

In the days leading up to China's Lunar New Year, the start of Spring Festival, and Losar, the Tibetan New Year, which both fall on Friday, many residents of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, have chosen to shop online to avoid the risk of coronavirus infection.

A citywide online shopping festival, which started on Sunday, has added impetus to that.

The Lhasa Bureau of Commerce, organizer of the shopping festival, said the city's seven major shopping malls are offering a variety of discounts on their apps and social media accounts.

"Online orders have been soaring," said Phuntsok Sangpo, who is responsible for e-commerce business at Yonghui Supermarket in Lhasa, one of the seven malls.

"We have different discounts almost every day. We also send out coupons to online and offline customers," he said.

"Vegetables and fruit are the most popular items," he said, adding that the average number of daily orders has risen from 60 to 70 two weeks ago to more than 100 in the recent days, and each order averages around 20 items.

Tsering Chophel, a resident of Lhasa, who bought some dried fruit and snacks for the holidays, said, "I can get delivery to my door if I don't want to go out", adding that he also could choose to pick up items himself after making an online purchase.

"Shopping online is easy and convenient. It is also a bit cheaper as stores offer different discounts and coupons all the time," said the 21-year-old, who has been getting daily necessities and snacks mostly online.