Unlike it’s neighbor to the south, Singapore, with its multiple options for online grocery shopping, Malaysia is not as lucky to have a deep-pocketed tech startup specifically dedicated to selling food online. Here is what’s available in Malaysia.

Traditional groceries with online options

Local grocery chains, Tesco and Presto both have websites which allow shoppers to sort through items and have them delivered to their homes. Coverage and cost and delivery times vary around Malaysia.

Concierge options

Just like Singapore has Honestbee which is similar to Instacart in the US, surprisingly there are  no Malaysian versions yet.

Online only options

HappyFresh – currently only available in the Kuala Lumpur area offers one hour delivery and a mobile only experience designed for those on the go.

GrocerExpress – A startup which only offers delivery in the Petaling Jaya area (outside Kuala Lumpur) but has thousands of products on-hand

Redtick – Has been in operation for 6 years and carries 4,000 products. Offers delivery in the greater Kuala Lumpur area.

Youbeli – A overall eCommerce site where you can get pretty much anything also sells groceries.

These are just the top stores with the most options available, but there are about a dozen more just getting their services off the ground. There are stores that sell only organic, stock items imported from around Asia or the US, and even some that specialize in farm to table. Due to low credit card penetration, most of the online grocers in Malaysia offer COD or other alternative payments.

Delivery times vary based on how products are sent to homes. Some will offer motorbike services while others will only use traditional post which can take many days to arrive. Logistics is a big issue with a country as large as Malaysia and at times has some very bad bad traffic in some of the more populous areas.