Face mask stocks nearly doubled in online stores

The inventory surged by 173% in early February.

e-commerce seems to be readily supporting the rapid consumption rate of face masks in Singapore, as the stock of face masks in online retail surged by 173% on 4 February, said a report by meta-search website iprice.

The average selling price of the reusable masks skyrocketed 276% within 24 hours since the first case was reported in Singapore on 30 January. The average price of $10.84 per box increased to $63.45 the next day.

iprice data showed the increase in online search queries for face masks starting from 31 January. However, the number of queries was overtaken by the online search for hand sanitizers from 4 February.

iprice believes that the increased search for hand sanitizers was due to the Ministry of Health’s advisory guidelines which emphasised precautionary measure of the regular washing of hands.