E-commerce companies around the world enjoyed a boost during the pandemic as people trapped in lockdown went shopping online, but James Dong, the CEO of Alibaba-owned Lazada group, said there were plenty of challenges as well.

“On one side, you have a rising number of … grocery orders and consumers want to really get it in time and they want to get it fresh, mint condition,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday.

“On the other side, the supply, the infrastructure, [there are so many] challenges around that. It’s very difficult to ramp up … during a pandemic.”

To overcome some of the challenges, the Southeast Asian online marketplace had to “join forces” with traditional retail players, Dong said.

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