Chinese e-commerce platform operator Pinduoduo Inc reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter, beating average analysts' estimates. The company attributed its stellar first-quarter performance to an increase in online shopping activity during the first three months of the year when a large part of China was being placed under shelter-in-place orders and lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

During the first quarter, most of the physical stores in China were ordered to close, forcing consumers to shop online for their basic needs. Similar to other online e-commerce platforms, Pinduoduo received a big boost to its revenues during that time as people stocked up on supplies through online stores.

For its first-quarter ending in March, Pinduoduo reported a 44 percent surge in its revenues when compared to the same quarter last year to around 6.54 billion yuan or roughly $919.63 million. The figure managed to beat initial analysts' estimates of around 4.97 billion yuan for the quarter.

The lockdowns to mitigate the spread of the virus in China also resulted in a surge in new users on the Pinduoduo platform. According to the company, the growth rate of active buyers on its platform in the last 12 months had reached over 628 million. This represented a 42 percent increase when compared to the users over the same period during the previous year. The figure also represents a big achievement for the company as it narrows down the gap with its rival Alibaba Group, which reported 726 million active buyers on its platform over the last 12 months at the end of March.

The surge in its number of active buyers also reflected in the company's average daily orders. Since the start of May, Pinduoduo claims that its average daily orders had reached close to 65 million. A huge jump from the 50 million average daily orders it had reported before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite reported relatively above-average figures, the pandemic still weighed on the company's operations. For the quarter, Pinduoduo reported costs of over 4.12 billion yuan, a huge jump from the 1.88 billion yuan it reported over the same period last year.

Pinduoduo's revenue for the quarter was significantly lower compared to its fourth quarter last year, which was around 10.79 billion yuan. The company's vice president, David Liu, reasoned that the drop was due to increase spending as part of its efforts to aid farmers and vendors during the crisis. As part of its support program, Pinduoduo offered its customers lower effective advertising rates, while also offering free traffic for essential supplies.