Click a mouse for daily needs

One of the most interesting sectors of the retail market today is the grocery segment, and even in this segment, it is online grocery which is most lucrative. E-kiranas have come about to be known as servicing the neighbourhood with groceries being delivered to your home on a phone call. Growing interest of consumers to click and point their way through nearly all aspects of daily life has fuelled the internet economy and impelled the development of online services and selling of products online even in areas that were once the sole preserve of traditional businesses, such as grocery stores. Further, the costs in terms of logistics and distribution have turned out to be a significant dampener on profitably and effectively distributing grocery products. But the change in attitude has been welcomed with a rousing response and one has just seen the impact the platform can provide to the grocers across the country.

The idea

We have the likes of Groceryshop.in, Mygrahak.com, Easyration.com, Ecityindia.com, Aaramshop.com, Easydukaan.com, Chennaionlinegrocery.com to name a few and other online kirana stores that are already delivering groceries, combining the concepts of old-fashioned mom-and-pop model with e-commerce. There is this online supermarket, atmydoorsteps.com, in Bangalore, which is looking to expand to other towns, working on a minimum inventory model based on daily orders from retail consumers and weekly shipments from wholesalers. “The idea of providing convenience and leave time on hand to do the things ‘one always wanted to do’ prompted this venture. This, combined with the changing lifestyle of people, increased comfort of customers to transact on the net, increased broadband penetration, etc makes one bullish about the idea,” says Sushant Junnarkar, Founder, Atmydoorsteps.com. “In India, we already have the neighbourhood kirana stores that are closer to the consumers, stock all the grocery products that a consumer needs, and are already providing home delivery to their consumers, so, we thought that the way ahead for us should be a hybrid e-commerce model whereupon we are leveraging the existing presence of neighbourhood retailers for delivery,” says Ashutosh Malik, Director & COO, Aaramshop.com. The retail outlets are so over-crowded during the weekends; the long queues and the challenge to get a parking space were reasons enough for making the shopping experience painful. So, the thought of making everything available online sounds attractive.

Product availability

The e-kirana players are currently offering more than 1,500 products which mostly comprise staples, pulses and FMCG products. One can also find fresh meat (chicken and mutton) and fresh fish. The likes of Aaramshop have other policies such as any brand that is a national or regional brand, and conforms to the regulations with respect to MRP, safety and other official requirements is made available. “Easyration has a wide variety of products; from staples (rice, pulses, flours, oil, etc) to personal care, cleaning and washing items, regional items, health supplements, baby care, pet care, etc,” says Avipsha Thakur, Co-founder, Easyration.com.

Viable route

Some of the reasons why increasing numbers of consumers are likely to turn to online grocery are the same as those driving other internet purchases – better prices, larger selection, convenience and time saving. Home delivery of items purchased online is appealing to those for whom going out to shop is difficult for various reasons, such as paucity of time, the need to care for young children, the lack of adequate or convenient transportation or a busy lifestyle. According to sources, the top five categories in the daily-consumed goods make up 54.98% of the total value of products ordered online.

Running the show

The most important factor to consider while operating an e-shopping firm is investment, which varies according to the subjective model. Primary investments comprise setting up the website, basic infrastructure, and salary costs. “We have invested a significant amount of resources in creating the technology platform and are continuing to invest in the platform, in getting the retail community across India to be a part of the platform and in interfacing with the consumers,” Malik adds. Yet, the biggest chunk of the variable cost is marketing and sales promotions.

Building-up

The e-kirana stores need to indulge in extensive marketing channels so as to give their brand a kick-off. “We are promoting the Aaramshop platform both online and offline. The online promotion is happening through online platforms such as Google and Facebook, which are visited by our target consumers. Further, we are working with our retail partners to promote the platform offline as well,” adds Malik. Easyration had done a promotion scheme with Snapdeal in early July. This was very successful and gave them a lot of visibility; the regular way of promoting through pamphlets is also done at the same time.

Undertaking operation

When it comes to e-commerce, the most glaring concern is how the goods are delivered and whether they are delivered to customers’ satisfaction. “Aaramshop is a platform which is bringing consumers, retailers and brands together. The neighbourhood retailer stocks the products, the delivery of products bought by a consumer takes place through the neighborhood retailer,” says Malik. As for Atmydoorsteps, they collate orders based on the cut-off time and procure the orders. The idea is to save on inventory holding costs and the likes of Easyration have their centrally set-up warehouse.

The road ahead for e-commerce opportunities is looking tremendously bright; one just needs to make sure that the path taken has been reviewed with utmost care and precision. With the consumers getting more and more spoilt for convenience, it is now up to the platform to make the most out of this window.