Localised lockdowns swell the carts of online grocers
As a wave of local lockdowns and restrictions grip several states in the country, online grocers are seeing an uptick in the number of orders per day, with people avoiding markets and mandis.
During the initial phases of the nationwide lockdown, there were several restrictions that the delivery executives faced leading to breakdown of the home delivery mechanism.
However, in the localised lockdowns, which have been in force in several states and cities, the delivery mechanism has been quite smooth. According to experts, while there has been a general shift in buying groceries online, local lockdowns have accelerated that even more.
For online grocers BigBasket, Bengaluru, being the biggest city in terms of revenue contribution, has seen a spike in orders during the lockdown. Currently, the company is doing close to 40,000 orders a day in the city. The base is constantly increasing though not as fast as it happened in April and May when people were seen indulging in panic buying.
“We are facing challenges when it comes to delivering in the containment zones but because of the support from local authorities and commitment from our delivery executives, we have been able to deliver even in the containment zones,” said a company spokesperson.
Bengaluru currently has over 5,500 containment zones and the lockdown is likely to end on Wednesday. States such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have also implemented lockdowns in several pockets.
According to Grofers cofounder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Albinder Dhindsa, his company is working with local authorities in the states where essential services are allowed to operate despite intermittent lockdowns.
Categories such as fruits and vegetables are seeing traction in revenue contributions for online grocery players during the second phase of lockdowns. For Alibaba-backed Bigbasket, fruits and vegetables, which contributed 16-18 per cent of monthly revenue during preCovid times, have risen to 20 per cent of the revenue. “We have seen a positive trend towards the meat category as well. So, we are expanding and strengthening the offers across all cities,” the company said.
As compared to pre-covid times, Milkbasket is also seeing higher sales in the fruits and vegetables and staples section. “Consumers are paying extra attention to hygiene. Hence, it has a direct impact on floor cleaners, toilet cleaners, detergents as well as soaps and sanitizers,” said Anant Goel, cofounder and CEO, Milkbasket. The Gurugram-based firm is now fulfilling 60,000 orders per day, compared to 50,000-55,000 per day earlier.
According to e-commerce experts, home deliveries are running smoothly during intermittent lockdowns, as there is structured demand from customers. “Earlier, there was a lot of panic-buying among customers, but now they know that groceries will be delivered to them either online or offline,” said Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at Forrester Research.
For Walmart-owned Flipkart, consumers’ focus on grocery and other essential products continues to see an uptake, with the average order size in the category seeing decent growth. “Some of the products that have seen continual demand include hand sanitizers, ice tea, instant drink mix, ready baking mixes, syrups, digestives, dry fruits, baking ingredients, juices and snacks along with cleaning essentials, among others,” said a Flipkart spokesperson.
“The potential danger of a crowded market during the current pandemic, for both shoppers and workers, and the fragility of the food supply, have people frantically looking for reliable, low-contact or no-contact groceries. Farms and small businesses are rising to the occasion, adopting more direct distribution models for local foods in a time of crisis,” said Somdutta Singh, founder and CEO of e-commerce management firm Assiduus Global.
“GROFERS IS WORKING WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN THE STATES WHERE ESSENTIAL SERVICES ARE ALLOWED TO OPERATE DESPITE INTERMITTENT LOCKDOWNS”
ALBINDER DHINDSA, Co-founder & CEO, Grofers