How Online Groceries are changing the Conventional Grocery Shops in India?

The development of online grocery shopping has given India a boost economically. This is due to organized selling which was very low earlier. On the other hand, many small grocery merchants have shifted to a new source of income due to low profits. There are still traditional kirana stores around us which are operating well. How are they managing their business amid the rise of supermarkets and online grocery service providers? Why haven’t they risen over time? Will online markets halt their operations completely? Many such questions will be answered in this article.

In the 90’s, there were a lot of middlemen in the supply chain. Due to this, the farmers earned only ⅓ of the amount paid by the customer. To overcome this, the government reduced over selling which in turn reduced the number of middlemen in a particular supply.

The government switched on and off between FDI(Foreign Direct Investment) because they were uncertain about the benefits its own country could harness. Finally, they created a policy allowing FDI. This created a lot of jobs in the grocery retail industry and also allowed consumers to get products at good prices due to competition.

In the old days, grocery stores typically meant selling vegetables and fruits. It grew adding daily essentials like soap, toothpaste, shampoo, and more. The rise of supermarkets completely changed the game. They sell everything from vegetables to canned foods. Then came the hypermarket. You can buy groceries along with high-end gadgets here while selecting a cool pair of shoes. That’s how the urban area’s public having hypermarkets get everything at one place.

Due to the rise of supermarkets and hypermarkets, the traditional grocery stores have reduced in number. As years have gone by, they have seen a dip in the customer count. Moreover, customers usually buy only required items from them. Therefore, less profits urged these stores to come to a standstill.

The grocery stores are benefiting from local customers. Their location plays an important role to their success because if a store is in between a commercial & residential area, more people can hop in to save time and travel. These days, having a good location is not enough. On a holiday, a family travels via train to a Dmart supermarket for buying their monthly groceries. They say that travelling some distance is better than throwing away double money on groceries by buying them from the local kirana store. You can imagine how good they are at savings. It also tells us that buying from a supermarket, though far away, saves a lot of money.

India has risen in organized shopping of groceries. Many vendors serving on roads or via trucks have stopped. Most of the shops, big or small, are now providing proper bills. Some of the online grocery sites ask you for your GST number so that you can benefit in taxes. The big players responsible for making organized grocery shopping include Reliance, Dmart, Big Bazaar, and Spencer. As the retail grocery market is worth around 60% of the economy, many mid-sized players have emerged victorious namely Vishal Mega Mart, Patanjali, Hypercity, and Star Quik.

1. Shop anytime, from anywhere. Reports say that online shoppers typically place their orders at 10 pm.
2. You can track your grocery shopping expenses and get your budget set, hasslefree.
3. Avail promotional offers for savings over the regular discounts.
4. Quick buy helps you select your items quickly as it is based on your previous purchases.
5. Saves time and travel.
6. Assurity of what you will get so avoids disappointment.
7. No issue of bargaining but still you save more than offline shopping.
8. Quality assured as you can return the damaged items.
9. Helps you in organised grocery shopping so you can know all the insights of your shopping habits.
10. Earns You Cashback over & above the available offers.

Local stores are offering free delivery to customers to uplift their business. Some of them have started a member loyalty program wherein each member is given a membership card which can be used to avail 5-10% discounts on their purchases. This is a good strategy to compete with high-end retailers or supermarkets. Though, small stores face problems of less stock due to their small inventory.

Introduction of JioMart has brought some good news for the small retail merchants. JioMart has tied-up with various kirana and general stores for grocery supply. A JioMart user is assigned a nearby store so that he can pick up his order from the store. This will increase the customer base of these local stores and inturn raise their incomes. Similarly, many small & medium brick and mortar grocery stores have collaborated with online grocery services such as Dunzo, Big Basket, Grofers, and more.

Currently, India is in a phase where online buying of groceries is new to people. If this industry delivers great quality in its service then it will go a long way. Does that mean the local shops, supermarkets, and hypermarkets will be buried? Well that’s tough to answer at this point of time but we can certainly hope for a great future prospect for consumers on the grocery front.