In light of the current demonetisation, card transactions and online sales of everything from clothing to groceries has seen a spike
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In a bid to compete against other e-retailers, Flipkart is now looking at adding new categories to its e-commerce platform. The company, which was launched in India in 2007, plans to move into the groceries space and revamp its furniture business in the coming year.
However, there are tremendous challenges to convince consumers to buy groceries online which is a daily essential need. One could exchange a piece of fabric online and wait for a late delivery, but for groceries, the need is timely and quality of utmost importance.
However, the fact remains that many people in the metros now prefer to order even their groceries online in an effort to save time and energy.
Currently, there are a handful of online stores which sell only groceries and daily perishable goods. In light of the current demonetization, services such as Grofers, BigBasket, Nature’s Basket, and even local stores have set up their websites and seen a spike in their sales.
According to reports, as of now, 60 per cent of India’s $525 billion retail market is spent on groceries and of that only one percent is taken up by online grocery sales. It is also estimated that the growth will not be very exponential in the years to come either.
Yet, the e-commerce retailer is hopeful and aims to scale up operations over a period of three years starting in 2017.
QUOTES
Amazon and Snapdeal have had the online groceries option for quite some time, but now that Flipkart has announced that they too will be providing this facility, it will attract a large amount of people as it is a renowned and trusted store. Personally, I will have faith in the quality of the product as Flipkart has served me well for many years and I have never had any problems with their service or delivery. Ordering online will also save me a lot of time as I will be able to order whatever I need at the beginning of the month and sustain for a longer time rather than wasting my time shopping on a daily or weekly basis. And although, grocery shops do have some variety, e-commerce stores are famous for their ability to provide a wide range of products from different brands. On the whole I feel that for people living in metros and who work throughout the day with no time to spare for household shopping, this is of great help.
Lester Dias, 25, Fatorda
Personally, I feel that buying groceries online could lead to the delivery of stale and non-authentic products. There is no guarantee where the products are coming from and under what circumstances they have been stored. Thus, it is always better to purchase your groceries and perishables from the departmental stores because you are able to see what you buy. Also online delivery takes at least 2-3 days, so it's a waste of time and energy when I can buy everything from a store nearby and use it as quickly as possible.
Lorraine Benjamin, 47, Navelim
