In recent years, E-commerce has impacted the ways businesses operate. Consumer habits have changed dramatically since the rise in e-commerce, and industries have been embracing this change.
Modern-day households, with their smartphones in hand, are too busy to waste time going to the grocery store, finding a parking space, searching for products, or standing in line to pay. Now, you can place online grocery orders, make cashless payments, and receive groceries without going anywhere.
The name “Grofers” mainly comes from the name “Grocery Gophers”. Grofers is the brainchild of Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar, who founded it in December 2013. The company enjoyed interest from plenty of Big investors like Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, Tiger Global, and more. Since the day it was founded, the grocer has delivered orders to customers in 27+ cities, partnered with over 5000 stores, and delivers more than 25 million products to homes each month.
Grofers expanded rapidly, but it encountered several difficulties in its operations. It did not have a warehouse and was competitive with online giants and neighbourhood stores. Customers preferred to shop at neighbourhood stores and wanted to check the quality and freshness of the products before purchasing them. Grofers also had a high cost of acquiring customers.
Eventually, the owners had to modify the business model to include inventory, at which point investors were sceptical of the company’s future. This step was also in their favour and helped them establish a strong foundation for their company.
Using an app, the company attempted to resolve the issues associated with the disorderly sector from both ends, namely customers and merchants. Consequently, the problem had led them to Grofers. In Delhi NCR, Grofers was first tested and eventually introduced to several other cities after it was successful.
Grofers initially delivered fresh fruits and vegetables, groceries, baked goods, pet care, baby care, home and office furnishings, mobiles, jewellery, books, and electronics. Currently, the company offers its customers essential daily needs while focusing on a customer-centric and merchant-centric approach.
Any seller could become a part of Grofers by registering on the Grofers Seller Platform (App). Grofers registered only those sellers who had shops located in the delivery permitted pin code/area. Grofers provided its sellers with a dashboard for managing the orders
The Lockdown and Grofers:
The Coronavirus pandemic proved to be a blessing in disguise for Grofers as the lockdown motivated people to order groceries and similar stuff through e-delivery channels like Grofers. According to an ET report, Grofers witnessed a 5% to 7% hike during weekdays and an 80% increase in demands during the weekend immediately after lockdown.
After the initial lockdowns were lifted, the habit of ordering from home stuck with the customers and the company registered appreciable growth in orders and customers and it also had to hire more delivery persons and collaborate with delivery partners to fulfil the demand it was experiencing.
Zomato and Grofers:
Recently, the food-tech giant Zomato has decided to stop its grocery delivery service and invest in Grofers which will help it generate better outcomes. There has been a proposed acquisition of a 9.3% stake in Grofers by Zomato which will accompany an investment of $100 million by Zomato in the grocer.
Way ahead:
Although the company has seen an increase in orders, it now has to contend with two Indian giants – Tata and Reliance – for market share, as well as a variety of localized delivery services.
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