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Why Does Online Local Grocery Market Need to Grow in India? The market of investors also is promising for the e-grocer models with an overwhelming total of $103.21 million since January 2015

By Sunil Lakra

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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Ever wondered why strategic players Bigbasket, Amazon, Grofers and a dozen more spreading their wings into the consumer market and making innovations to a highly profitable domain while they even benefit their audience? Considering more than a billion dollar valued online grocery space is gearing to expand even more than last year, it is evident that key players and upcoming ones have marked a significant strength and potential in the domain. To back that strong opinion, quite recently Walmart's evident interest in Flipkart and taking up the 77 per cent stake shows likely that the renowned domain might make it large in the food and grocery segment and become India's biggest disruptor.

Online dominated businesses spell comfort, however, never has it been increasingly essential as on account of the blossoming hyper-local sector. As indicated by a popular report on e-tailing, the domain holds 0.4per cent of the general retail showcase. It remained at $2.3 billion of every 2014 and is required to reach $32 billion by 2020. Of the general e-tail market, food and basic household supply represent one per cent, which is relied upon to twofold by 2020. Incidentally, the market of investors also is promising for the e-grocer models with an overwhelming total of $103.21 million since January 2015.

An asset for a consumer and sheer luxury to have the smallest of daily routine things getting delivered just keeps getting better in this domain. From offers and discounts, 90 minutes deliveries and tie-ups with secured payment gateways, a consumer can sit back and relax while an online hyper-local market helps gather all the items ordered and bringing it right to the doorstep.

From a consumer point of view and a business angle, let's just take a quick plunge into why the future of online grocery stores is so up and coming and definitely more viable:

  • Lack of Time:

The work culture and career bug are not limited to just the metropolitan cities. A city irrespective of its size has endless people striving to grow and barely have the time to go shop for weekly groceries. As is the culture for hiring maids and cooks getting popular day by day, buying groceries and setting a specific delivery time is not just time-consuming but a lot quicker with lesser overheads.

  • Warehousing Investment:

A good cost-effective the proposition, e-grocers can easily make a base in a centrally located warehouse to ensure they can cover the market with more ease rather than investing in physical stores along with warehouses. It is a practical and highly desirable way of functioning. The same saving can be invested in offering greater deals and discounts than adding overheads of brick and mortar stores.

  • Cutting the "Bargaining' Game:

The ideal way to breakthrough traditional Indian ways of a bargain, an e-grocer has the option to offer discounts and money-saving deals wherein it's either "buy me or lose me". There isn't much scope of doing local haggling games over onions or tomatoes which has often been the age-old culture. Good promotions do bring in good business without the daily dose of bringing down prices.

Bearing in mind that times are constantly evolving and the common Indian man is career-driven, uses a smartphone, buys great internet speed, is e-banking savvy and more than often short of time to run errands. Getting a chance to save money and save time is just icing on the cake for a consumer. In India, online players are budding nearly 20per cent each month, and this helps boost farmers and local vendors as well since e-grocers aim to source the freshest produce and have lesser middlemen. A business concept like online hyper-local markets is ensuring that sales grow for vendors and farmers alike and give a steady source of income.

Sunil Lakra

Founder of Lalaji24x7.com

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