Why shifting your Grocery store (Kiraanas in India) to mobile platform is a good idea?

So it was Sunday!! I woke up and had my cup of coffee while flipping through the newspaper. Later I thought of pampering myself with sumptuous breakfast, I went into the kitchen and started looking for things.

I have not gone for grocery shopping from a month and ran out of tea, sugar, butter, flour and few other necessities. The thought of driving 20 Kms away on Sunday and then wasting 3 hours while choosing things, standing in bill payment queue almost horrified me. But then there was no option!!

The entire scene I narrated above is actually 5 years before, but now, we have options of Mobile Shopping and Apps. Today if I realized I am running out of some necessary items, I just open my smartphone, go to my Kiraana wala app and place an order and he delivers directly at my doorstep.

The Kirana guy next to my building has registered himself on some portal where customers place the order for a daily item, guys from the company pick up and deliver things and this is now he has three stores in the city.

Grocery shopping is something we do on day to day basis. With cultural advancement, we have migrated from Kirana stores to Malls and Supermarkets where we get everything at same place —“ You name it and they have it”.

Grocery is a time consuming and tedious task and thus come up culture of ordering online and getting things delivered at your doorstep. With the help of mobile apps, mobile shopping sites, eCommerce sites, it becomes really easy to order things while you are at work and get them delivered when you are back from office at home.

Why people prefer grocery shopping on Mobile Apps ?

The ideal time for grocery shopping is on weekends for a full time employed a person and with this “Click, Order and Get at Home” thing they can utilize this item for fun and entertainment or relaxing on weekends.

Less time consuming and less tedious

Grocery shopping is different from apparel shopping where you don’t need to try things, you have fixed brands, things and items in mind and that list you can give directly to a erchant and he can process your order.

The penetration of internet and smartphone is also one thing why people prefer shopping online or on mobile than going and trolling with shopping baskets for hours and hours around the mall.

The Untapped Opportunity

The retail market in India is expected to hit $725 Bn (about INR 43 lakh crore) by 2017. Retail consultancy Technopak estimates online grocery business to grow at a rate of 25-30 per cent y-o-y basis in major cities of India.

• India is the 6th largest grocery market in the world.
• Only 5-8% of grocery stores are organized corporations. The vast majority are “mom & pop” type shops that are similar to convenience stores in the US and are referred to as “kiranas”.
• The online grocery market is growing at 25-30% annually in metropolitan areas and large cities
• Margins are below 10%.
• 43% of the country’s roads are not suitable for vehicles. Paired with checkpoints, and duty collection points that slow down traffic, infrastructure is an obstacle.

(Source- Inc4.com)

With India shifting to more organized retailing, mobile apps can be one option for Kiranas to continue their traditional version and also cater to people looking for online grocery shopping.

Many traditional merchants (Kirana stores) hinder to take this up because of lack of technical knowledge and they have enough local and daily customers to keep their business going. But with introduction of mobile apps for their stores, they can get more orders and customers on day to day basis and can increase their sales tremendously.

With mobile app, you can directly place all your products online, people can browse it on their phones, tabs or other devices, will place order and transfer money directly into your account. Along with this, you can promote your Kiraanastore on Mobile apps using promotional banners, sliders, giving offers to regular and loyal customers and in many other ways.

One such case is of Kiraanastore.com, who registered themselves on Mobile App and experienced soaring sales. Click to read full story of Kiraanastore.com

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