The tech-savvy Bangalorean has found yet another way to make his daily routine less complicated. The daily/weekly/monthly grocery shopping ordeal has been done away with.
The tech-savvy Bangalorean has found yet another way to make his daily routine less complicated. The daily/weekly/monthly grocery shopping ordeal has been done away with.
It’s all doable now with the click of a mouse. Online grocery stores are coming up now in Bangalore and are stocking up everything from staples to cosmetics, pet food to cosmetics. All you need to do is just go online and pile it high on your cart.
Two of the most popular ones in this game are atMyDoorSteps.com (http://www.atmydoorsteps.com/store/) and eCityIndia.com (http://ecityindia.com/). The former is a new entrant, having started its operations in February and the latter has been in the business for four odd years. eCityIndia offers customers a wider range what with auto care and computer stationery, consumer electronics and kitchen appliances along with the daily groceries while atMyDoorSteps stocks only the daily groceries. Neither portal keeps perishables though.
And just like your neighbourhood kirana store or the Big Bazaar round the corner you get free delivery above a certain amount or combo offers to sweeten the deal.
eCityIndia was conceptualised in 2006 and started in 2007 by Arun Sundaram, who has over 10 years’ experience in telecom and software industries.
Sundaram was prompted by his own hectic travelling schedule that left almost no time to do his grocery shopping.
“There were no players around at that time and it was a pressing need for me, as I needed to take care of my household needs in the midst of my hectic travelling schedule. I felt that there were many others who shared my problems and came up with this idea,” he says.
“It was totally self-funded and operations, technical details (without the marketing costs) amounted to about Rs1.5 lakh at that time,” he recalls.
It grew by word of mouth at first, which, according to Sundaram, allowed them to get area-based marketing done. It was followed by visits and tie-ups with corporate. Today they conduct about 50 transactions a day (a bit higher during the first half of the month and a bit lower as the month progresses).
Sushant Junnarkar of atMyDoorSteps launched his portal in February 2011. He had been toying with the idea long before that, though.
“I had always thought of starting my own entrepreneurial venture, ever since I did my post-graduation from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 2001,” he says.
For this former finance guy (his last job was with HSBC), it was the sheer waste of time on weekends to get the grocery shopping done that prompted him to think of solutions.
“Driving through traffic, finding a parking spot, waiting at the billing counter — it all took away time that could have been spent with friends and family, reading or getting that extra hour of sleep,” says Junnarkar. “From there the thought struck: why not shopping on the Internet? The touch and feel experience could be taken care of by having branded, pre-packed items. A branded pack of toothpaste or cornflakes is the same irrespective of whoever touches or feels it. Moreover, empirical data shows that 70-90% of items that people buy month-on-month are common,” he continues. The initial seed capital was put together by investors and so far they haven’t taken external funding, though things might change once they scale up operations.
Both Junnarkar and Sundaram acknowledge the fact that a venture of this kind involves steep challenges. The biggest challenge, feels Junnarkar, is to change customer behaviour and make grocery shopping on the net a satisfying experience. Sundaram too points out that attitude of the Indian customer is the key factor here.
“People here still prefer the look and feel experience for their regular purchasing,” he says. But he does point out that “once they start trusting the online model, there will be a huge potential for an online supermarket”.
Junnarkar goes on to explain that changing lifestyles, which leaves young working couples with virtually no time together, along with increased comfort with Internet transactions and increased broadband penetration “makes one bullish about the idea”.
And their very existence is a testimony to the fact that people are opting for this model of retail. The comfort of shopping online, the time factor, the sheer convenience of doing your groceries any time and any place, including during the coffee break at work, and knowing that your supplies will be delivered to you at the promised time, makes it work. While eCityIndia accepts credit and debit cards, atMyDoorSteps takes things a step further with their cash-on-delivery model.
In fact, they have launched wireless credit/debit card swipe machines where the customer pays through the card on delivery. Junnarkar categorically states: “Till the time we gain trust and satisfaction from our customers, we will continue with pay-on-delivery.
Currently, atMyDoorSteps offers services to south Bangalore covering Bannerghatta road, Banashankari, Jayanagar, JP Nagar and Kanakpura Road. But Junnarkar is gearing up to expand to the rest of the city over the next few months and then take it to other metros.
eCityIndia is firmly fixed on Bangalore, though, with no immediate plans for expansion.
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