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<keyword id="12744044" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Groceries-delivery" source="Orion">Groceries delivery</keyword> giant <keyword id="2466939" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="grofers" source="Orion">Grofers</keyword> — which rebranded itself to <keyword id="12724311" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="blinkit" source="Orion">Blinkit</keyword> last week in order to further emphasis on its quick commerce image — has shut down stores and is limiting its operations to only those areas where it can deliver products within 10 minutes. The company is operational in 30 cities, 12 of which do offer 10 minute delivery. A quick look at the Blinkit (Grofers) site shows that their services aren’t available in Agra, Ahmedabad, Panipat, Rohtak, Allahabad, Durgapur (West Bengal), and Vadodara. These are some of the cities where the erstwhile Grofers had <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/grofers-founder-criticised-for-10-minute-grocery-delivery-his-reply-11630160621963.html">launched deliveries in 2019</a>. “ The remaining 18 cities were the ones where the company still offers its regular one day delivery. “The Blinkit service will now be available in only the areas where we are able to arrive at users location within 10 minutes (or less),” founder and chief executive (CEO) <keyword id="2744778" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Albinder-Dhindsa" source="Orion">Albinder Dhindsa</keyword> announced on Twitter. Similarly, Business Insider also checked for some key residential locations within the big cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. These are some of the areas where either Blinkit doesn’t seem to be delivering as per the website: Tollygunge, Kasba, Jadavpur, Bhowanipore, and New Alipore in Kolkata; Kalina, Kandivali, Kharghar, Sion, and Andheri East in Mumbai; Shanti Niketan, Hauz Khas Enclave, Green Park, and Punjabi Bagh in New Delhi; Cox Town, Lalbagh, Rajaji Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, and RT Nagar in Bengaluru; Ambattur, Velachery, Pallavaram, Perungudi, KK Nagar, Mylapore, and Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai. In Hyderabad, the services are not available. There may be variations based on specific location or housing society that you may live in. You can add your specific location and verify if deliveries are available. <div type="image" title="Blinkit in Hyderabad" height="900" width="1200" msid="88389012" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Blinkit in Hyderabad&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> This move will impact 75,000 of the 200,000 daily customers of the company, Blinkit said., It is currently executing its 10-minute delivery in 12 cities through over 250 stores and plans to take this number to 530 stores by next month. It plans to serve through 1,000 stores by the middle of next year, the company’s CEO had told Business Insider last week. However, industry experts believe that the number is simply too low. Here’s Business Insider’s analysis of Grofers’ ambitious plan for quick commerce based on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/grofers-founder-explains-why-he-rushed-to-rebrand-the-startup-and-his-plans-seem-ambitious/articleshow/88320706.cms">an interview with Dhindsa</a>. The chief executive officer of a firm in the quick commerce space, on the condition of anonymity, told Business Insider, “We did some maths on our end to do 10-minute delivery in a city like Bangalore [Bengaluru], you will need close to 80-90 stores. If you have to deliver in Delhi [under 10 minutes], you would need around 300-400 stores. But maybe they [Grofers] are not operating everywhere, they are only offering 10-minute delivery to places with dense localities.” However, Grofers is not cutting back on the inventory. It plans to offer 4,000-7,000 stock keeping unit (SKU) ⁠— simply put product range ⁠— whereas other players in the quick deliveries space only offer 1,000-1,500 SKU because it is simple to manage when making deliveries in 10 minutes. Grofers, now Blinkit, was founded in 2013 by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar. The company has raised close to $800 million to date from marquee investors such as Zomato, <keyword id="526777" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiger-global" source="Orion">Tiger Global</keyword>, Softbank and others. It crossed $1 billion in valuation earlier this year. The company has spent over eight years building and scaling its delivery operations.. The company had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/after-giving-up-on-90-minute-delivery-five-years-ago-due-to-lack-of-profitability-grofers-is-now-chasing-10-minute-delivery/articleshow/88253221.cms">decided to move out of its 90-minute delivery </a>option five years ago, but it now believes that “instant commerce is indistinguishable from magic”. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/used-car-marketplace-cars24-has-raised-as-much-as-dream11-this-year-to-set-up-operation-overseas/articleshow/88386057.cms">Used car marketplace Cars24 has raised as much as Dream11 this year to set up operation overseas</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/how-do-rising-covid-19-cases-lead-to-a-fall-in-markets/articleshow/88385905.cms">Why is the stock market falling so sharply today?</a>

Grofers has now shutdown 18 location after rebranding to Blinkit ⁠— here’s how you can check if deliveries are available in your locality

Softbank-backed <keyword id="2466939" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Grofers">Grofers</keyword> has advanced its plan to launch an initial public offer by the end of next year after its profitability path zoomed during the lockdown period, a top official of the company said. Grofers co-founder and CEO <keyword id="2744778" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Albinder-Dhindsa">Albinder Dhindsa</keyword> told that the company started making operational profit in January and expects to become cash positive by the end of this year. "Our path to profitability has accelerated during the lockdown, and after achieving operational profitability in January, we are on track to become EBITDA and cash positive by the end of this year. We are observing market sentiments and aim to hit the capital market by the end of 2021," Dhindsa said. Earlier the company had plans to go public in 2022. The company closed the financial year with a revenue of around Rs 2,500 crore and the valuation of Grofers is estimated to be close to Rs 6,000 crore. "As an organisation, we have always channelled our efforts towards providing value to our customers. And, we will continue to do so by staying true to our brand promise of low prices through our focus on building an efficient supply chain and technology-driven innovations," Dhindsa said. According to the data shared by the company, Grofers shipped 4.4 crore items last month, with 99.7 per cent accuracy and since the lockdown began. It claims to have served 42 lakh households by the end of May. "Our platform continues to witness high demand and we expect this to stabilize at 30 per cent higher than pre-COVID levels. There has also been a 40 per cent increase in basket size as compared to the pre-COVID era. We are seeing 64 per cent first-time online grocery shoppers and 15 per cent first time online shoppers," Dhindsa said. During the lockdown, Grofers opened three new facilities and two more are in the pipeline at Bhiwadi and Lucknow. "We are looking to add 10-15 facilities before the end of this year. We are helping our manufacturing partners with logistics, working capital, and distribution so that we can maintain constant supplies of goods for our customers. We started reverse picks on our own trucks and procured goods from the warehouses of our FMCG partners," Dhindsa said. Currently, Grofers has 10,000 partner stores to run a fast and lean supply chain from manufacturers straight to consumers. "Over the last two months, we have hired over 3,000 people for our supply chain operations, and plan to hire another 2,000 warehouses and delivery staff in the coming months," Dhindsa said. He said that the company has identified and hired delivery and warehouse personnel from the companies operating in industries deeply impacted by the current crisis such as textiles and car rentals. By Prasoon Srivastava for PTI

Softbank-backed Grofers aims to go for an IPO by 2021, CEO says path to profitability accelerated during lockdown

<keyword id="25903" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indians">Indians</keyword> know lifehacks like nobody else. Discounts are a priority while buying a phone or TV. However, for daily essential vegetables, the new age Indians are paying a premium. And the clever Indian knows that buying vegetables online has its own convenience. Not only are the products available ‘claimed’ to be superior in quality but also packed and diced. 
 "We are trying to make it as easy as possible," <keyword id="6379851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hari-menon">Hari Menon</keyword>, co-founder and CEO of <keyword id="964794" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BigBasket">Bigbasket</keyword> told the <keyword id="6474066" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-times">Economic Times</keyword>. "From scientific packaging that keeps veggies and fruits fresh to no questions-asked returns, thoughtful initiatives by e-grocers are enticing many to give up age-old habits such as bargaining with vendors and snapping an okra into half to check for freshness." 
 
If statistics of the online grocery company is to be believed, around 70% of Bigbasket's daily orders contain fruits and vegetables. This is a vast improvement over last year when fresh produce did not contribute much to an e-grocer's topline. 
 "When we started selling greens on our website, our primary challenge was assuring the user that despite not touching or feeling the vegetables, they should have confidence in buying from us," <keyword id="2744778" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Albinder-Dhindsa">Albinder Dhindsa</keyword>, co-founder of <keyword id="2466939" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Grofers">Grofers</keyword>, told the ET. 
 "Starting November, we will introduce a quality score on all fruits and vegetables bought through us and our vendors will have to adhere to it," adds <keyword id="478511" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="dhindsa">Dhindsa</keyword>. 
 While convenience and quality are primarily responsible for this leap in vegetable sale of the online grocers, it is also noted that Indians are experimenting with food like never before. Now they have requirement of items that the street vendor can’t procure or are too over-priced. Like an avocado in any of the vegetable sellers cost not less than Rs 100 a piece, <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> Now was selling the same at the rate of Rs 250 for 3 in Delhi <keyword id="53426" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="NCR">NCR</keyword> until last month. 
 “They are just not cooking Indian food at home anymore," <keyword id="261649" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mohit-Khattar">Mohit Khattar</keyword>, head, retail strategy at <keyword id="113571" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Godrej-Industries">Godrej Industries</keyword>, which operate Nature's Basket chain of stores told the financial daily. "Along with organic produce, certain herbs (celery, parsley, etc) are often the reason why many people are turning to online stores."

Here’s why Indians are ditching
vendors and buying vegetables online even if it’s costly

<keyword id="2466939" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Grofers">Grofers</keyword>, the Gurgaon-based delivery firm, has decided to let go of growth so that it can achieve profitability, while trying to repair the damage that a long run of growth and customer-wooing has caused to the company’s profitability. 
 
It’s been a year that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Now-you-can-seeproducts-trending-in-your-locality-in-Grofers-latest-app-version/articleshow/49646030.cms">Grofers </a>has been growing rapidly, and it is now aiming to achieve operational break-even before this year ends, CEO <keyword id="2744778" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Albinder-Dhindsa">Albinder Dhindsa</keyword> told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/after-a-year-of-rapid-growth-grofers-aiming-to-achieve-operational-break-even-by-year-end/articleshow/53183239.cms">ET</a>. The company will also be focusing on fixing its business fundamentals so that it can achieve a monthly organic growth of 5%. 
 
"Before we go after growth again, we need to figure out what is making money for us, where we can see growth and where we cannot," said Dhindsa. "We are fixing things like brand monetisation, building tools for our sellers to monitor performance, and improving our delivery utilisation." 
 
The reason why Grofers decided to put some focus on business fundamentals could be influenced by its rival <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/PepperTap-garners-40-million-inSeries-B-funding/articleshow/50267261.cms">PepperTap </a>shutting down its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Hereswhy-Indias-third-largest-grocery-delivery-service-PepperTap-collapsed/articleshow/51994849.cms">grocery business </a>two months ago, while Grofers laying off about 200 people in the recent past can also be seen as a step in this direction. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Startups-go-slow-on-hiring/articleshow/51339896.cms">After showing the big picture, startups have suddenly gone slow on hiring. Here’s why</a> 
 
On laying off these employees, Dhindsa said that it had to be done because of technology efficiencies <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Beware-Apps-are-coming-to-replace-you-from-your-jobs/articleshow/49540603.cms">replacing the need</a> of physical employees, while a drop in orders influenced this decision. On technology, he said that about 93% of the delivery process at Grofers has now been fully automated. "Our delivery capacity is the same as in November but with one third the number of people... When a technology leap happens, it makes a huge bunch of people redundant very quickly. That happened to us in order processing." 
 
However, Dhindsa is now hopeful about the hyper-local delivery business model, saying that Grofers' average order size has gone up from about Rs 600 to above Rs 1,000 in a matter of six months. 
 
<a href="http://www.theweek.in/content/dam/week/webworld/feature/startersbloc/images/75-Albinder-Dhindsa.jpg.image.975.568.jpg">Image source</a>

Grofers has had a good run so far, aims at operational break-even by year end

<ul><li>New Year's Eve saw <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> temporarily increasing its <keyword id="7196797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="platform-fee" source="Orion">platform fee</keyword> as high as ₹9 per order in certain markets.</li><li>In August last year, Zomato introduced a ₹2 platform fee to improve its <keyword id="45934" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="margins" source="Orion">margins</keyword> and become <keyword id="6794530" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="profitable" source="Orion">profitable</keyword>.</li><li>Constant increase in delivery/platform fee may enable lower <keyword id="382629" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="growth-rates" source="Orion">growth rates</keyword> for order volume</li></ul> Buoyed by record food orders on New Year's Eve, food delivery platform Zomato increased its mandatory platform fee to ₹4 from ₹3 per order across key markets. The new rates were effective from January 1. New Year's Eve saw Zomato temporarily increasing its platform fee as high as ₹9 per order in certain markets. The company's shares opened high (hovering around ₹126 in morning) on Tuesday after international brokerage firm CLSA remained bullish on its stock. In August last year, Zomato introduced a ₹2 platform fee to improve its margins and become profitable. The company later increased the platform fee to ₹3 before raising it again on January 1 to ₹4. The new platform fee is levied on all customers, including Zomato Gold. “This has been one of the ways of improving profitability for Zomato - apart from ad revenue, delivery charges and higher commission from restaurants - as margin levers. Zomato does about 85 - 90 crore orders annually - an increase in each Re 1 convenience fee will lead to a positive impact of ₹85-90 crore on EBITDA - which is around 5% positive impact on EBITDA,” says Karan Taurani, Senior Vice President-Research Analyst at Elara Capital. However, he says that constant increase in delivery/platform fee may enable lower growth rates for order volume and one would need to monitor potential impact of this on order volume growth. Zomato and its quick commerce platform Blinkit saw highest-ever orders and bookings on the New Year's Eve, compared to previous years. "We have delivered almost as many orders on NYE 23 as we did on NYE 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 combined. Excited about the future!" Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal posted on X. Albinder Dhindsa, CEO, Blinkit said they crossed the total number of orders they did on NYE 2022 in the evening only. "We've already hit highest-ever orders in a day, OPM (orders per minute), soft drinks and tonic water sold in a day, chips sold in a day, tips given to riders in a day (thank you India)," Dhindsa informed. Meanwhile, Zomato received notices from the tax authorities in Delhi and Karnataka over alleged short payment of goods and services tax (GST) amounting to ₹4.2 crore. Zomato said it will appeal against the tax demand notices. This came after Zomato received ₹400 crore show-cause notice from the goods and services tax authorities over unpaid dues collected as "delivery charges". With inputs from IANS

Zomato hikes platform fee to ₹4 across key cities after bumper NY Eve

Following the success of hosting <keyword id="6354427" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="apple" source="Orion">Apple</keyword> <keyword id="6354606" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="iphone" source="Orion">iPhone</keyword> 14 and iPhone 14 Pro on the platform last year, Zomato-owned quick grocery delivery platform <keyword id="12724311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="blinkit" source="Orion">Blinkit</keyword> on Friday said that they again partnered with Unicorn, Apple premium reseller to deliver the latest 'Make-in-India' iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus at your doorsteps if you live in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are now officially going on sale in India, including on the Blinkit platform. Blinkit customers will be able to avail no-cost EMI, low-cost EMI and cashback up to Rs 5,000 on eligible HDFC cards. "This unique association is global first and we are certain this will lead to pure joy for our customers who appreciate the convenience of getting highly anticipated products delivered to their doorstep, almost instantly," Albinder Dhindsa, Co-Founder and CEO of Blinkit, said in a statement. Dhindsa also shared the development on X, adding "Super proud of the platform that can put the new iPhone in your hands on launch day in 10 minutes!". Available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch display sizes, iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are available in pink, yellow, green, blue, and black finishes in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities, starting at Rs 79,900 and Rs 89,900, respectively. --IANS shs/prw

Blinkit starts home delivery of 'Make-in-India' iPhone 15, 15 Plus

New Delhi, Mar 22 () Online grocery platform Grofers said many of its delivery persons were stopped and arrested on Sunday even as e-commerce firms were to be exempted during 'Janta Curfew' announced to combat the spread on coronavirus in the country. The company said these developments had led to a delay in the delivery of almost 20,000 orders countrywide. Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder and the CEO of Grofers, said as per the directive of the central government, the company continued to provide essential goods to customers across the country on the day of Janta Curfew. "State Government and local administration are advised to exempt e-commerce operations (warehousing &amp; logistics facilities and services), wholesaler, their vendors &amp; third party delivery partners who are a part of the supply and logistics chain ecosystem, from any type of prohibitory orders etc," he added. Dhindsa said that "due to some confusion regarding the services exempted", many of its delivery riders were stopped and arrested that led to a delay in the delivery of almost 20,000 orders countrywide. "This does not only affect the morale of the delivery staff who are working selflessly to support people but is also causing inconvenience to many customers who are relying highly on our services," he said. Dhindsa noted that in a few states including Maharashtra, Grofers is also facing forced shut down of warehouses. "Our teams are working relentlessly to support people and managing deliveries to avoid any kind of panic among consumers and we request authorities to take measures to ensure that the process of essential items delivery remains smooth," he added. Dhindsa said the company is abiding by the rules and ensuring the maintenance of proper hygiene and sanitation in its facilities and vehicles. SR MRMR

Grofers says stoppage, arrest of riders during Janta Curfew delay order delivery

<ul><li>On the day of the <keyword id="1814675" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Janata-Curfew">Janata curfew</keyword>, from 7 am to 9 pm, everyone stayed home, the roads bore an empty look, with nothing but <keyword id="6835803" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="essential-services">essential services</keyword> plying. </li><li>However, grocery delivery service <keyword id="2466939" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Grofers">Grofers</keyword> faced major issues on the day of Janata curfew.</li><li>Its delivery agents were stopped and arrested which led to a delay of 60,000 orders across the country. </li></ul>On March 22, India observed a Janata curfew, or a self-imposed curfew called for by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From 7 am to 9 pm, everyone stayed home, the roads bore an empty look, with only essential services set to be available to stall the spread of <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword>. However, grocery delivery service Grofers faced major issues on the day. Its delivery agents were stopped and arrested which led to a delay of 60,000 orders across the country. “As per the directive of the central government, we at Grofers continued to provide essential goods to customers across the country on the day of Janta Curfew. State Government and local administration are advised to exempt e-commerce operations (warehousing and logistics facilities and services), wholesaler, their vendors and third party delivery partners who are a part of the supply and logistics chain ecosystem, from any type of prohibitory orders etc,” said Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder &amp; CEO, Grofers. While a lockdown has been issued, only essential services will be open. E-commerce is listed under the essential services category which meant that delivery agents from Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Swiggy, Bigbasket, Grofers and others would be able to continue with work. In spite of this, Grofers says it faced major issues. “Due to some confusion regarding the services exempted, many of our delivery riders were stopped and arrested which led to a delay in the delivery of almost 60,000 orders countrywide. This does not only affect the morale of the delivery staff who are working selflessly to support people but is also causing inconvenience to many customers who are relying highly on our services,” said Dhindsa. He also added that in a few states including Maharashtra, they are also being forced to shut down their warehouses. “Our teams are working relentlessly to support people and we are abiding by the rules and ensuring the maintenance of proper hygiene and sanitation in our facilities and vehicles,” Dhindsa said while appealing the government to further clear the air around the issue. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/coronavirus-lockdown-in-india-list-of-essential-services-during-a-lockdown/articleshow/74761160.cms">Coronavirus lockdown in India: List of essential services operational during a lockdown</a>

Grofers says its delivery agents were arrested during Janata curfew, led to a delay of 60,000 orders

New Delhi, Mar 16 () Online grocery platforms <keyword id="2466939" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Grofers">Grofers</keyword> and <keyword id="964794" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BigBasket">BigBasket</keyword> are witnessing up to two-fold growth in purchases as authorities in multiple cities close malls and shopping places to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The e-tailers said they are shoring up supplies amid the sudden increase in demand due to panic buying across a number of cities in the last couple of days. These companies are witnessing very high demand for products in the personal hygiene category as well as immunity boosting items such as honey and ayurvedic products. "In the last couple of days we have seen what we may call panic buying across a number of cities and categories. Cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Ahmedabad have seen a higher surge with nearly 80 per cent growth followed by Delhi NCR and Hyderabad at a 60 per cent spike in business for a 75 per cent growth in national business," said Grofers Co-Founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa. "We have seen a rise in both the number of orders at 45 per cent as well as order value at 18 per cent," he added. Alibaba-backed BigBasket said it has witnessed two-fold growth in traffic and revenue. It has also witnessed an increase of 15-20 per cent in its basket value. Though BigBasket has faced "some disruption" in its supply chain in the last three days, the company said it has taken corrective action and has "geared up for supplies to meet the increased demand". On delivery delays, BigBasket said, "We will face some constraints for a few more days because it takes time to build capacity in terms of storage, delivery fleet and people. Our teams are working hard to streamline this and we will be back on track very soon." Grofers said supply has not been an issue for it so far. "However, we are still bumping up capabilities and hiring more people to ensure availability and access of critical goods. We are also working with more manufacturing partners to scale the supply basis demand, while requesting customers to opt for considerate shopping so that shelves remain stocked for everyone," said Dhindsa. Dhindsa said in the personal hygiene category, Grofers has seen a demand surge of 400 per cent in sanitizers, 120 per cent in hand washes and 70 per cent in soaps followed by floor cleaners. "Immunity boosting items such as honey and ayurvedic products like chyawanprash have seen a growth of 60 per cent. High demand has been observed in disposable categories such as toilet paper and tissues. Lately, we are also observing panic buying and hoarding of essential commodities like atta, sugar, pulses and rice," he said. BigBasket has also witnessed increased demand for essential items such as staples, atta and dal, fruits and vegetables "We are in control because the predominant share is from our private label products. We are not facing shortages in FMCG branded products except in the case of sanitizers. In effect, supply will not be an issue," BigBasket said. Grofers said it has observed hoarding tendencies among some of its users and is blocking them to make sure essential items are available to genuine customers. "Yes, we have observed hoarding behaviour among consumers across states. We are taking a hard approach to hoarding of essential commodities. A lot of people are trying to game the system to acquire items and we are working proactively to block them and make sure essential supplies will be available to genuine customers," said Dhindsa, adding it has also discontinued promotions for essential commodities. Excessive buying or multiple orders to bypass inventory limit can lead to order cancellations on the platform, he added. However, BigBasket said it is "not witnessing hoarding behavior thus far". KRH ABM See Also - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/coronavirus-myths-and-facts-here-are-some-rumours-about-covid-19-that-arent-true/articleshow/74487962.cms">Coronavirus myths and facts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/coronavirus-dos-and-donts-for-protection-against-convid-19/articleshow/74475858.cms">Do’s and Don’ts for protection against COVID-19</a>

Grofers, BigBasket see orders flying as coronavirus lockdown shuts malls

New Delhi, Mar 16 () Online grocery platforms Grofers and BigBasket are witnessing up to two-fold growth in purchases as authorities in multiple cities close malls and shopping places to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The e-tailers said they are shoring up supplies amid the sudden increase in demand due to panic buying across a number of cities in the last couple of days. These companies are witnessing very high demand for products in the personal hygiene category as well as immunity boosting items such as honey and ayurvedic products. "In the last couple of days we have seen what we may call panic buying across a number of cities and categories. Cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Ahmedabad have seen a higher surge with nearly 80 per cent growth followed by Delhi NCR and Hyderabad at a 60 per cent spike in business for a 75 per cent growth in national business," said Grofers Co-Founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa. "We have seen a rise in both the number of orders at 45 per cent as well as order value at 18 per cent," he added. Alibaba-backed BigBasket said it has witnessed two-fold growth in traffic and revenue. It has also witnessed an increase of 15-20 per cent in its basket value. Though BigBasket has faced "some disruption" in its supply chain in the last three days, the company said it has taken corrective action and has "geared up for supplies to meet the increased demand". On delivery delays, BigBasket said, "We will face some constraints for a few more days because it takes time to build capacity in terms of storage, delivery fleet and people. Our teams are working hard to streamline this and we will be back on track very soon." Grofers said supply has not been an issue for it so far. "However, we are still bumping up capabilities and hiring more people to ensure availability and access of critical goods. We are also working with more manufacturing partners to scale the supply basis demand, while requesting customers to opt for considerate shopping so that shelves remain stocked for everyone," said Dhindsa. Dhindsa said in the personal hygiene category, Grofers has seen a demand surge of 400 per cent in sanitizers, 120 per cent in hand washes and 70 per cent in soaps followed by floor cleaners. "Immunity boosting items such as honey and ayurvedic products like chyawanprash have seen a growth of 60 per cent. High demand has been observed in disposable categories such as toilet paper and tissues. Lately, we are also observing panic buying and hoarding of essential commodities like atta, sugar, pulses and rice," he said. BigBasket has also witnessed increased demand for essential items such as staples, atta and dal, fruits and vegetables "We are in control because the predominant share is from our private label products. We are not facing shortages in FMCG branded products except in the case of sanitizers. In effect, supply will not be an issue," BigBasket said. Grofers said it has observed hoarding tendencies among some of its users and is blocking them to make sure essential items are available to genuine customers. "Yes, we have observed hoarding behaviour among consumers across states. We are taking a hard approach to hoarding of essential commodities. A lot of people are trying to game the system to acquire items and we are working proactively to block them and make sure essential supplies will be available to genuine customers," said Dhindsa, adding it has also discontinued promotions for essential commodities. Excessive buying or multiple orders to bypass inventory limit can lead to order cancellations on the platform, he added. However, BigBasket said it is "not witnessing hoarding behavior thus far". KRH ABM

Grofers, BigBasket see orders soaring as virus lockdown shuts malls

New Delhi, Mar 27 () Some e-commerce companies on Friday partially resumed operations for the sale of groceries and essential items but deliveries to customers will be delayed, according to company officials. A leading e-commerce firm said players in the segment are coordinating with district-level authorities for curfew and lockdown passes for their personnel to resume deliveries. "E-commerce companies will be able to open one city at a time. All the players are coordinating with district-level authorities for curfew and lockdown permits which is going to take time. Some of the companies don't have enough inventory because of the lockdown which they need to source before delivery," an official of a leading e-commerce company said. E-commerce companies have been exempted from prohibitory orders during the lockdown but police in various places stopped their employees and even punished some of them when they came out for work. Flipkart on Friday said that the government and the local state authorities have provided the much-needed clarification on the functioning of e-commerce during the lockdown, clearly indicating that delivery of grocery and essential goods is permitted under the order. "E-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Amazon, BigBasket, Grofers, Zomato, Swiggy and others have been assured of the safe and smooth passage of their supply chain and delivery executives by local law enforcement authorities. "This assurance has led to several of these companies resuming their services, especially in key categories - Grocery and essentials," the statement said. The company has stopped accepting the return of essential items once sold to check hoarding of the items. While Amazon India continued to accept orders in the permitted category, it has put delivery of the orders on hold. "Considering the prevailing extensive lockdowns and restrictions in movement, we have paused our deliveries. We are taking orders only on essential products through pre-paid payment methods, while we work towards resuming deliveries soon," Amazon India website said. The company on Thursday had said that it is working with the central government and local authorities seeking urgent help with detailed on-ground operating procedures, to ensure delivery of priority goods like household staples, health and hygiene products, sanitizers, baby formula, and medical supplies safely across the country to its customers' homes without any disruption. Social media firm Local Circles in a survey conducted on March 25 and 26 across 177 districts found that 61 per cent people were unable to find essential items they required on e-commerce stores while 43 per cent people were unable to find products they required on retail stores.Grofers co-founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa said that the company is taking every measure to ensure the delivery of essential items to customers. "After a few hiccups, we have resumed operations in Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Kanpur with the help of local authorities. For these cities, we will now be ramping up our capacities in the coming days to fulfill the backlog of orders," Dhindsa said. He said that for the remaining cities, the company is working closely with the respective authorities and shall resume operations as soon as we get the necessary permissions. "Our team members are working around the clock to ensure support towards our customers, who are counting on us for essential supplies at their homes. We are maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation in our facilities and vehicles and are committed to serving India in this critical period," Grofers said. Online grocery seller Bigbasket also resumed booking of orders for all which it had limited to only existing customers since last few days. PRS PRS MRMR

E-commerce firms resume partial operations, deliveries to be delayed

New Delhi, Dec 3 () SoftBank-backed Grofers reported widening of its loss to Rs 448 crore in 2018-19 financial year, while its income rose by over 56 per cent from the previous fiscal, according to regulatory documents filed by the company.
 The company had posted a net loss of Rs 258.3 crore for the year ended March 2018, as per documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry and sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler.
 Grofers, which competes with the likes of BigBasket as well as grocery verticals of e-commerce majors such as Flipkart and Amazon, saw its total income grow by over 56 per cent to Rs 83.62 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 53.47 crore in the previous financial year.
 When contacted, Grofers CEO and co-founder Albinder Dhindsa said, "Grofers GMV (gross merchandise value) grew by 300 per cent to reach Rs 2,500 crore in FY 2018-19 and we are on track to double it to Rs 5,000 crore in FY 2019-20". 
 "We are now the largest grocery e-commerce company in India and are preparing to bring the next 100m customers online by penetrating into hitherto untapped socio-economic segments," he added.
Grofers' numbers indicate the revenue it earned through retail margin/commission from brands and sellers. 
 In May, the company had announced a fund raise of over USD 200 million from new investor KTB, and existing investors Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital.
 In September, Grofers had said it aims to cross the USD 1 billion revenue mark by the end of the year, helped by strong growth in both its online and offline businesses.
 The company, which started operations as an online grocery platform, earlier this year said it is working with brick-and-mortar stores in Delhi-NCR to convert them into its own branded outlets. 
 The company has been pursuing profitability by consolidating its presence in the cities of operations and is also gearing up to hit the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) in the next few years. SR RVK

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