Grofers CEO Says Lockdown Fears on Tuesday Drove Spike in Carts for Grocery Delivery 5j4y20

Grofers CEO and Co-Founder Albinder Dhindsa tweeted last night to reveal that more than 600,000 carts were created on the platform and waiting to checkout as people feared another lockdown in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made an address to the nation on Tuesday at 8:45pm but to the relief of many, did not announce a lockdown and instead urged state governments to consider a lockdown only as their last resort to fight with the ongoing COVID crisis.

Dhindsa tweeted to highlight the number of carts being created on Grofers as PM Modi's over 19 minutes speech was going on virtually. The executive also shared a screenshot of the company's internal analytics that suggests a significant spike particularly at 8:45pm IST — the time when the speech was started.

 

Dhindsa, however, did not mention many of these orders were actually placed, after the PM did not announce a lockdown.

Online grocery delivery in India has Big Basket.

Companies such as Zomato to grocery deliveries. Both, though, stopped their online marketplaces for groceries months after their launch due to difficulties in engaging with offline retailers.

Experts believe that despite low penetration and challenges in bringing consumers as well as merchants online, there is a huge opportunity to grow in the online groceries business specifically in the urban parts of the country.

According to a recent report by consulting firm RedSeer, the online grocery market in India could touch $24 billion (roughly Rs. 1,81,200 crores) gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2025. The arrival of players including Reliance Industries' JioMart is also likely to help expand the market.

Having said that, keeping grocery deliveries has become distinctly important for e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart as both have started facing restrictions in delivering non-essential items such as electronic goods and furniture.

The national lockdown last year limited their deliveries to essential items only in Maharashtra and Delhi — due to state restrictions.

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