Quick commerce platforms are giving sleepless nights to Mom & Pop stores

Authored by Ganapathy Viswanathan, Independent Communication Consultant and Chief Mentor, Roarrr Media and Public Relations.

A friend of mine had written in one of her social media posts that she had not organised the flowers for Diwali decoration. Normally it is a custom to decorate your house with flowers and light. She said, “What’s Diwali without the fragrance of rose petals or the auspicious genda phool?” She quickly picked her mobile phone and ordered some packets of flowers and the pooja items on Blinkit. In a matter of 10 minutes flat she got all her items delivered. What’s more, it got delivered beautifully in individual packets. They looked hygienic and very gorgeous and it just cost around Rs 500. No headache of hoping from one shop to other in search of the items. After all, it is peace of mind that matters.

This is a clear indication of how quick commerce platforms are surging ahead and giving the mom-and-pop stores a run for their money. According to a consumer study by the All-India Consumer Products Distributors Federation, approximately two lakh kirana stores have closed in the last one year as consumers are turning to quick commerce platforms such has Blinkit and Zepto. The super-fast delivery, with added discounts and EMI offers, is what’s really driving sales for all the quick commerce companies. The study also revealed that metro cities, which are home to 17 lakh stores with an average monthly sales figure of Rs 5.5 lakh account for 45% of these closures. Tier 1 cities follow with 30% of the closures, while Tier 2 and 3 account for 25%.

When it comes to special occasions like Diwali, the quick commerce companies are able to attract customers with massive discounts, who also offer a large range of products, which the kirana stores are not able to provide. However, at the same time one is not sure how the quick commerce companies are able to draw traffic to their websites beyond such festive occasions. Because at the end of the day, the traditional way of buying through your friendly neighbourhood kirana stores has its own merits as the store guy knows you personally for years and there is an emotional connect with the customer. Also, your trusted kirana stores can deliver customised items to your requirement, which may not be possible for the e-commerce company.

This Diwali, we have seen every quick commerce companies aggressively promoting their services across all media channels, which is helping them to penetrate to even smaller towns and targeting the GenY audience. People who are still more organised and plan their life well are the ones who are still depending with the kirana stores, while people who are short on time and make last minute purchases just jump into their app to use the quick commerce services.

Both Mom & Pop stores and online stores have their merits and demerits. The urge to move towards online shopping for grocery has motivated many working couples to go online as they have limited time to visit a kirana shop. But there is still a large population who still trusts their next door kirana shop, but the kids of these shoppers will be tomorrow’s online shoppers when it comes to online grocery. There are still certain categories like vegetables and fruits, which most of them would like to see and buy, thus when it comes to perishable products people will go to their vegetable and fruit vendor to buy them. The situation in today’s retail space is interestingly poised as the quick commerce companies are looking at newer innovations and more consumer engagement like loyalty programs to garner a larger share from the mom-and-pop stores.

The next five years will tell us where this is heading. Maybe by that time, kirana stores will also come up with some innovative plans to remain relevant. For instance, there are a few retail shops who, apart from taking orders on phone, take orders through Whatsapp and deliver the goods. But the biggest challenge is to match the 10-minute delivery time, which most of the quick commerce companies are promising and adhering to the deadlines. Unless the mom-and-pop stores do some serious review of their business model, we can see the quick commerce companies marching ahead further and strengthening their position by offering a larger basket of products and services.