3 minutesFree ReportThree key takeaways from India E–Commerce Amid Coronavirus Lockdown Coresight Research April 10, 2020 1. New partnerships have emerged: Various food-delivery providers, ride aggregators and nonessential e-commerce firms have partnered with online grocery retailers and other retailers to deliver groceries to customers. We outline some of the key partnerships in the table below. Company Delivery Provider Comments/Insights Britannia Dunzo Consumer packaged goods (CPG) company Britannia has partnered with on-demand delivery provider Dunzo to launch its “Britannia Essentials” store, for delivering food essentials. The service has started in Bengaluru and will be extended to other cities, according to a joint statement by the companies. Flipkart Uber Walmart-owned e-commerce company Flipkart has partnered with ride-hailing company Uber to provide last-mile delivery of essential goods. The service is currently operational in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. Grofers Zomato Online grocery retailer Grofers has partnered with online food-delivery company Zomato to deliver groceries ordered on its platform. In addition, Zomato has introduced a new feature called Zomato Market on its app that allows users to order groceries from nearby stores in their area. ITC Foods Domino’s CPG company ITC Foods has partnered with restaurant pizza chain Domino’s to deliver wheat flour and spices. The service is called Domino’s Essentials and is available in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Noida. Marico Zomato/Swiggy CPG company Marico has launched a service called Saffola Store, in partnership with food-delivery companies Swiggy and Zomato, to deliver its range of oats and cooking oils. Source: Company reports/The Economic Times 2. E-commerce companies are resorting to gaming, entertainment and informational content: Most e-commerce businesses that are classified as nonessential have added gaming, entertainment and informational content to their websites and apps. For example, Flipkart’s fashion e-commerce arm Myntra has launched various games on its app to keep consumers engaged. Source: Company app Myntra has also introduced innovative methods of categorizing its merchandise on the app: It showcases work-from-home outfits and home décor merchandise, which is likely to increase customer engagement during the period of home quarantine. Source: Company app Another example of this type of innovative advertising comes from fashion retailer H&M. The company’s app features a “home-office outfits” collection that includes T-shirts, joggers, shorts, hoodies, socks and sweatshirts. Source: Company app 3. Online grocery retailers face a labor crunch: India’s largest online grocery retailer Bigbasket and its close competitor Grofers have not been able to meet the recent surge in grocery orders, primarily due to a shortage of labor; they are currently operating at 60–70% of their original capacity. A large number of migrant workers have moved to their hometowns after the lockdown was announced, which has caused the labor shortage in warehouses and delivery fleets. To meet the surge in demand, Bigbasket announced that it will hire 10,000 workers to oversee its warehouse operations and delivery. Grofers announced that it will hire around 2,000 temporary workers from industries that have been deeply impacted by the coronavirus. Furthermore, in its most recent announcement, Grofers revealed plans to hire 5,000 additional workers over the next two weeks. However, both Bigbasket and Grofers expect their operations to be back to normal after only two weeks. The following figure summarizes the impact of the coronavirus lockdown on the operations of Bigbasket and Grofers. Source: Coresight Research This document was generated for
