The digital sector has grown by leaps and bounds during this past year-and-a-half, boosted by the pandemic to reach unprecedented heights. The incredible performance has poured into the e-grocery sector as well, which has gained a lot of traction led by the likes of BigBasket, Grofers, Flipkart, and JioMart.
“More” options have now arrived for shoppers after US-based e-commerce giant Amazon enabled pickups for online grocery from More stores in Bengaluru, a move that shows that it is gearing up to provide stiff competition in an already competitive sector. The More retail chain had been acquired by Amazon, in partnership with private equity firm Samara Capital, from the Aditya Birla Group in 2019.
ET reports that orders can be picked up two to three offers after they have been placed on Amazon Fresh, and you can book a two-hour slot for pickup at any time from 6 am to 12 am-midnight. However, you have to go online to pay, since there is no cash on delivery (CoD) option at present. The service has gone live across many pin codes in the city. According to the ET report, there is no minimum order value for the service, which is available for free on orders above ₹600. However, a delivery fee of ₹29 will be charged on orders under ₹600.
If you think that this sounds like what Amazon has done with Whole Foods (which Amazon had acquired four years ago for a whopping $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition to date) in the US, then you are not alone. The company is trying to implement a similar game plan in India, after having proved the model in its home market. However, only time will tell if this initiative will yield the same results as the e-commerce giant got in the US as the American and Indian markets share several differences. The world’s second-largest market does, however, have one of the highest grocery store penetrations in the world.
The e-grocery market has seen a steep rise over the last year, as offline grocery shopping took the brunt of the pandemic. Companies like BigBasket have been growing exponentially, while others like Zomato, Swiggy, and even Flipkart and Amazon have been trying to expand their presence in this new sector. Moreover, hyperlocal delivery solutions have also been gaining traction in India, and this new offering by Amazon seeks to kill two birds with one stone. Bengaluru often acts as a testing ground for new features in India for the e-commerce giant, and if this experiment is successful there, we can hope to see More shops in other parts of India as well.
