Corona Scare Driving Local Retailers To Go Digital; Grocery Retailers Double Sales
Over 75,000 grocery and daily goods retailers based in Indian metros (Mumbai, Delhi and Pune) have doubled their sales in the past 15 days, as Indians are buying & consuming more than ever given the enforced quarantine and prevalence of Corona. A majority of these retailers have set up online shops at m.Paani recently as their footfalls were falling gradually since the beginning of this month, and have achieved a 2x surge in-home deliveries.
Rajesh Dahiya, owner of Kamal Stores in Mumbai who has recently set up an online shop on m.Paani said, “We sustain on daily earnings, and I was worried about losing all my business due to Corona scare. I was told about m. Paani by a friend, and set up & introduced my online shop through WhatsApp to customers. In the past 15 days, my business has grown 3x.”
m.Paani, a hyperlocal daily needs platform that empowers local retailers to take their shops online, is enabling them to compete with other online retailers and large e-commerce platforms amid the coronavirus epidemic. These local grocery retailers are now able to cater to their customers safely when people are isolating themselves in their homes. Consumers trust local retailers more when it comes to online shopping as the delivery is the speediest and there’s the guarantee of product availability, safety and overall service quality.
“Local retailers stand out compared to large online retailers, thanks to the innate understanding of their core shopper base, lineage and tradition. In recent times, we have helped a large base of retailers in setting up online shops and continue to serve the customers digitally, in times of social distancing,” said Akanksha Hazari, Founder, and CEO of m.Paani, a Google Launchpad and Google Studio company.
Most sold items include key staples, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, Maggi, and soap bars, followed by biscuits and namkeens.
“Local retailers are true indicators of masses in India, that is focusing on stocking basic food items and groceries, than luxuries such as sanitisers or immunity builders.” Akanksha added.
Since its inception in 2015, m.Paani has been leading a revolution for India’s 12 million local retailers against modern retail, by helping them digitize and deliver the neighborhood shopping experience of the future. Founded by Akanksha Hazari, a Princeton graduate, m.Paani is a Google Launchpad and Google Studio company. By empowering local shops and retailers to establish themselves as e-tailers, m.Paani is providing them with the platform to conduct their business effectively, safely and efficiently. Retailers set up a complete online shop with all their products, prices, offers and shop details, thus allowing the retailers as well as the consumers to experience online shopping and keep up with the rapidly changing environment.
m.Paani’s retailer product – ‘Aapka Business Saathi’ or ‘A Partner in your Business’ – is a full suite solution enabling local shops to go online, digitise their customers relationships, access business data and insights and manage their business operations. Currently, it is delivering growth to 70,000+ retailers with up to 30 percent increase in sales thanks to new customers, existing ones who are shopping more and more, and younger people who want to shop online. Retailers are able to retain shoppers with their online presence, compete with other online platforms, and are witnessing a 20 percent growth in their customer base.
Recently m.Paani raised $ 5.5 million in a Series A investment round led by AC Ventures, Henkel, Candy ventures, in addition to noteworthy angel investors including Kevin Aluwi CEO and Co-Founder of Gojek and Survir Varma. Existing investors Chiratae Ventures and Blume Ventures also participated in the round.
