In India, there are 13 million small grocery shops, and over 10 million of them are in tier-2 and smaller cities. Since the rise of quick commerce organizations such as Zepto, Blinkit and Swiggy, nearly 2 lacs grocery shops have closed. As many as 60,000 stores have closed in the tier-1 cities, and an additional 50,000 have shut down in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
This festive season the sales of grocery shops have remained stagnant. Even customer visits to grocery shops are down by 50 per cent.
Consumer goods companies have said that the demand for their products have increased on quick commerce platforms. The consumer preferences have shifted .
The smaller shops struggle to match discounts offered by online and quick commerce platforms. It puts pressure on their margins.
Quick delivery, suitably wrapped and packed commodities, deep discounts have created an unfair playing field which erodes the customer base and profitability of smaller grocery shops. Along with these aggressive practices, there is overall economic slowdown. It has led to the closure of many small retail shops.
Leave a Reply