Hyperlocal biz takes centre stage

E-commerce firms are focusing on a hyperlocal strategy as they enter the festive season sales next week, leveraging a network of thousands of small stores for faster deliveries across cities and extending their reach into smaller towns.

Amazon India is tapping more than 100,000 kirana stores to help fulfil customer demand. The e-commerce major said it will also tap more than 50,000 Amazon Easy stores to provide assisted shopping for ‘new-to-e-commerce’ customers. It has also added over 28,000 establishments to its ‘I Have Space’ programme, including neighbourhood stores, to bolster last-mile deliveries. These establishments will deliver within a 2-4 km radius.

According to RedSeer Consulting, hyperlocal will be a big trial ground for large e-commerce firms this festive season. While online retailers had experimented with the hyperlocal strategy to deliver essentials and groceries during the covid lockdown, it will now be expanded to other categories.

“E-commerce logistics has to cater to the changing demands of customers. Metro shoppers may not mind paying a premium for quicker deliveries, even as value shoppers in tier-1 and 2 cities focus on good deals. To cater to this segment, firms will focus on hyperlocal deliveries, which will become a pronounced trend this festive season,” said Mrigank Gutgutia, director, e-commerce, RedSeer Consulting.

“Post this festive season, hyperlocal shipments might constitute 10% of overall e-commerce shipments, which is expected to substantially reduce delivery costs and usher a new dimension for Indian e-commerce,” he said.

Flipkart, which recently launched its hyperlocal service Flipkart Quick, will deliver this festive season. The e-commerce major will also look to leverage its partnership with kiranas through Flipkart Marketplace, and make faster deliveries during its Big Billion Days (BBD) sale starting 16 October.

“In a short time, Flipkart Quick has garnered a lot of consumers, and this BBD, kiranas will not just help in making faster deliveries, but also help in warehousing as we look to create more storing capacity through various partnerships,” said a Flipkart spokesperson.

Flipkart Quick operates across seven localities in Bengaluru and is currently fulfilling orders through its dark stores.

Firms are also increasingly using technologies such as geolocation and machine learning to find better solutions. Till now, firms typically understood customers at a pin code level, but the new model takes it a step further.

Flipkart, for instance, will operate on the basis of a ‘geohash location level’ under its Quick service offering.

Along with hyperlocal, e-tailers such as Myntra are also adopting the omnichannel model in the fashion e-commerce space and has integrated more than 700 stores from over 70 brands on its platform.

tarush.b@livemint.com