E-Commerce – Dutch Uncles

How Covid is Wearing Out the Ethnic Wear Market

Shalmoli Sarkar — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 03:35:08 +0000

The ethnic wear industry in India is currently running on a rough patch, as the preventive measures to contain covid have limited people’s participation in weddings and festivals. In addition to this, for women, Kurtis and Salwar Kameez are a convenient option for office formal wear whose sales have impacted, as the workforce went indoors.

According to Statista, the ethnic wear segment in India is expected to reach Rs 1.7 trillion by 2023 from Rs 925 billion in 2018. However, due to most shops and malls remaining closed and lower out of consumption, the segment’s growth will remain sluggish. A study from Wazir Analysis confirms this, revealing that the current ethnic market will now grow at 7.8 percent and is estimated to reach $30 billion in 2025 from $20.6 billion in 2020.

The government during the lockdown paused the sales of non-essential goods of which apparel is a part. The demand for essentials like – food, medicines, and groceries took precedence over purchasing non-essential items. As the workforce turned virtual, the consumer preference for fashion shifted more towards leisure and comfort.

Challenges encountered by the Indian ethnic wear market in the pandemic

Increased rentals: Mounting rental costs and no relief from the mall owners, are resulting in brands like Aditya Birla Fashion, Biba, Global Desi, etc, being forced to shut their shops.
Less labour: The labour workforce in the textile production, wary of contracting the virus, have left for their natives that have stalled the production of a brand’s new ethnic range. In addition to this, no sales of summer collection have led to the inventory pile-up that has further added to the losses.
Disruption in raw materials supply: The mobility restrictions imposed during the lockdown and curfews have disrupted the supply of silk and cotton fabrics that have delayed production.
Reduced cashflow: As no revenue was generated, the brands could not pay their tailors and designers that resulted in unemployment and no new launches.

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A study from Wazir Analysis confirms this, revealing that the current ethnic market will now grow at 7.8 percent and is estimated to reach $30 billion in 2025 from $20.6 billion in 2020.

How are ethnic wear brands responding to the change?

The virtual work culture has defined new parameters of fashion. The working women and men are now focussing more on apparel that can provide maximum comfort. Consumers are showing a preference for clothes made out of soft cotton fabric and want to invest in clothing that can last longer.

Biba, an ethnic womenswear brand has responded to this altered consumer behaviour by launching a new range of sleepwear. In 2021, it also launched the loungewear and athleisure category as with gyms closed, the need for activewear surged.

Similarly, designer brand Ritu Kumar launched Label Basics, a range of comfortable ethnic wear range that includes fuss-free dresses, relaxed bottoms and easy-to-wear coordinated sets in muted colours that can be worn for virtual meetings. The colours are mostly neutral and earthy with durable fabric quality that caters to the style and comfort required by the consumers.

The digital ethnic wear shopping in the pandemic

Mumbai-based 14-year-old brand Kalki Fashion introduced video shopping in the pandemic. The brand opened its video shopping experience on various mediums like Skype, Facetime, WhatsApp, and now, Zoom. It also revamped its website that allowed customers to book an appointment to shop through video. Kalki fashion offered an interactive shopping experience to the consumers of the digital native by live-streaming its products in collaboration with influencers on Instagram Live. During COVID-19, the brand clocked a Rs 50 crore turnover in FY 2020-2021 by leveraging video shopping and online sales.

What lies ahead for the ethnic wear market in the pandemic?

With the news of the third wave covid wave lurking in the corner, there might be a fresh announcement of curbs, therefore it will be imperative for the ethnic wear brands to build and strengthen their digital stores. According to Wazir Advisors, the Indian online ethnic wear market is poised to grow at 36 percent. But, amidst unemployment and paycuts, people have tightened their purses to do need-based shopping. However, the demand for ethnic attires like sarees and Kurtis will not fade away as they can be worn on any occasion.

Meanwhile, ethnic wear brands can tap the tier-II and tier-III middle-class consumers as they are willing to make purchases due to the rise in purchase power and the burgeoning social media influence. The industry can expect a rebound with fully vaccinated consumers coming to stores.

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When Should Small Businesses Consider Opting For Bundle Pricing?

Aakash Sharma — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 08:35:10 +0000

Bundle pricing, also known as product-bundle pricing, is a strategy retailers use to sell large quantities of high-quality products by offering discounts to consumers. Through bundle pricing, retailers offer many different products as part of a single package and then offer them at a lower price than the cost of buying those products individually.

This pricing method is standard among online retailers. Competitive flat rates under bundle pricing are a great way to promote more products, get noticed, and engage with the audience in an enticing way.

How does bundle pricing work?

Bundle pricing is the practice of selling a group of products as a package. The aim is to make shopping easier for the consumer and put together the related products at discounted prices.

This can be beneficial to the business as more products are sold. Small businesses are encouraged to use bundle pricing as it is a good business model for starting fresh. Bundled pricing is a great way to increase product shipments, stock-keeping units (SKUs) with low success rates and give more value to consumers.

Compatible for Small, Medium and Micro enterprises

Bundling is typical in the e-commerce and retail sectors. For this reason, newer and smaller e-commerce sites often offer product packages with cheap or discounted items.

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Bundle pricing works because 'price' is the most critical aspect for a customer while engaging in any transaction.

In a transaction where customers get bundled pricing, they feel comfortable getting a lot for less rather than paying more for individual entities. This sensation works everywhere – in the FMCG sector, clothes, crafts, telecom services, food and restaurants, and so many more.

Which Indian industries use bundle pricing?

Indian consumer goods companies are the most significant users of bundle pricing. They offer bundled prices for various products for daily use. They do this at several levels, including the B2C, B2B and D2C levels.

The value pool created by this pricing ensures that consumers and retailers get their money’s worth. Small businesses like department stores, clothing stores, thrift stores, etc., often use bundled prices to move their products and gain traction.

Pros and cons – what to do and what not to?

Bundled pricing has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, this is an excellent strategy to use if the company wants to launch products faster or offer customers a higher discount. This pricing method drastically reduces marketing and selling costs. With personalized pricing and product simplification, all types of businesses can use it to accelerate transactions.

However, if poorly used, bundle pricing can do more harm than good to a brand. In some cases, bundled pricing can harm popular products when put against discounted and packaged products. There is always the risk that consumers will reject the product packaging because it does not meet their wishes. Ultimately, entrepreneurs need to develop a solid strategy to create value without compromising the company’s image.

Therefore, SMEs operating in all sectors should take a hybrid approach, applying flat rates to specific products based on customer demand and differentiating other products based on this. This allows them to experiment with the most suitable sales techniques and build a good customer base.

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Medium Enterprise Segment Becomes TruckBhejo’s New Destination

Anju Nambiar — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 05:35:08 +0000

Logistics and Delivery is a vital part of mid-large sized enterprises. But logistics can quickly turn into a massive problem if the deliverables and the geographies are hugely disparate. Therefore medium and large enterprises need access to truck fleets that are not only from a single source but come equipped with connected trucks driven by tech savvy drivers. TruckBhejo, a tech-logistics start-ups has discovered a new market among medium enterprises in India.

Who is TruckBhejo?

TruckBhejo is a tech-logistics firm who is connecting the supply and demand sides in logistics. They offer their services to all three delivery miles namely, first (farm-factory-warehouse), middle (regional warehouse to city distribution point), and the last mile (distribution point to end consumers). They possess a fleet of trucks and facilitate shipping and deliveries to their clients. Founded in 2016, TruckBhejo is headquartered in Mumbai.

Growth, Presence, and Expansion Plans

Growth

TruckBhejo has grown almost 20% in terms of topline since last year. They have also registered an average of 10-12% of gross margin.

Presence

Within a span of 5 years, TruckBhejo has expanded their presence to 40 cities, and 7 Indian states. Their platform operates 3000 active trucks and currently operates across 45-50 lanes in the state of Maharashtra.

Expansion plans

TruckBhejo wants to raise growth capital to expand the market and tap into the medium enterprise segment operating mainly in last mile services.

The technology-led logistics market

The tech logistics market is valued at $160 Bn and is growing at the rate of 10.5% year-on-year (y-o-y). The market is expected to be valued at close to $200 Bn within the next 6 years. The unorganised sector in the market contributes to almost 65% of the business.

Profit margins in the tech logistics industry

The profit margins in the tech logistics industry vary from service to service. For the full-truck-load service, the gross profit margins vary between 11-13%. Whereas for services like PTL (partial truck load), ecommerce, and express, the margins vary between 17-18%.

Market opportunities among median enterprises

Median-large sized companies face problems when it comes to sending deliverables to hundreds of cities across the country. To ship such a massive load, these companies need to communicate with hundreds of transporters which is cumbersome to them.

Here are the gaps in the median enterprise market in the tech-logistics industry

- Uniting multi-vendor interfaces
- Eliminating geographical restrictions
- Bringing technology to integrate the unorganised supply.
- Carpet coverage of logistics services across the supply chain.

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They offer their services to all three delivery miles namely, first (farm-factory-warehouse), middle (regional warehouse to city distribution point), and the last mile (distribution point to end consumers).

Why should you invest in the Median Enterprise segment?

The median enterprise segment does business in the range of INR 100-500 Cr. Mid-sized enterprises also have a presence between 2-10 states in India. Most of the start-up ecosystem including the traditional players are focusing on the bigger blue-chip companies. Also, there is a bigger ecosystem being developed comprising almost 65 Mn SME (small and medium enterprises) players or medium enterprises. The number is eventually going to go up and newer policies will be implemented by the Government.

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The Empress Of Beauty And Personal Care Nykaa Sets The Bar High

Anju Nambiar — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 05:35:07 +0000

Falguni Nayyar, India’s first woman entrepreneur who has led her company to the coveted unicorn status is now taking it to the IPO (initial public offering) stage. She has not just raised the bar for women entrepreneurs, but her company has set new benchmarks for India’s budding internet based beauty companies.

Falguni Nayyar’s Nykaa IPO

Falguni Nayyar’s Beauty Retailer Nykaa filed its IPO documents this month for a share towards the end of 2021. Nykaa is currently one of the most exciting IPO bound companies that could soon be valued at $4 Bn. The company has filed with the regulatory SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) and plans to offer up to 43 Mn shares worth $70.8 Mn

How Falguni Nayyar set the bar high for IPO-bound internet companies

Nykaa built an internet giant through a traditional yet unconventional e-retail model that’s now moving towards IPO. The first domestic unicorn backed by a woman founder to go for a public listing, Nykaa is the largest player among Indian internet companies in its segment. Despite being surrounded and dominated by global giants like Amazon and Sephora, Nykaa is India’s one-and-only niche player in e-commerce to go for IPO after declaring a profit.

How Nykaa quietly scaled up the personal care and beauty segment

Nykaa quietly scaled up in personal care and beauty while its big tech competitors like Amazon and Flipkart were looking the other way towards the fashion market. Nykaa reported a net profit for the financial year ending in March 2021. Whereas profitable businesses like Indiamart listed for IPO two decades after getting backed by venture capitalists and declaring a profit. However, Nykaa managed to reach the IPO stage by raising just $78 Mn of primary capital. On the other hand, sector-focused e-tailers like Lenskart and FirstCry raised hundreds of millions of dollars in primary capital. With just 78 Mill, Nykaa reached the same valuation as these companies and is now IPO-bound.

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The first domestic unicorn backed by a woman founder to go for a public listing, Nykaa is the largest player among Indian internet companies in its segment.

What’s in it for me?

Industry analysts have declared Nykaa’s IPO as a timely event, despite the pandemic. Nykaa’s success can be attributed to their strong segmentation of verticals for consumers by providing divisions within beauty. They attracted consumers with several different verticals they may be interested in like men’s, naturals, fashion, jewellery, etc. Also, their large and considerable inventory has been a profitable factor for them.

Nykaa’s inventory-based business model proved to be successful in the beauty space. The single biggest takeaway from Nykaa’s success for D2C and Internet companies is to focus on the core objective of the business. They mainly focused on the top 5 popular brands including Lakme and Maybelline which kept them on par with their competition, most of which were giants like Myntra, Amazon, and Sephora. Internet and D2C companies in the beauty sector must go for a definitive, authentic selection of make-up and beauty brands, through direct sourcing directly from the brand.

You also need to focus on an inventory led model along with providing stellar customer experience. Target the top 15 cities in India before rolling out to Tier II and III cities eventually. Other crucial pointers for start-ups and small businesses in this space would be to showcase exclusive ‘cult brands’ in beauty. Most importantly, invest on your technology as well as on retention and re-engagement strategy, just like Nykaa did.

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Tapping Time-starved Consumers, Growing the Retail E-commerce Model

Aakash Sharma — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 06:35:08 +0000

People today are busier than ever, and their active lifestyles are creating fundamental changes in buyer behaviour, almost forcing businesses to transform. The term “Time-starved Consumers” has gained significant ground in the retail and e-commerce space.

Short-on-time consumers are the main driving force for e-commerce companies that provide high-quality services and fast delivery. Not only has the time factor changed and influenced buying behaviour, but it has also changed business models for start-ups and businesses of all sizes.

Time-starved consumers and their shopping behaviour

The time crunch and associated social changes have undoubtedly affected the way time-starved consumers shop. Convenience is the top concern for these shoppers, and they are more focused on shopping remotely to save time. This trend has provided a solid boost to the retail and e-commerce market.

Supermarkets, small Kirana stores, and even newly emerging e-medical stores, among others, are becoming technologically advanced to offer consumers the highest quality products fast. Convenience and lack of time are the reasons for the rise of e-commerce companies Amazon and Flipkart in India over the last decade.

Businesses are also delving deep into the realm of hyperlocal deliveries and models where there is no need to stop and check out products physically. These are all aimed at easing consumer’s journey in a retail store and making products available to them as fast as possible while reducing their time in the store for their convenience.

How to tap this time-starved consumers segment?

To capture the attention of time-starved customers, companies need to act instantly and use precise means of communication. To communicate with the target group, they must develop marketing strategies to disseminate an enormous amount of information.

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Factors like information, colour schemes, design elements, and others, have the most significant effect as quickly as possible on buyers and give insights into the consumer segment's needs.

Adopting omnichannel strategies is also very important for catering to the new segment of fast-paced customers. By staying mobile, businesses can give shoppers round-the-clock access to their products and services.

Retail-E-commerce boom and rapid real-time delivery

Today, the growth in e-commerce and retail is mainly due to the fast delivery and click-and-buy features that companies offer. When convenience is critical, it’s essential to allow customers to customise their experience, especially in the way they shop. If a company provides delivery the same day, has weekend or after-hours delivery, it becomes a good shopping destination for time-starved consumers.

Future hopes for the time-starved consumers segment

Buyer behaviour is dynamic, and it keeps changing every now and then. It is wrong to make assumptions instead of taking the time to understand their needs. The busy shopper is starved for time, no matter what the industry is. Consumers want and expect companies to develop easy to use products and rapid delivery services for them. These are, therefore, going to be the driving forces behind the strategy of the future and will also help the companies succeed.

Companies need to explore new models to build and deepen customer relationships and develop products and services that provide enough value to keep consumers in touch with their needs. Conducting regular market research can help businesses keep their sales and marketing teams ahead of the competition to capture the time-starved consumers’ segment while growing their retail e-commerce model.

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How Does The Ten-Minute Grocery Delivery Model Work?

Shalmoli Sarkar — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 05:35:07 +0000

Shopping groceries online which earlier looked like a luxury has become a necessity, now as people seek convenience and want to go contactless while shopping. With this, lies the onus of online grocery platforms to deliver best services which in turn have further increased a shopper’s expectations. With conglomerates and e-commerce majors jostling to dominate the online grocery space, Indians are spoilt for choices. Those online grocery startups will emerge as winners, that other than offering deep discounts can offer seamless shopping processes and faster deliveries.

Much to the likes of online pharma platforms the online grocery startups are ramping up their operations to deliver instant deliveries and want to replicate the similar ‘instant-ness’ of offline shopping. Faster deliveries, also prevent grocery startups from frequent stock-outs. According to RedSeer consulting, quick commerce is expected to grow 10-15 times in the coming five years to become a $5 billion opportunity by 2025.

How will this 10 min grocery delivery model work?

Here is a simplified process of how this 10 min delivery will work:

The customer places an order of groceries on the app.
After the platform receives the order, the hub nearest to the shopper’s residence is alerted of the orders, which picks and packs them.
The app assigns a delivery partner
Delivery executive reaches the hub to collect the order.
The order is delivered to the customer.

Dependence on dark stores to develop faster delivery models

Online grocery platforms are shifting from the marketplace model to build dark stores or hubs in proximity to consumer’s residences as in the former model the delivery speed slows down. A dark store is a large warehouse or a network of warehouses that stocks inventory to sell directly to its consumers. Grocery startups Milkbasket and BigBasket have implemented this model.

Distribution from dark stores will help startups gain control more on quality and experience fewer stock-out scenarios.

With the click and collect model involved in dark stores, the startups get a clearer picture of stock levels and therefore have better product availability than a marketplace model. Here, the company does not need to spend on retail experience or store beautification. As a result, the cost is saved to stock more variety of items for less inventory. It improves distribution accuracy, avoids mix-ups, and solves perishability challenges, which are usual hurdles in online grocery delivery.

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According to RedSeer consulting, quick commerce is expected to grow 10-15 times in the coming five years to become a $5 billion opportunity by 2025.

Online grocery startups jumping the fast delivery wagon

Recently turned unicorn, Grofers plans to reduce the delivery time for groceries from 15 to 10 minutes as it expands its services to 10 cities in India. Similarly, Swiggy’s Instamart is expanding its delivery network to five more cities promising deliveries within 15-30 minutes. BigBasket is looking forward to ramping up its express and scheduled next-day delivery options. Food aggregator platform Zomato with its grocery delivery app is planning to deliver within 30-45 minutes.

What lies ahead for the online grocery platform to adopt faster delivery?

Online grocery platforms to adopt a faster delivery model will require setting up several dark stores or hubs and should not expect breakeven in the first quarter itself.

The ticket size will not grow initially but as the grocery platforms strive to offer faster delivery and better customer service the frequency of purchases will grow. It will eventually lower the cost of delivery and spends on customer acquisition thus, building a loyal customer base and repeat business. But initially, huge capital funds are required to invest to build infrastructure and inventory. The online grocery startups can also expect slower expansion due to increased spending on distribution centres and hubs.

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Clovia’s AI based Bra Bot Recreates The Offline Shopping Experience

Anju Nambiar — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 05:35:09 +0000

Indian women have always struggled to acquire the right bra sizes. The situation was so bad a few years ago, that wearing an ill-fitting bra was normalised and even the well-informed women had no idea that they needed to wear a perfectly fitting bra for the best comfort. But with disruptive brands like Buttercups and Clovia in the lingerie industry, women are now opting for customised innerwear and are rejecting the rigid beauty standards for women’s innerwear in India. Clovia recently launched an automated customer support tool called the Bra Bot.

What is Clovia’s Bra Bot?

Clovia’s Bra Bot is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbot which automatically handles customer queries and passes on the remaining queries which need human intervention to a support executive. It’s essentially helping customers purchase the correct innerwear. The bra bot is built using data science and relies on predictive models to help customers find precisely what they are looking for.

Customer Engagement

It’s driving greater consumer engagement by helping users to make a purchase, updating them on order or delivery status, and guiding them with policies, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), or sizing suggestions. The customer engagement rate has been around 2 Lakh engagements within 30 days of launch. The tool handles over 35% of the overall customer queries.

Technology

The technology behind the bra bot is an AI-based conversational platform which is accessible by customers via the Clovia website or App as well through direct engagement on WhatsApp. The bra bot uses Clovia’s proprietary CloviaCurve Fit Test.

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The customer engagement rate has been around 2 Lakh engagements within 30 days of launch.

What’s in it for me?

The D2C industry is leveraging the latest technologies like AI, Big Data, and Analytics to acquire the ever-changing pan-India market. Advanced tech adoption and becoming 100% data driven is the only way forward for digital-first brands to expand deeper into existing domestic markets towards Tier II and III cities. Since D2C brands are mostly targeting customers across the country from largely disparate geographies, profiles and behaviours, data processing through patented technology is the only answer to continuous product, supply-chain, and distribution improvement.

D2C brands wanting to expand to Tier II and III cites and want to eventually acquire the entire Indian market need to leverage extensive technology across all business areas. This will enable profitable scaling up to reach different consumer bases. You need to build your own technology platform that will mine data points for your entire user base. The data analytics from this technology will give you in-depth insight into the tastes, preferences, and changing consumer behaviour in existing and new domestic markets.

Since a D2C company relies on its own web presence and outreach capabilities, there’s no other option but to invest in Predictive Analytics and Sales Forecasting technology that will extract key insights from vast volumes of data.

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Pepfuels, Disrupting Fuel Delivery Space In India

Anju Nambiar — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 03:35:12 +0000

Almost everything is home delivered and ready to consume. Fuels like Petrol and Diesel have also joined the list. Large industries and corporations find it cumbersome to take their fleet of trucks and large vehicles regularly to the fuel station for refuelling. If instead, the fuel is delivered to them via mobile dispensing stations, it will reduce costs, save time, and eliminate the counter productivity of the task. Pepfuels is delivering fuel to the B2B sector through online orders.

Pepfuels, Fuel home delivered

Pepfuels is a mobile fuel delivery start-up with an online doorstep delivery platform for diesel fuel. Founded in 2014 and based in Delhi, they are a B2B (business-to-business) start-up serving customers across multiple industries. Pepfuels offers doorstep delivery of fuels mainly Diesel and Engine Oil through an app-based service.

How they are disrupting the mobile fuel delivery space

Pepfuels, a new entrant is disrupting the mobile fuel delivery space by helping their customers reduce their carbon footprints, save time, and fuel costs, and prevent pilferage. They are also venturing into new markets like Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to fulfil the end-to-end needs of their customers. Through their business model, the company wants to encourage the adoption of a gas-based economy. Their strategic tie-ups with key B2B stakeholders are disrupting the industry. They are expected to reach an annual turnover of INR 100 Cr. Currently, Pepfuels has a presence in three Indian cities namely, Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida and is slowly inching towards a PAN India presence.

How their IoT-RFID Technology works

Pepfuels is pioneering the fuel delivery space in India with India’s very first location-based fuel delivery system through their patented IoT-RFID (Internet-of-Things Radio Frequency Identification) device. This is a smart fuelling technology which has a server monitored reader connected through a dispensing machine. This technology offers accurate, theft-proof, and zero loss in fuel. The vehicle dispatched to deliver fuel is equipped with an RFID tag. The dispensing machines have a reader that reads the RFID tag and dispenses as per the order quantity. Also, the dispensing vehicles are geo-fenced and have GPS and fuel sensors.

The fuel home delivery space in India

Current scenario

In 2020, a INR 2000 Cr market for fuel delivery start-ups opened up in India. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) had invited bids and Expressions of Interest (EoI). Start-ups who aspired to become fuel resellers could pitch in by becoming Fuel Entrepreneurs (FuelEnts). A lot of start-ups sprung up in the fuel home delivery space after this move.

Existing players

Existing players in the fuel home delivery space include start-ups like ReadyAssist, Fuel Buddy, iSafe Assist, Roda on Road Assistance, MyPetrolPump, Humsafar, Repos Energy etc. who have rolled out on-demand fuel delivery services.

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They are also venturing into new markets like Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to fulfil the end-to-end needs of their customers.

What’s in it for me?

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), a government owned body has a INR 100 Cr ONGC Start-up Fund for start-ups. This is under the Start-up India initiative which provides an end-to-end support chain for start-ups including seed capital, hand holding, mentoring, market linkage, and follow-ups. Innovative technology-enabled ideas that can disrupt the oil and gas sector in India stand a chance to acquire seed funding through the ONGC Start-up Fund.

As already mentioned, the market valuation is slowly inching towards the INR 2000 Cr milestone. A lot of start-ups are signing deals with large fuel corporations. Existing oil marketing companies are rapidly expanding to new cities and states in India and establishing a pan-India presence. There is high demand for fuel delivery of petrol, diesel, engine oil among industries like construction, transportation, education, and the corporate industry. The home delivery of fuel is a good answer to the problem of rising petrol and diesel prices in India because it cuts down on the time and fuel costs needed to travel to the petrol station and reduces the environmental impact for B2Bs.

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The Organic World Opts For Omnichannel Expansion Strategy

Aakash Sharma — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 03:35:08 +0000

One of the most prominent natural and organic products supermarket chains in South India, The Organic World has announced plans to strengthen its business in India to enter diversified segments. As part of its omnichannel (multiple-channel) strategy, the retail e-commerce brand plans to open an additional ten stores in the Southern Indian states by mid-2022 and expand its impact on e-commerce through technology like an easy-to-use mobile application.

Current products of The Organic World include pesticide-free organic fruits and vegetables, fat-free snacks, chemical-free groceries, toxin-free household products, natural and preservative-free personal care products, and health and wellness products, including childcare accessories.

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The planned expansion of The Organic World reaffirms its commitment to providing customers with better choice, from product types and customer service to discounts and loyalty programs.

What is omnichannel expansion?

Omnichannel expansion in multi-line retail is becoming an increasingly popular way for companies to expand their operations. Emerging retailers everywhere are combining interconnected omnichannel paths with traditional public advertising methods. Websites, emails, social media posts and brick and mortar stores promote similar information, tips and products of a particular brand, giving more visibility to the intended message.

The Organic World’s expansion plan aims to simplify its reach to provide customers with better options, offer products that offer increasingly healthier choices, and help them grow according to their ultra-busy lifestyles.

It is essential to keep up with technological developments

Through The Organic World mobile application, the company aims to supply more than 1,500 non-pharmaceutical products to its customers. With the planned increase in the number of its physical stores, the company will be able to acquire all the necessary facilities and organic market segments in the South Indian market.

The Organic World’s omnichannel strategy highlights its movement in the organic products market to ensure quality products available to many customers. It also gives small local retailers a bigger platform to compete in mass production via its e-commerce arm, increasing the market for SMEs and expanding the purchasing ambit of consumers.

The Organic World omnichannel expansion and growth spurt

Over the past four years, The Organic World has gradually increased its market regarding natural and organic products in Bengaluru. In early 2021, the retail chain consisted of 10 outlets in the city. The brand’s unique design and simplicity reflect its best propositions for consumers across the entire monthly need’s expenditure basket, which indicates its loyalty to being a dependable retailer.

As The Organic World ramps up its stores in Bangalore and other Southern states, the brand will significantly contribute to India’s organic commodities market value by 2022.

The Indian market for natural restaurants

The Indian organic products and food market was valued at $849.5 million in 2020. The market is forecasted to rise at an average annual rate of about 20.5% during 2021-26 and rise to $2.601 billion in valuation.

Rising levels of health consciousness are driving the demand for organic food in the country as consumers pay attention to the nutrient content and quality of their food. The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased consumer spending on health and wellbeing.

Businesses of all sizes operating in the food and wellness sectors can take advantage of these changing trends. They must work towards tech adoption and omnichannel strategies for their business expansion, just like The Organic World has.

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UrbanKisaan, Pioneering Hydroponic Space

Anju Nambiar — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 05:35:08 +0000

If you’ve come across UrbanKisaan, they have a beautiful website where you can purchase farm fresh produce, exotic vegetables, unique salad bowls, and hydroponics kits. Besides, their name is self-explanatory. Just by reading the name of their brand, you can understand that the company is into modern farming. These are a few reasons why they have ticked in the Agri-tech market and are currently one of the most popular hydroponic brands in India.

Who is UrbanKisaan?

UrbanKisaan is a Hydroponics start-up based in Hyderabad. It is an Indian early-stage business founded in 2017. The company owns and operates several suburban greenhouses and vertical indoor farms in two major Indian cities, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. They also have an e-commerce store consisting of their UrbanKisaan app and website where they sell fresh produce grown in their franchises. Their e-commerce store also features their specialty hydroponics starter kit to help budding hydroponic farmers grow their first produce.

What is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics is a new-age farming technique that skips the use of soil to grow plants and relies on mineral nutrients to give the growing crops their supply of nutrients. Through this technique, the herb or vegetable seedlings or saplings are planted into an inert growing media like a PVC pipe where they grow only through supply of nutrient rich water. Hydroponics farming is usually carried out indoors like a greenhouse or terrace.

How UrbanKisaan optimised Hydroponics technology in Tropical India

UrbanKisaan’s proprietary Hydroponics technology is more efficient than the conventional global standards in Hydroponics cultivation. Their approach is based on relatively little effort. They rely on Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled technology for farm monitoring of nutrient content, pH levels, atmospheric humidity, CO2 concentration, light concentration which are controlled and adapted to the needs of the crops using an app. As such, it has created growing demand among customers in tropical climates which are generally not ideal for Hydroponics produce.

India offers limited resources in terms of farming area and freshwater reserves. By reducing water usage by about 90 per cent, UrbanKisaan is optimising Hydroponics for Tropical India by presenting an efficient way to grow crops in densely populated urban areas.

How the company has made Hydroponics cost-effective

UrbanKisaan has a very cost-effective approach to Hydroponics wherein they produce food at only one-tenth of the costs compared to traditional supply chains. Their network of indoor vertical farms in India requires less than 1% land and saves nearly 2,16,000 litres of water per farm per month. Their urban farms span an approximate area of 2000 square feet.

Their supply chain is inside and close to the consumption centres which are primarily urban cities. Thus, they are cutting down on thousands of food miles which makes their business model highly cost effective.

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Farm businesses with compelling business models like UrbanKisaan can see increased sales in India.

What’s in it for me?

Online food retailing is booming in India. There is growing demand among consumers. Businesses in the Hydroponics, Agri-Tech sector are being well received. Farm businesses with compelling business models like UrbanKisaan can see increased sales in India. Innovative agricultural and food-related businesses in Asia are a key focus area for Agri-Tech investors owing to the market opportunity.

India is a large consumer for fruits and vegetables. However, the market share for organised channels like modern trade and online retail is still at 20%. Which means there’s a big chunk of untapped opportunity awaiting start-ups. In the organised fresh produce market in India, Hydroponics is a fast-growing and efficient alternative to traditional supply chains. It is awaiting disruption and innovation by Agri-tech start-ups and small businesses.

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