What is the Scope of Hyperlocal Businesses in 2020?
The eCommerce industry has seen a paradigm shift in how customers shop online. After the outbreak of COVID-19 across the world, the demand for eCommerce has increased substantially and people are resorting to online shopping for ordering everything starting from daily household items to apparel, electronics, and many more.
According to a report by Goldman Sachs,
India’s eCommerce sector is likely to grow at a Compound annual growth rate of 27% to hit $99 billion by the year 2024.
Owing to the global pandemic of COVID-19, eCommerce penetration has doubled across the globe with categories like consumer packaged goods driving almost three years of penetration growth in just three months, Goldman Sachs further said.
Amid the growing fears of coronavirus across the country, even the local Kirana shops have witnessed increasing numbers of orders over telephonic calls. This is where hyperlocal businesses play their role. Hyperlocal delivery is now the need of the hour, owing to the need of maintaining social distancing at all times.
According to a research report,
The Indian Hyperlocal market will grow at a considerable CAGR rate thus exceeding INR 2,306 crore by 2020.
The hyperlocal delivery model is when the delivery of products is done within a particular geographical area. The pickup location from where the order is packed and the customer’s address should lie within the same pin code. This kind of delivery model works mostly in cases of groceries, medicines, regular household items, food delivery, and even services such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc.
Let us now take a look at the scope of hyperlocal delivery in the year 2020-
Hyperlocal Delivery of Groceries and Essentials
As mentioned earlier, most Kirana stores have been receiving an increasing number of telephonic calls for taking orders. Soon, these stores will opt for the hyperlocal delivery service where they will be delivering items to a wider range of customers as compared to the number of customers they serve otherwise.
Delivery of products including groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, medicines, personal and baby products, stationery, etc will be extensively delivered by hyperlocal delivery services. Not just these, products such as apparel, kitchen appliances, gardening tools, etc will also see the adoption of the hyperlocal delivery model. Therefore, this is the absolute best time to tweak your business strategy and adopt the hyperlocal model to stay ahead of the game.
Businesses can also make use of Predictive Logistics. While Predictive Logistics is mostly done by industries processing large quantities of orders in a day, it will become feasible for smaller hyperlocal deliveries too in the near future. It is an approach that attempts to predict the necessary requirements in a supply chain and satisfy them before they occur. This approach results in shorter delivery time and more customer satisfaction.
Delivery With Multiple Hyperlocal Partners
As we already mentioned that the hyperlocal economy is booming, there will be a surge in hyperlocal orders in the coming days. There will be higher competitiveness among companies to make faster delivery of their products to customers. Therefore, opting for multiple hyperlocal delivery partners is the best solution, as you will always have a backup option available to you in case one company is unable to deliver.
Here comes the role of solutions like Shiprocket. Shiprocket has tied up with some of India’s top hyperlocal delivery companies such as Dunzo, Wefast, and Shadowfax, using which sellers can deliver items within a 50 km range from the pick-up location. All the seller needs to do is download Shiprocket hyperlocal app, SARAL, from the mobile app store, select the carrier option, and schedule pick up of his hyperlocal order. This will not only help businesses to deliver to a wider audience but also help them in saving time and money.
Websites and Mobile Apps
Businesses that already have their own eCommerce websites or mobile applications will definitely be at the benefit of leveraging the hyperlocal delivery model. More and more offline stores will now take their businesses online in order to boost sales and strengthen their business.
Having a website and mobile app connected to a hyperlocal delivery partner will enhance your business offerings and will connect your brick and mortar store with a digital storefront to ensure customer loyalty even during these challenging times of COVID-19.
Conclusion
The hyperlocal business model is here to stay, even after the pandemic drifts away. It offers tremendous scope for growth in a number of sectors beyond groceries and essentials, such as food and beverages, medicines, home services, cabs, and hyperlocal logistics, to name a few. It is time for retailers to keep up with the trend and make the most of the hyperlocal delivery model to stay ahead of the competition in post-COVID-19 times.
