Grocery shopping during a crisis: How consumers are forced to adopt App Economy

Today I ordered a grocery pack from Pickme. Within 40 minutes of my order, I received a call.

“Sir, I am calling from Uber…”I was like ahh…! But in the meantime, the guy realized the mistake and said “Sorry sir, Pickme. I have brought your order” To which I ended the mentioning that I will come downstairs and collect.

I have a great interest in learning about the app economy — I somehow always notice and pay a lot of attention to it.

This particular incident made me think about the chat I had with a couple of Uber drivers outside Royal Bakery in Wellawatte. During the conversation they shared their reasons on why they were with Uber and not Pickme — states a few reasons. This was just two month ago, Pickme may had a huge challenge upon them to convince drivers to chose their brand over Uber.

However looks the tide has changed — today as a local brand are better equipped to serve the customers better in times of crisis. In fact, they have adapted to the situation well and came up with a radical offering.

Today’s phone call clearly illustrates that for a rider it’s just a matter of changing their t-shirt and bag, with some confusion on whom they work for. Businesses need to keep adapting to serve the needs of their customers and grab the opportunity when it presents itself at unexpected times.

Interestingly, Sri Lankan consumers were not opting to buy groceries, vegetables, and other essential items through the app-based home-delivery channels. There clearly wasn’t any scope for demand-pull until the COVID-19 crisis. Many start-ups to deliver goods home emerged and disappeared over the past few years. There were so many mental barriers that brands had to break to make consumers adopt this model. Even food-ordering apps gained popularity only among Gen Z and Y.

However, change and the much-needed trail is taking place. To make people try a product or an experience, brand spent millions of money. In a country like Sri Lanka, it more difficult to make them try. Today without any spend everyone giving a try.

Today, even my 63-year-old mum, whose day is incomplete without a mandatory visit to the market every day is forced to adapt and get her groceries delivered to her doorstep for which she felt convenient.

Even in China where the crisis was at a peak, residents fairly quickly came to terms with the lockdown and have leveraged digital technology to organize and collaborate with suppliers, thereby ensuring that supplies have reached the people who need them the most. Two factors have contributed to this remarkable show of resilience.

1. Digitally Enabled Delivery Systems: Chinese are well ahead of us in the delivery system for grocery, But we are not, We had a delivery system for food, but how Pickme transformed its infrastructure at a crisis is remarkable
2. Consumer Comfort with the Online World: Chinese are tech-savvy, Even our consumers are not really comfortable with the online world. But the crisis pushing them to adapt fast. It could be a remarkable case study. Number of downloads for pickme app during crisis period may reveal much more insights

Groceries are somewhat sorted but there is a huge gap in terms of deliveries for other essentials like vegetables and fruits. Today, many supermarkets and A-grade retail outlets are losing out on their business opportunities due to the lack of innovation. It would be a win-win scenario if businesses collaborate using their strength.

With each passing day, many realizing the need of the hour there are a number of messages popping up promising to deliver goods. However, they lack the proper infrastructure to take this ahead on a mass level rather than a manual operation handled by taking orders through Whatsapp.

What would be even more interesting how and whether any of these behavioral changes will last even after the COVID crisis is over. Consumers are forming a new habit, getting rid of old practices and getting used to a new system. During the world war when men went to war, women who stayed at work were forced to do factory work. But once, the war was over those women never wanted to return back to the role of homemakers.

Similarly, this change will create a new normal where people want more convenience and be reluctant to towards taking the hassle to shop for groceries again. Over time it wouldn’t be surprising if Pickme stays on top for grocery deliveries rather than food or passengers.

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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.