Startup Aaramshop aims to bring the kirana store to the web
Startup Aaramshop seeks to make shopping for groceries a part of the e-commerce experience, and believes that by partnering with local ‘kirana’ stores, it can build in the scale required.
While e-commerce is on the rise and online retail is fast becoming a serious industry in India, groceries and other FMCG products are still rooted in traditional retail, largely through the unorganised sector. Even in developed countries, attempts like Amazon Fresh have met with only limited success, but startup Aaramshop believes that it can remove the problem of logistics by providing a link to the local kirana store.
Vijay Singh, MD and CEO, Aaramshop, believes that this hybrid retail model will allow brands to convert their online presence into an offline purchase, reaching out to an audience of urban professionals who don’t have the time to carry out these daily purchases.
Singh said, “Till now, the advertising spends by FMCG/ CPG brands on digital has been low. So we decided to create a platform where an FMCG brand manager can convert ‘casual browsing’ to an engaging behaviour of ‘brand purchase’. We are not a typical logistics based e-commerce website. Since 95 per cent of the sale of FMCG products is controlled by ‘kirana stores’, we have tied up with them.”
The website is completely focused on marketing of essentials (FMCG/ CPG brands). Using a hybrid retail platform, the website will allow brands to convert the online presence to an offline purchase of the products. Consumers can shop for products and the brands they are interested in and choose a nearby kirana store from the listings, and specify delivery times.
Singh said, “This gives the kirana stores a good platform as well, as there are no listings or transaction fees for the kiranawalas, who can become a part of the website’s network for free.”
The website has created an app within Facebook to integrate the network with itself. They also plan to launch a mobile app to make the process more mobile and easier. The service is currently available only in Delhi. But they plan to expand to at least 12 metros in the coming year.
