How retail tech startup Gully Network aims to be a smart retail destination for consumers

Gully Network Retail Pvt Limited, founded in 2019, is a retail-tech startup focussed on helping mid-sized stores in their day-to-day operations.

In the last six months, the Bengaluru-headquartered startup claims to have seen a growth of 5x-6x, and its conversion rate has significantly improved from 10 percent to 50 percent in the past year, says Ajay Nain, Founder and CEO, Gully Network Retail Pvt Ltd.

“Transformation is largely about the automation,” he says. The startup not just improved the physical appearance of the stores, but also helped its customers transform in terms of buying, selling, and other operations.

At present, the Gully Network has around 55 stores in four cities. It started with Bengaluru, and then expanded to three more cities.

“Today, we have our footprint in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and two Tier II cities - Bijapur and Bikaner,” says Ajay.

Online presence

Every store wants to be online and digitally connect with its customers. This is where the topic of “omnichannel presence” comes into the picture.

Ajay shares the startup is essentially building an asset-light modern retail chain of mid-size grocery stores. It is not just having an omnichannel presence, but it is more about automating operations end-to-end.

Ajay mentions that the company is planning to raise $5 million in series A round in the near future. The startup plans to primarily utilize the funds to improve technology, expand its presence, and for marketing and branding.

According to him, grocery will be the primary focus of the startup. However, it aims to make its stores a smart retail destination for the people. It also plans to include a few add-on services such as digital merchandising and exploring synergies with other B2B players in the near future.

Ajay says the company is about to touch $5 million in GMV soon, and wants to go 10x-15x in the next one year. Its unit economics is already positive and it wants to further increase its purchase margin by three percent.

The startup has partnered with all major FMCG companies like ITC, Cadbury, Coca Cola, Pepsi, etc. They are being treated as a modern retail chain and not as a B2B distribution channel.

“We act as a medium for these FMCG companies to reach out to their tertiary consumers,” says Ajay.