The rise of hyperlocal ecommerce in India

Hyperlocal ecommerce has been the most sought-after term in the recent past. For investors and VCs, these ecommerce companies and startups have become a new favourite.

Delivering almost all kinds of products and services like groceries, home care, personal care, apparel, accessories, maintenance, food, etc, hyperlocal e-commerce companies have just not been able to provide services at the doorstep of the customers but also been able to empower the nation digitally.

The sudden surge in the popularity of such brands is undoubtedly due to the pandemic that has pushed each and every vertical of all industries to shift and adapt to the digital medium.

In addition to this, the busy lifestyle and the improved standard of living are also accentuating the growth of hyperlocal e-commerce companies as they provide everything at the doorstep.

Digital India

Digital India initiative has also led ecommerce companies to penetrate into the rural and tier 2,3 cities rightly on par with the economic development, allowing people from all strata of society. Hyperlocal e-commerce companies have also reengineered the supply chain aspect to be able to deliver the products and services to the customers in as little time as possible.

With larger sections of the society moving to the online mode of shopping, it becomes necessary to help the local merchants adapt to the fast-paced change. Various startups have been doing their bit to go vocal for local. While we find it easy to shop from larger brands, it is the hyperlocal merchants that have been available at our wish and needs since forever.

Right from creating a store to display all the products and services, hyperlocal eCommerce brands have yet again been catching the attention of the customers by providing them with endless options to choose from. One can now run all errands via hyperlocal eCommerce stores.

Since a large section of the population is based in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, there are certain issues like language barriers that act as a hindrance in quicker penetration of hyperlocal eCommerce brands. To overcome this barrier, companies have now been able to cater to even the rural areas with various language options that a customer can choose to shop from such companies.

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Trends

In the upcoming years, we will witness more local merchants that would be part of more and more e-commerce companies through which we will be able to provide service and deliver products to the customers that are even located overseas.

These e-commerce companies would truly be the one-stop-shop for all the needs, thus breaking the geographical barriers with the help of advanced technology.

We would also witness new marketing and promotional activities like EDLP (Every Day Low Price) that will aid in promoting the hyperlocal products and services to give them the right push to gain momentum.

Advantages

E-commerce brands are getting better at analysing the customer’s needs with each passing day. Hyperlocal has become the new buzzword giving a wide range of benefits to customers like surfing through umpteen options of products and services, door-step delivery, quality of durable and perishable products.

From the business perspective, the benefits include an increase in the customer base of the sellers, better logistics and inventory management.

Summing up

Although it is said that the digital shopping experience might replace the in-store experience, hyperlocal ecommerce would only be supplementary to the traditional brick and mortar stores.

Technological advancement is the new phase of the retail industry. It is a sector that has tremendous opportunities to grow, thereby providing a win-win scenario for the local merchants and end customers.