The Online Shopping for Daily Needs
The simplistic notion that we are in control of the choices we make when shopping for our daily needs is something that needs to be thrown out of the window. India is perhaps one of the very few countries where we are getting so much at home in literally minutes. No delivery costs and so many items at special prices, plus cash backs and discounts make the online shopping for daily needs a dream. Now, with increasing use of eco friendly packaging and use of electric two wheelers the guilt of increased carbon footprint too is receding. The direct farmer to customer model with cold storage chain support makes a win for the producer and the consumer. The sweet spot of what I call double thank you moment is a dream come true for all concerned.
In the busy life of the metro the online shopping linked in the early days to shops like Star Quik to Big Basket who were the early movers advertised by the likes of SRK. They offered convenience and good pricing but the initial quality of the software and the unreliability of apps led to errors and digital payment glitches. The time lags of a few hours led to some difficulties as we had to plan our return from work or outdoor errands to receive the ordered items at home. Besides, the overuse of plastic packing made the environmentalist in me cringe and regret my shopping habit. But then, two things happened a slew of disruptors Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy InstaMart all promised delivery in minutes and led to Big basket upping its ante and emulating them. From simple grocery to items of daily use, to processed food to grooming, beverages, food grains, attas and snacks the diversification was immense. Beauty products, few electronic items and non vegetarian meats, fish all made their way to these applications and made it very easy and convenient to shop. The online payment, cash on delivery and the cash backs and discounts based on reward points made all of us addicted to buy more than ones needs especially in the early days.
Another development in the positive direction was the niche product business model. Here the descriptive and prescriptive approach of apps responded to the creation of innovative products with recipes and nutritional knowledge leading to better choices. Providing sprouts, salad meals and ready to cook stuffed vegetables made the online shopping experience far superior to the regular stuff. The reliability, availability and the pricing specials of the day along with the loyalty reward points and discounts had the effect of almost making online shopping a game.
In terms of productivity, time saving and convenience there is no doubt in my mind that online shopping is here to stay. The street vendor our known favorites who we have shared stories and banter for years are certainly the experience we miss and often we try to tell them and make them aware that they are behind in the competition stakes in terms of sheer quality, service and price. So I do balance things and buy from them too, but the pendulum has shifted the online side.
My favorite Apps are Big Basket and Kisan Konnect and Amazon fresh, the others like zepto, flipkart, blinkit, Jiomart are second. Some products like Aam Panna, Local healthy Ladoos like Oats, Sattu and til groundnut jaggery are great and reasonably priced products from Kisan Konnect.
The ready food apps like Zomato, Swiggy and the instant morning ones have saved the day so often and even as we ran out of basic stuff like bathing soap, shaving cream or a fruit juice or eggs and idli batter these apps just a few clicks away have saved my day on numerous occasions.
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