Since 2017 when RBI recognised online P2P industry as financial service segment and allowed NBFC-P2P status to 11 P2P lending platforms in India, it has given new hope to the MSME sector.

The Credit Problem

Despite the fact the MSME’s contribution to the GDP is 30% and provides employment to 100 million of population, banks consider it risky to lend to SME. Lack of data makes it difficult for banks to assess the credit history and financial health of the concerned SME.

Image Courtesy: MoneyControl.com

This has led to a credit gap of $600 billion in India’s MSME sector (as per Omidyar Network and Boston Consulting Group’s report) with 60 million MSMEs where 40% of MSMEs are forced to turn to unorganised sources e.g. individual personal bankers/lenders at double the interest rates. Inability to get funds and funds at high cost leads to non viability of many SMEs. 

P2P – A good option for SME funding needs

Online P2P lending platform is an alternative form of financing when an individual can get loan directly from another individual without the involvement of a financial institution eg banks, NBFC, etc. The P2P lending that mainly targets unbanked has great relevance in India and increasingly getting popular with Small and Medium Enterprise who don’t have much credit history to show. 

One SME requirement, Multiple offers:

As an SME, you just need to place your requirement and wait. Based on your credit score, multiple lenders will get to view your requirement and auction for your need by sending you their proposals. It’s up to you to choose which proposal to accept. So, as compared to going from bank to bank, now you have many people competing to give you funds.

P2Ps offer faster credit:

P2Ps digital platforms being paperless and least human intervention are much faster. Your borrower profile goes through the credit rating procedure and background verification. Being the promoter of the SME, your profile is equally important. So, P2Ps use AI-Analytics based model to evaluate important data points about you and your company for the better assessment. As soon as your borrower profile is approved, you can have your P2P loan sanctioned and money transferred in a few hours.

P2Ps don’t require collateral:

Whereas banks require collaterals as security in order to sanction a loan, you don’t need to provide any security or collateral. All that you need is a good credit rating and your ability to repay the loan.

P2Ps are low-cost credit option:

Lenders on P2P platforms offer rates as low as 5% to 30% high depending on the credit rating of the borrowers. Also, you minus the intermediary costs, so you have cheaper credit. P2P loans are transparent without any hidden charges, fine print, no prepayment charges as well.

P2P – SME Challenges

According to the NBFC-P2P regulatory guidelines, a single lender’s combined exposure across all P2Ps cannot be more than Rs. 10 Lakh. Same way, a single borrower can max get Rs. 10 Lakh loan from all the p2p combined. Also, a single lender cannot lend more than Rs. 50.000 to a single borrower with loan maturity not to exceed 36 months.

With this kind of limitation, It is not possible for the P2P sector to derive volumes, hence hinders the sectoral growth. At the same time, it is impractical for an SME to borrow from different lenders. It will remain a challenge to help India’s SME unless Reserve Bank relaxes its P2P guideline.

SMEs due to lack of knowledge are also either not much aware of the P2P lending or don’t consider it as a credible source of funding. Many P2P operators that see MSME as an opportunity are trying to pull in more SMEs by engaging them via many awareness drives.

Way forward

P2P portals are seeing a huge opportunity in the SME sector and have the potential to support their funds requirements. Despite all odds, Faircent.com gave 64% of its total disbursement to SMEs in 2018. RupeeCircle, IndiaMoneyMart, paisadukan, LenDenClub, and CashKumarare some of the prominent players in India’s P2P sector. Whether SME also sees the same hope in P2P and RBI consider relaxing the regulation at least specifically for the SME borrowers will further help minimise the SME credit gap.

The ones for whom passion, creativity and freedom are important, are the ones who would rather start up and live their dreams than slog in nine to five jobs (hey it’s no more ‘nine to five’). These start up entrepreneurs have the energy and desire to contribute to the world. Though the idea of having your start-up may be quite exuberating – your own brain child, success, fame, dollar value, etc., but the ground reality is quite different. It takes sleepless nights, over working, firefighting, stress – physical, mental, financial for some initial years before the start up takes off. Here is a curated list of suggestions that prepare the Startup Entrepreneurs to avoid failures and minimize their risks to come up as successful businessmen:

1. Money should not be the ultimate goal

We are not saying that money should not be the goal. Of course, it is important for businesses to be viable. Most important objective of the business is rather in answering what value is it providing and how it plans to do that. Focusing on money can be misleading and potentially drift the startup owner to drift away from the plan given the financial struggle one may face. An entrepreneur by constantly focusing on the value proposition will not only develop your clientele in the long run which would increase revenues too.

2. Use Freedom Wisely

Freedom from the boss who breathes down your neck, now one is answerable to oneself. But it is a bigger responsibility. Freedom to work for any number of hours and from any location, is such a respite. This so-called freedom must be coupled with daily goals or else it would result in loss of the productivity. There are very good productivity apps to aid the working. As a start-up entrepreneur, one’s venture is a clean slate and how one pulls the reigns will decide the future of the start-up. Have a plan and execute it. Delegate proper work to the employees and see it gets finished on time. Procrastination SHOULD NOT BE part of an entrepreneur’s dictionary if he/she wants to achieve and establish credibility in the market

3. Growth Mindset

A Startup entrepreneur must assign a dollar value to his products & services and a growth plan for 1, 2, and 5 years right before he even starts. In addition, an entrepreneur who wants to grow should be open to new suggestions and ideas from his team, must be willing learn from others and his own mistakes and use different methods to make his products or services better over the period of time.

4. Creativity driven

A Startup entrepreneur is bombarded with different sorts of challenges and requirements. Unless one is creative enough to solve the problem even though it may mean designing impossible candies like Willy Wonka it is fair enough to survive the startup game. No no, one can’t afford to relax with the current success, it will get one complacent. Rather be creative and be proactive by improvising existing products and come with new ideas. A successful businessperson who is able to offer something new to the market will keep consumers happy and competitors on toes.

5. Brand building

The moment the market starts recognizing the brand, it means the startup has done a good job in establishing the brand. But, bigger question is how the startup wants the market to perceive its brand and for how long it remembers. Today, brand building of the start-up begins with the brand building of the entrepreneur himself. The name of the start-up and the name of the products must be unique and catchy to impress investors and clients. As an entrepreneur, you must be prim and proper in appearance for every meeting.

6. Prepared for instability

A job means security and stable income but for an entrepreneur, it’s more about instability than about security and stability. There would be highs and lows on his way of turning a startup idea into a big successful business. There will be days when there will be operational hurdles, market fall, and loss of investors or customers etc. Always be prepared for revamping your business strategies to deal with the uncertainties of the market. Your strategies must be in accordance with present market situations.

7. Plan – B

Having a plan B may prove as a big savior in the face of uncertainty and challenges. A Startup Entrepreneur should develop alternative offerings whether within the existing startup or a separate idea as a rescue plan or something to fall back upon because the one thing that everyone can related with is that we all are prone to failures when we are trying to do something new and a startup idea is always a new thing unless it becomes a successful business or a big brand.

8. Regular market research

A market research to start with, helps one know the customer better, who they are, what they want, what they like or don’t like, gives the right basis to build the business upon. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs startup based on their capabilities and gut feeling. That’s ok. But, matching up with the real market research gives the true picture. Now the entrepreneur can build up on the accurate foundation, target the right customer, market the right way. Once the business starts rolling, startups should conduct regular market surveys to understand customer satisfaction and to improvise product and services.

This checklist will assist a startup entrepreneur to prepare for the success while working on these points to avoid mistakes and walk on the road of one’s dream venture. On the other hand there are times when failures are sure to come as in case you are trying to achieve something big. And if, failure does happen, remember that failure is just a stepping stone to success so, one must not take failure to one’s heart and get demotivated. Instead, entrepreneurship is all about learning from the failures and build a strong base for your dreams.

The concept of an online grocery store was based on the idea of making the life of people easy and comfortable. Shopping for grocery item is a routine job. It is something which people do to fulfill their household needs. Hence, came the concept of online grocery. Many local, as well as international players, came up with their websites and apps.

Even though grocery items constitute daily need items, still the online grocery stores are lagging behind as compared to other e-commerce businesses. Many online grocery stores did show tremendous growth in their start-up years, but with time, these stores failed to achieve set goals and started showing losses. Many big names like Grofers, e-grocers, Peppertap, etc.  are either shutting down their businesses in various cities or planning to quits in 2019. Now the question arises “Why grocery stores fail in India?” What are the Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store?

Below are the Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store in India

Buying grocery is a social experience: Buying grocery used to be a social event where families go to the market or a supermarket and buy their daily, weekly or monthly grocery needs. Many people enjoy browsing through those aisles of the supermarket and picking up the brands of their own choice.

Similar is the case of fruits and vegetables. Many people love to buy their fruit and vegetable in the traditional way as they can check each and every piece for its freshness. However, one neither smell the freshness of fruits and vegetable nor can check them physically. Among Convincing people about the freshness of the grocery items is one of the major Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store.

Delivery charges

There are many Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. One of them is the buyer’s reluctance to pay delivery charges. Most of the online grocery stores are giving facility of free delivery only when the customer places an order as per the limit set by them. This minimum order limit varies from website to website. In some it may be Rs 500, in others, free delivery service may start at the purchase of Rs 1000.

In most cases, a customer needs to pay delivery charges on order of small amounts. Buyers keep on switching from one website to another till they find a grocery website which charges a minimum delivery charge.

Difficulty in reaching small towns

Among various Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store reaching the people in small towns is the most difficult one. Most of the small cities in India have their own local markets. Everyone knows everyone in a small town. Hence, they are just like one big family. People love going to market and buy their own groceries as it gives them the opportunity to meet other people. Small towns are free from traffic, that another reason that people are not afraid of going to their local markets. Above all this, at local markets, people can do bargain with shopkeepers.

Hence, convincing them to shop online for their grocery is one of the main problems for online grocery startups.

Fewer margins

No matter whatever the business, the main motto of any business is to earn a profit. Online grocery retailers work on a very thin margin of 5-7%. Making profits with these thin margin is one of the most difficult among all the Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. Orders qualifying free delivery criteria further increase issues related to profit-making as the online retail store loses their delivery charge amount.

More focus on horizontal expansions

Online grocery retailing is very competitive. Hence, many online grocery startups start focussing on expanding their services to various cities. However, these horizontal expansions create various problems for online grocery startups like exhausting their VC money, etc. As a result in many cases, online grocery startups end up withdrawing services with time. Sustaining competition and running a business in various cities are some other major Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store.

Housewives are less tech-savvy: Sometimes the solution itself becomes a problem. Shopping grocery online aim at saving people’s time and effort of going to market and shop for their daily needs items. Well, most of the grocery shopping is done by housewives. Not all the housewives are tech savvy. For many housewives, apps and online grocery shopping is an alien concept.

Moreover, browsing through various sites and comparing prices doesn’t excite them. They prefer going to the market and do their shopping. Moreover, many housewives prefer bargaining over comparing prices on the internet. Among various Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store, attracting these housewives is the main issue.

Availability of preferable grocery item at the time of need

logistics and managing stocks for such a wide variety of grocery goods are other major Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. Online retail grocery stores act as one large supermarket where the buyer can find numerous brands for one single grocery item. Most of the people are quite particular about their brand preference as far as their daily need items are concerned. Hence, when buyers fail to find their preferred brand or the grocery item they are looking for runs out of stock, it’s their local market which comes to their rescue.

Inability to master inventory management

Some of the online grocery startups follow the inventory-led business model. Under this model, the companies maintain their own inventories. This does provide them with various benefits as the company has complete control over managing stocks as well as its movement. However, the major drawback in managing a warehouse is its rental cost. The company needs to have a good financial backup to deal with the cost associated with warehouses and cold storages.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is another important factor on the list of Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. Different online retail startups adopt different business models. Some online retail shops have tie-ups with local grocery retailers, and some have their own stores to take care of the grocery needs of their customers. Companies with their own stores need to have a huge capital. Expenditures like the rent of shops, maintenance of shops, cost incurred for transportation and other logistic related costs, together consume a major part of the revenue earned. Hence in many cases failure to manage infrastructure turns out to be the major reason behind why grocery stores fail.

Competition

Online grocery market is highly competition driven. Among all the Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store, preventing customers from switching to the competitor’s website is the most crucial challenge.  With so many options available on the internet customer enjoys the benefits of browsing through various websites and select the product from a website which gives maximum benefits. Hence, staying ahead of the competition is very important for any online grocery startups. Online grocery stores need to keep a close watch on their competitor’s each and every move.

Another issue faced by online grocery stores is that they face the competition from both other online retailers as well as the retailers of local grocery shops. After all, a vegetable and fruit hawker also give door to door delivery. Surviving in such a competitive market is not an easy task. One has to keep on working on new and innovative ideas to attract new customers and retain their existing customers.

Freshness and quality of vegetables and fruits

Everyone wants to buy fruits and vegetable which are fresh. Different people have different ways to check the freshness of vegetables and fruits. Some check it by smelling, others may look it closely to see if it’s fresh or not and some may even prick them. People are quite selective for their vegetables. They do all the checks before purchasing them.

In case of online purchase, there is no way to check the quality at the time of placing an order. Hence, issues like delivering rotten vegetables or late delivery cause dissatisfaction among buyers. This may further lead customers to go back to their traditional shopping methods. Hence, delivering what has been promised is another major difficulty that makeup to the list of Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store.

Huge marketing expenses

Two of the biggest Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store are

Convincing shoppers to shift from their traditional way of buying grocery to the new, modern and advanced way of online shopping

Providing the best service possible while taking care of customer satisfaction.

To overcome the above-mentioned difficulties faced by online grocery startups, online grocery needs to spend a lot of money on marketing and promotional activities. These expenditures are added to total expenditures, and sometimes, the situation goes out of the hand. Expenditure to attract customers exceeds so much that it turns profits into losses.

Some online grocery stores even offered money to local retailers in order to have collaboration with them. Whereas others spend money on hiring famous celebrities for promoting their brand, for example, Big Basket hired Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan as their brand ambassador. These additional expenditures further reduced their profits.

Customer Loyalty

Another major problem faced by online grocery stores in India is to earn customer loyalty. To overcome loyalty related issues online grocery companies give various offers and discounts to their customers. However, the customer has become much smarter. Buyers browse through various sites and compare the discounts offered by these sites. Finally, they buy the product from the grocery retailer which give them the best offer.

Offers and discounts turn out to be a temporary solution. Companies do succeed in getting the customer’s attention by giving a various offer, but it does not provide any permanent solution as most of the customers keep on shifting from one site to another. There is no customer stability in case of online grocery shopping. Hence, gaining customer loyalty has become the most challenging job for online grocery stores.

Difficulty in keeping up with buyer’s product preferences

Online grocery retailers cater to a much larger customer base as compare to any local grocery retailer. Different people have different taste and preferences. For example, some prefer organic pulses over normal pulses, etc. In fact, different customers prefer different product within the product category of the same brand, example some prefer Colgate sensitive whereas others prefer Colgate total.

Even these preferences are not stable they keep on changing.

The term grocery is an umbrella for various kinds of household and kitchen related items which in itself forms an exhaustive list. Within this list, there are thousands of products, and for each product, there are numerous varieties available in the market. Hence among various Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store, keeping up to customer’s choice and preferences is very difficult. Till the time, the online grocery store keeps on fulfilling the buyer’s needs, and requirements there won’t be an issue. But, one small mistake and the customer will not think twice and shift to another website.

Issues related to training and operations

Other Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store are:

• Recruitment of delivery staff and their training
• Issues related to logistics
• Managing and handling cash
• Handling perishable food items
• Managing wastage
• Appropriate handling of returned products.

Conclusion

Change is always welcomed with a little bit of resistance. People take time to get adjusted to new technology. Similar is the case with online grocery stores. The concept was developed on the basis that people would be ready to pay a little bit extra if their regular grocery needs are delivered at their doorstep. Well, in reality, the situation turned out to be totally different from what was expected. With the availability of so many options, buyers want to buy grocery from stores which promises them goods at the most reasonable price that too with other additional services like offers, free delivery, and even cash back.

There is no doubt that the road to success is not easy for any online grocery retailer. As discussed above, there are numerous Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. However, the idea of online grocery shopping has met with both denials as well as acceptance by the people. Some shoppers welcomed this concept as it suits their lifestyle whereas others still prefer the old traditional way of buying their daily need items from local markets.

Grocery items form a basic necessity for every family. They constitute daily need items which need to be purchased on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Today, everyone is living a fast and demanding lifestyle. Sometimes, regular shopping for daily chore items becomes difficult.

There was a time when people wished that someone rotate a magic wand and their grocery items just appear on their doorstep. Well, it seems like someone has read our minds. “Ta-da” now the grocery items are available on our fingertips. Online grocery shops in India has made our life much more comfortable. Grocery start-ups in India have turned out to be a blessing for many families, especially where both the partners are working and hardly get time to go to the market.

Indians took their time to accept the whole idea of online grocery shopping. They preferred going to market and hop from shop to shop to get their grocery items. Well, with the passage of time people realized, order groceries online save their time, effort and money that too without compromising on the quality.

Benefits of Purchasing Grocery from The Online Grocery Store

• All kinds of grocery items available on a single platform.
• Lower rates as compared to traditional retail outlets.
• Delivery at the doorstep.
• Availability of discounts and other offers.
• Various modes of payment options.
• Saves time and effort.
• The order can be given anytime and from anywhere.

10 Best Grocery Startups In India Of 2019

Big Basket

One of the biggest online supermarkets for online groceries. Big Basket is one of the best Grocery Startups In India. This online grocery store offers more than 14,000 products to its potential customers. Customers can buy fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, frozen food items, personal care products, staples, spices, and other grocery items. Customers can buy products by ordering on the website as well as via mobile app.

The company guarantees high-quality products at the most reasonable prices. Same day delivery is another important feature.

Cities covered

Big basket services are available in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mysore, and Chennai.

ZopNow

Another famous online grocery shops in India is ZopNow.com. The company deals with more than 25000 products. This grocery store offers a wide variety of online groceries including fruits and vegetables, sauces and pickles, sweets, cookies and biscuits, home care and beauty care products, frozen foods, parenting products, and other kitchen and home products.

On-time and free delivery are the main attraction of this online grocery store. ZopNow offers its customers one of a kind experience. With ZopNow, customers can record their product preferences and save a cart. This would give them a bespoke grocery shopping experience. ZopNow never disappoints its customers in terms of discounts and offers.

Cities covered

It provides services in Delhi and its NCR regions including Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida, and Faridabad. Other cities covered under ZopNow are Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Pune.

Nature’s Basket

Nature’s Basket is one of the Grocery Startups In India which has been started by the famous Godrej Group. Just like their other ventures, Godrej group’s online grocery store offers the best quality products to their customer. This basket offers the best quality grocery items from various parts of the world to its customers. Cheese from France and Italy, spices from various parts of Asia, Mediterranean oils, Organic supplies from India, famous tea of India, Europe’s salami and ham and exotic vinegar.

The app is designed to cater to the various needs of its customers. This online store offers more than 15000 products including exotic vegetables, weight management food items, fresh bread and patisserie, and instant meals. As most of the products available on Nature’s basket are imported it limits the choice as far as the brand name is concerned.

Cities Covered

The app provides its services all over India.

Green Cart

Green Cart is another growing Grocery Startups In India which offers fresh farm products including fruits and vegetables. The company offers high-quality bakery products, dairy items, beverages, international food items, and other organic products. This online grocery store is known for providing high-quality products at reasonable prices.

Aaram Shop

For anyone who is looking for an alternative for traditional grocery shops and fruits and vegetable hawkers then, aramshop.com is an excellent option to look for. Besides being reliable, this grocery store is known for its fast delivery services. Once a customer places an order, the delivery is made within a few hours.

Naturally Yours

With the wide product range of over 20,000 quality products Naturally Yours is one of the most prominent Grocery Startups In India. It’s a customer focussed online grocery store which enables services to the customers anywhere and anytime. Its product line includes organic food and cosmetic items, ayurvedic products, seeds and nuts, supplements, premium quality essential oils, etc.

Local Banya

Online grocery store covers Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai. To make shopping convenient for the customers, Local Banya offers three subscription plans for the duration over 3, 6 and 12 months. Besides daily grocery items, beauty, and household products, fresh fruits and vegetables, snacks, health food, sauces and condiments, and stationery items. Local Banya offers exciting offers to its customers.

Grofers

Grofers is the right choice for people who prefer local stores over other sources. Grofers allow buyers to select their grocery items from the stores within a radius of 6km of their place. Besides basic grocery items, the customer can order flowers, pet care products, baby care products, and cosmetics. The delivery is made within just 80 minutes. This app turns out to be a local online grocery store for its buyers. The delivery is made in eco-friendly bags.

Cities covered: Delhi and NCR, Agra, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Indore, Kanpur, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Kolkata, Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai.

Eemli

For buyers in Mumbai, who wants to purchase premium quality exotic or imported fruits and vegetables, pickles and sauces, organic and herbal items, non-veg food items and staples and grocery, Eemli proves to be a very good option.

Reliance Fresh Direct

Reliance Fresh is a well-known name in the retail grocery with stores available all over India. Its online grocery store is the extension of its retail branches. Reliance Fresh Direct offers a wide variety of grocery items and the best quality products at reasonable prices to its customers.

There are numerous Grocery Startups In India. All these grocery stores have converted internet into a big supermarket where the customer can buy the grocery items with just a click, and the delivery is done at their doorsteps — an easy and convenient way of shopping.