In India, the hyperlocal delivery market is expanding at an exponential rate. According to Business Standard, India’s quick commerce market is expected to grow 15 times by 2025, with a market size of nearly $5.5 billion. In India, the hyperlocal market is largely unstructured. As a result, developing a streamlined supply chain process for the delivery of goods is a difficult task. Because there are many micro markets among these hyperlocal ventures, a marketplace or individual delivery services are required.
Various hyperlocal marketplaces, such as Grofers and Zomato Market, have emerged in recent years. Several hyperlocal vendors have also established an online presence in order to expand their business and reach more customers.
But, as with any opportunity, there will be some difficulties. Because the market is large and unstructured, the problems that accompany it are also numerous. Let’s take a look at the difficulties that sellers who run hyperlocal businesses and try to deliver face.
Rising Competition
The market for hyperlocal eCommerce has always been competitive. With time, hyperlocal delivery becomes more than just an added bonus. With players like Shadowfax local, Dunzo, Grab, and others entering the picture, there is fierce competition in the hyperlocal delivery business. Because the majority of sellers prefer services, you must have a good reach and a service that gives you access to all of these delivery partners. Shiprocket’s hyperlocal services can provide you with that.
Fleet management
Hyperlocal sellers who sell items such as groceries, medicines, stationery, raw meat, and so on usually hire their fleet. This can be difficult because the resources spent on managing this workforce can be substantial. Furthermore, because orders are not scheduled at regular intervals, managing a large fleet can be difficult.
Irregular Operations
Local deliveries are extremely dispersed. Customers may be loyal, but their orders are not always consistent. These orders spike at various times throughout the year. For example, during holidays such as Diwali, when guests pour in, the frequency of orders may increase. The order frequency is otherwise quite low. As a result, such operational inconsistency poses a significant challenge for hyperlocal delivery.
Fight for Exclusiveness
Brands have identified a few of their exclusive stores on these online hyperlocal marketplaces. Stores are usually the ones who can afford to pay more for increased visibility and reach. Smaller stores typically do not make the cut in this battle for exclusivity. Marketplaces have also begun to manufacture their own products. This poses a threat to the existing shops and sellers. As a result, selling on marketplaces is not as simple as it appears.
Additional Marketing Expenses
Offering hyperlocal delivery is one aspect of the business, but making your customers aware of it is quite another. Hyperlocal delivery vendors do not make a lot of money on their sales. As a result, investing in elaborate offline marketing can be difficult. It is simple to inform current customers about the service, but it is more difficult to acquire new customers. Sellers who have an online shop in addition to their brick and mortar store can run social media campaigns. However, targeting a small area-specific audience can be difficult.
Expansion Can Be Difficult
Because these shops operate at the micro-level, it is difficult to expand delivery services very far. After your market has saturated, you can only target buyers in a specific geographical area. As a result, expanding your business leaves you with few options, such as opening branches in different regions.
When you launch a new business in a rapidly expanding market, it becomes easier to expand alongside it. If you make a mistake, you can easily conceal it and overcome any difficulties. Startups struggle more to gain market recognition once they reach their pinnacle.
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Stay tuned to our upcoming blogs to know how to capitalize on today’s novice and tomorrow’s big market, “hyperlocal.”
