How To Start On-Demand Grocery Business

Building an on-demand grocery economy.

Has an on-demand industry been tickling your excitement? Have you moved your eyes around to tap the burgeoning on-demand grocery space? Well, if you are, you must know that it's a great idea to proceed because unlike clothes, shopping for which could be scheduled later, groceries are an essential requirement for each household. Moreover, with today's population's extremely busy and evolved lifestyles, planning a visit to a retail grocery store sometimes becomes tough. Arrangements that offer shopping convenience to the customers always receive a warm welcome. Thus, the market for on-demand grocery is certainly big, and entering it with the right strategy is more than important.

What does an on-demand grocery app exactly do?

It allows users to order grocery items through a mobile app, where the deliveries are guaranteed at one's doorstep in a promised, short duration. Shoppers select their desired items through the app, add them to the cart, pay with a debit/ credit card, or opt for cash on delivery (if the order is eligible). Once the order is placed, the team internally is instantly alerted, each item is carefully picked and handed over to the delivery person to be sent across immediately.

Few of the important points that are worth making a note of while developing an ingenious on-demand grocery app are:

Decide on your product categories: What kind of groceries do you plan to deliver? Do you have your grocery store, or are you planning to tie up with one or different vendors? If tying up with vendors, make sure you settle with them for the best discount rates for all the items that you would source.

Establish your USPs: The on-demand grocery delivery apps has already been created some time back, with several players already existing out there, the big ones being Instacart, Grofers, BigBasket, Amazon Fresh, and much more. If you plan to enter the market, you must adopt a fresh approach and add some unique elements to your offering. Outline and highlight these specialties in the best way so that the consumer is aware of the same. Some of the USPs could be in the form of superfast deliveries, special consumer grievances platforms, etc.

Strengthen your delivery cycle: Timely deliveries play a very important role in defining the success of any on-demand venture. Any delay in fulfilling the consumer demands might result in the loss of business altogether. Don't forget that your competitor is just a click away, and the consumer has access to everyone. Therefore, make sure that you have a large fleet of well-trained delivery men who would hand over the items to the customer and are trained enough to address their queries if required.

Develop an integrated technology platform: One of the most important requirements for you would be to set up an efficient, integrated technology platform, where the SMS and notifications technology could also be seamlessly integrated to instantly alert and inform shoppers about the developments, i.e., as soon as their order is placed, dispatched, estimated time of delivery, etc. Furthermore, drivers, sellers, and consumers could be well aligned through this mechanism, ensuring that no gap exists between the stakeholders.

Use a simple app interface: The consumer demands simplicity and moves away from anything that looks complex. Therefore, make sure that the app interface is simple, intuitive, and user-friendly, and the customer can easily locate what they are looking for. Moreover, as soon as the customer is done with the shopping, it should simply lead them to the payments page, where they could select the desired payment mode and complete the transaction.

Ask for customer feedback: Devise and implement a strong customer feedback mechanism, where at regular intervals, one could send them automated emails asking them for quick feedback. A customer feedback survey form could also be embedded in the mobile app, laying down questions like whether the delivery was on time, fresh items, etc. All this would give insights into customer satisfaction and help you improve your services if required.

Remember, the customer has a high appetite for convenience and quality, and if you can deliver the same, you probably earn them for a lifetime!