Big Basket and Grofers are planning to hire 12,000 people to meet the demand surge in online grocery shopping that is among the few sectors that have benefited from the nationwide lockdown due to Coronavirus. Complete Coverage: Coronavirus
Crux of the Matter
#OnlineGrocery Due to Coronavirus lockdown, more and more people are moving towards ordering essential commodities from online platforms like Big Basket, Grofers, etc. Both the companies observed a huge spike in the number of their customers. Amid threats posed by Coronavirus, people are stocking up food grains and other essential commodities in their houses. According to the directives from the government, Big Basket and Grofers have put certain limits on buying sanitizers as it is considered an essential commodity.
Big Basket said that it is witnessing double growth and that order baskets are larger by 15-20% these days. Whereas Grofers has confirmed growth of around 5-7% in the demand. Big Basket and Grofers on average do 1.6 lakhs and 90 thousand next-day delivery orders per day respectively. Due to high demand, the normal delivery time has been increased from 1 day to 3-4 days. Grofers also saw a customer who stocked up the commodities, billing as high as Rs. 52,000 against the former record of Rs. 24,000.
‘We Are Hiring’ say E-Commerce Players When the online retail business is at an unprecedented peak, online grocery delivery companies are facing problems with manpower. Due to lockdown and government directives to keep social distancing, migrant laborers went back to their hometown. This shortage in the workforce has crippled the companies’ operations. Looking at the imminent threats on the company, Big Basket has decided to hire 10,000 people on a permanent basis. New staff will fulfill the shortage at warehouses and delivery bases. Some people will also be recruited to execute the delivery of goods. Grofers also announced that it will hire 2,000 people from industries like textiles, manufacturing, and services which have been deeply impacted by the lockdown. As per Grofers, only 65% of its warehouse staff is currently operational. Offline retailers are also mobilizing for recruiting new staff. Spencers’ Retail, Naturals’ Retail, and Reliance Retails are mobilizing for hiring new staff through an online interview to meet up the shortage in the workforce. Future Group and Big Bazar saw a surge in demand by 20-25%.
Curiopedia
Online Grocery
HomeGrocer.com was one of the first online supermarket players which began its operations in 1997.
In May 2019, Big Basket received a funding of $150 Million which boosted the valuation of the company to over $1 Billion, giving it an entry to the coveted “Unicorn” club.
While Big Basket is backed by investors like Alibaba Group, Grofers’ investors include SoftBank and Sequoia Capital.
Curated Coverage
Comments