How to Start Online Grocery Business

1. How to Start Online Grocery Business

2. Index • Market Research • Business Model Development • Development of Website / Choosing a platform • Development of SOPs / Process Manuals and Management Systems • Develop a strong IT infrastructure • Procurement • Marketing Planning • Summary

3. Market Research • Detailed market research to understand the problems faced by customers is necessary to come up with something which others are not offering • It is important to decide a specific target region & to understand the target audience first before selecting a region • It is difficult to sell groceries in region without internet access or in rural area where people still do not buy groceries online

4. Business Model Development Different business models used by some of the players in the market are • Inventory model (Selling):-Inventory is maintained by a business enterprise who then sells directly to its customers • Marketplace model (Facilitating):-A business enterprise only acts as a connecting host between buyers and sellers wherein the host provides an IT platform to facilitate buying and selling. • Commission-based revenue model:- As a marketplace service provider, you can charge a commission from the stores and the suppliers from the sales they are making on your platform. • Membership-based revenue model:- Offering customers privileged features like free delivery, discounts, and priority delivery by charging them a subscription fee  • Promotion/Advertising:- Offering better visibility could be made a part of premium services which is often valued by retailers. • Private-labelled items:- Once you have good brand goodwill, you can promote the business of small manufacturers/traders by labelling their products under your brand name resulting in a win-win situation

5. Development of Website /Choosing a platform • There are two options available with us for setting up a website or applications • The in-house development from scratch:- In this method, you develop your own website and application but is time consuming and costly, It can offer customers a different kind of experience • Off-the-shelf available scripts / ready-made platforms:-Purchasing a turnkey solution is always a better choice if you do not want to invest a lot into developing a website and application from scratch. This method is faster and cost-effective. • Both the option have their own pros and cons, It is important to choose one wisely to fulfill your business needs

6. Development of SOPs / Process Manuals and Management Systems • Business plan and the business processes and operations is the next step after the business and revenue model • Different departments need to work in sync to run enterprise smoothly • It is possible when the duties and responsibilities are crystal clear • SOP is an operational roadmap for each operation or activity and defines step by step approach to carry out task • It removes subjectivity and doubt and also makes supervision, monitoring and improvisations easier

7. Develop a strong IT infrastructure • Running an online grocery business involves multiple business processes and operations that need to run in a synchronized manner • A strong IT infrastructure supports all the departments and the business processes • It significantly trims operational costs, especially in the long-run • It  can simplify complex business operations to a matter of few clicks and a few inputs • It helps in further decision-making in respective departments by maintaining data

8. Procurement • With hundreds and thousands of products and brands, procurement is a tricky process • The big question is what products to keep of which brands and in what quantities?  • This will depend on two big factors - demand and supply • The application of the concept of just-in-time becomes critical for perishable products • Reliable demand forecasting and precise procurement is necessity • Auto-replenishment systems could be a game-changer.

9. Marketing Planning • Marketing begins with the idea of business itself • Digital marketing & conventional marketing can be done for online grocery business • Search engines and social media are important fields of online digital marketing • Social media has power to reach out to a wider audience • Conventional techniques can also be implemented for local audiences

10. Summary • Customers around the world are increasingly flowing towards online grocery shopping.  • The business holds a lot of promise but there are contemporary challenges and will always be. • There is need to explore, discover and rediscover facets which could further strengthen the business plan. •  the future of brick and mortar retail grocery business is omnichannel. • with the help of retail grocery consultants having omnichannel expertise or retail e-commerce consultants, retail and online grocery business will share a common future. • https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-start-online-grocery-business-dr-rupal-agarwal/