A Comparison of E-Grocers catering to Hyderabad

Grocery accounts for two-thirds of India’s retail market. Small mom-and-pop stores control more than 88% of the grocery retail trade and online players account for very minuscule, close to 1% of the grocery market. Since the onset of Covid-19 and the launch of Reliance’s JioMart, competition in the online grocery market has increased....and it is welcome

According to a study by CapitalMind, DMart and JioMart offer the highest discounts. The discounts offered by – Amazon, BigBasket, and Flipkart Grocery – are in a tight range of 11-12%. The lowest discount was offered by Grofers. In the comparison, I felt Amazon Fresh (available in a few cities) is a better equivalent to the other e-grocers compared than Amazon's Pantry brand. 

These e-grocers have come as a blessing during this pandemic. Here's my experience from an year of active online shopping for my location in Hyderabad through their respective websites -

BigBasket was the only e-grocer that catered to my area after the lockdown. I like how their search feature allows looking for items using local equivalent names ("mirapakaya" for chilli). Deliveries were timely according to chosen slots but sometimes some items were not delivered due to unavailability and pre-paid amount was added to the wallet. It was annoying that after order confirmation, BigBasket would cancel certain items. 

Grofers was the next to offer deliveries to my locality during the lockdown & it was good to have some choice. Minimum order value is Rs 499. I have faced technical glitches sometimes with Grofers with their product pages & at the time of ordering. Individual items in an order cannot be cancelled. Now that there are more choices, I don't see Grofers offering much differentiation unlike Amazon Fresh & JioMart which have been constantly bettering the online shopping experience with their advantage of having deep pockets. 

I've shopped for groceries on Amazon & Amazon Pantry and I was glad when Amazon Fresh started selling vegetable & fruits. Amazon Fresh provides delivery time slots to choose from at the time of order confirmation and has always delivered by that time frame. However, after filling my cart it has happened multiple times that there are no slots or certain items are unavailable on subsequent days when slots are available. Sometimes, I was impressed to see slots available in the next 2 hours of ordering and the goods landed at my door in good packaging. Getting a slot is unpredictable. The product reviews are most helpful among all the e-grocer sites. Minimum order value is Rs 600.

I like the shopping experience on Flipkart Grocery as products are well cataloged & presented. Unlike Amazon Fresh, there are no product reviews on Flipkart Grocery though. To provide a little extra, Flipkart gives you "SuperCoins" that can be accumulated & redeemed for online vouchers & goodies. Flipkart delivers by the committed time range and rarely cancels orders. Minimum order value is Rs 600 and delivery is free for orders above Rs 1200. 1-July-21 Update: Flipkart Quick is like an Amazon Fresh equivalent with a focus on groceries and staples, servicing a few Indian cities. Minimum order value is Rs 500.

While the best thing about JioMart is free delivery irrespective of the transaction amount, availability of items is not assured (payment is refunded in case of pre-paid orders) & date of delivery is unpredictable. Hours prior to delivery, they send out a text message with a link to track location of delivery person & a PIN to be supplied upon delivery. Another grouse I have is that while JioMart sends an email confirmation, it doesn't contain the items ordered so that there is an email record. The whole process doesn't appear smooth as there is no adequate assurance that all items will be delivered in a pre-defined time-frame. I'm glad though that they work on feedback and are progressively improving. Like Amazon Fresh, JioMart provides a past purchases list that makes it easy to re-order quickly.

Considering DMart doesn't service my area yet, I find JioMart the best option currently although getting everything I ordered within a reasonable time feels like winning a lottery.

The numbers and features mentioned above are for my location in Hyderabad at the time of writing. Your experience may vary as these services are very location-specific.

There are also other options that are expanding to newer areas - Spar, Tata's StarQuik, ITC Store, More, Spencer's, P&G

Image: Bernstein