The Government of India has extended the coronavirus lockdown even further till April end. One of the most common issues among people worldwide is grocery going out-of-stock in both online and offline stores. People are facing difficulties in ordering groceries due to a surge in demand. Offline grocery stores are either opening for a few hours in a day or on alternate days or don’t have sufficient stocks in store. On the other hand, online grocery stores are functioning but taking several days to deliver orders due to the surge in demand and shortage is delivery executives.
To combat this problem and make daily essentials available to everyone around the country several apps such as Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, among others have started delivering groceries. By introducing grocery service these apps aim to help people procure essential items during ongoing coronavirus lockdown.
Here are some of the apps that are taking orders and delivering groceries to every home across the country during the 21 days lockdown.
Post the lockdown announcement Zomato shut its key food delivery service as ordered by the Government of India. A few days later the food delivery application kicked off its service and along with it announced the availability of groceries on its platform. People can now order groceries using the Zomato app. The service is called Zomato Market and includes all the essential products.
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Zomato is currently delivering groceries in over 80 cities across the country and is also taking proper safety measures due to coronavirus. Similar to its food service, Zomato has the option of contact-less grocery shopping on its application.
The company has partnered with various local grocery stores, FMCG companies, and several startups to deliver groceries at home so people don’t step out and stay safe. The Zomato Market service can be availed through its app available for both iOS as well as Android.
Swiggy has been selling grocery stores for a long time now. But due to the coronavirus lockdown the company has expanded the service to every part of the country. Similar to Zomato, Swiggy has partnered with several brick-and-mortar stores to deliver essential products to people across India. The service is available on the Swiggy food delivery app itself.Uber suspended its service soon after the Government of India announced country-wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is now resuming some services in the country. It has collaborated with Flipkart, BigBasket and Kolata based Spencers to deliver groceries and other essential items in various parts of the country.
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Uber along with Flipkart is delivering everyday essentials in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. This move will help Flipkart and BigBasket who have millions of inventories stuck at their warehouses due to the shortage of delivery workers. According to TechCrunch Uber is working “with state authorities in India to pilot what it calls ‘Uber Essential’ to resume rides for people who need to urgently travel within a city. The company expects to pilot the service in select parts of the country this week.”
Alongside Uber, Swiggy, and others, apps such as Shopclues has also started delivering groceries through their platform. The service is available on the app as well as the website. There’s a separate grocery option available. People can just click on the option and order groceries. Shopclues is also selling all the daily essential products.
Soon after the lockdown was announced by PM Modi BigBasket, Grofers, Amazon and Flipkart suspended their delivery service and that created panic among everyone. A few days later the services were kicked off again and are functioning all across the country. However, due to the shortage of delivery executives, the orders are taking time to deliver, nearly 4-5 working days (some times even more) even with premium subscriptions.