MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

ON
CONSUMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS ONLINE GROCERY
SHOPPING

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) /[Link] to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha
University, Delhi

Guide:
Dr. Shavita Deshwal

Submitted by:
Student name: Sakshi Sharma
Roll no.: 08414901718

Maharaja Surajmal Institute

(Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi)
New Delhi – 110058
Batch (2018-21)
 CERTIFICATE
I, Ms. Sakshi Sharma, Roll No. 08414901718 certify that the Major Project Report (Paper CodeBBA
312) entitled ― Consumer Perception towards online Grocery Shopping is done by me and it is an
authentic work carried out by me .The matter embodied in this has not been submitted earlier for the
award of any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature of the Student:

Date:

Certified that the Summer Training Report (Paper Code- BBA 312) entitled ― Consumer Perception
towards Online Grocery Shopping done by Ms. Sakshi Sharma, Roll No. 08414901718, is completed
under my guidance.

Signature of the Guide:

Date:

Name of the Guide: Dr. Shavita Deshwal

Designation: Associate Professor

Countersigned

Director:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my guide Dr. Shavita
Deshwal for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the course of
this project. She has been a great mentor and the learning I achieved under her is immense. She played a
real supportive role and helped me at every hurdle I got in making of this project. Last but not the least, I
express my sincere thanks to my parents, friends and classmates for their constant support and
encouragement.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
S. No. Topic Page No.
1 Chapter 1: 1
 Introduction
 Objectives of the study
 Review of Literature
 Research Methodology
 Limitations of the study
2 Chapter 2: 14
 Profile of the Industry
 Product Range
 Major Companies in the Industry
3 Chapter 3: 27
 Analysis & Interpretation of Data
4 Chapter 4: 37
 Conclusion & Recommendations
5 Bibliography 41
6 Annexure (Questionnaire) 42

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No. Title Page no.
1.1 The consumer perception process 1

LIST OF TABLES
Table No. Title Page no.
3.1 Frequency Table (Gender) 27
3.2 Frequency Table (Age) 27
3.3 Q1 28
3.4 Q2 29
3.5 Q3 30
3.6 Q4 31
3.7 Q5 32
3.8 Q6 33
3.9 Q7 34
3.10 Q8 35
3.11 Q9 36
 LIST OF GRAPHS
Graph No. Title Page no.
3.1 Gender 27
3.2 Age 27
3.3 Q1 28
3.4 Q2 29
3.5 Q3 30
3.6 Q4 31
3.7 Q5 32
3.8 Q6 33
3.9 Q7 34
3.10 Q8 35
3.11 Q9 36
CHAPTER 1:

 INTRODUCTION
 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTION OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION
In biology, perception refers to the senses that any organism uses to collect information about its
environment. In consumer behavior, however, perception refers to much more than just the biological
use of our sense organs. It includes the way stimuli are interacted and integrated by the consumer.
Although there are numerous definitions in literature explaining perception from a consumer behavior
perspective, the one used by Walters et al (1989, p. 333) provides particular clarity on the topic:
"The entire process by which an individual becomes aware of the environment and interprets it so that it
will fit into his or her frame of reference.”
Consumer perception can also be defined as a “marketing concept that encompasses a customer‟s
impression, awareness or consciousness about a company or its offerings. Typically, customer
perception is affected by advertising, reviews, public relations, social media, personal experiences,
and other channels.”

1.1.1 THE CONSUMER PERCEPTION PROCESS

Figure 1.1 the Consumer Perception Process

The perception process as displayed in Figure 1.1 consists of five distinct activities. The first activity is
that of exposure to stimuli. The second states that attention to stimuli has to occur. During the third
activity, organization, people organize stimuli so that it can be comprehended and retained. The fourth
activity is that of interpretation of the message. Information is retained during the last activity. As seen
in Figure 1.1, a successful perception process leads to a purchasing and consumption decision.

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  Exposure:
Exposure, the first step of the perception process, occurs when a stimulus comes within the range of our
sensory receptor nerves, ie when stimuli come within the range of one of our senses. Exposure is
therefore simply the minimum requirement of perception. No matter how great a message is, it will not
be perceived unless a person is exposed to the stimulus (Wells et ai, 1989).
Bisschoff (1992) explains that exposure to stimuli is of either an intentional or an accidental nature.
Intentional exposure occurs when an individual is exposed to marketrelated information because of his
own intentional, goal-directed behavior, i.e. it reflects a person's interests, reading habits, information
needs or lifestyle.

Accidental exposure to stimuli occurs when the individual is exposed to intensive marketing campaigns,
such as the messages portrayed by the broadcasting media, billboards, point-of-sale displays in the retail
store and the vast number of magazine and newspaper advertisements. Furthermore, the individual is
also accidently exposed to information such as testimonies from friends or relatives concerning a
specific product. Such testimonies first lead to interest, and then to intentional exposure.

 Attention:
An individual is exposed, whether intentionally or accidentally, to thousands of different marketing
stimuli during a normal living day ranging from thousands of different products in a retail store, .all
differing in packaging, color and design to as many as 1,500 advertisements. From a marketing
perspective attention is of crucial importance, since no matter how often a consumer is exposed to
marketing stimuli, if no attention took place, the message is of no use. Attention to a given stimulus has
taken place only if a consumer notices or attends to the stimulus. If a consumer does not focus on a
stimulus, e.g. an advertisement, although he has been exposed to it, attention did not take place. The
attention process can therefore be viewed as an information filter - a screening mechanism that controls
the quantity and nature of information any individual receives (Aaker et ai, 1987). There are three
different levels in the attention process. The same person may devote different levels of attention to the
same stimulus in different situations. The three levels involved are active search, passive search and
passive attention.

A receiver actually seeks information at the first level of the attention filter, active search. Information
might be gathered from magazines not normally read, or by soliciting the opinions of friends.

At the second level, passive search, a receiver searches for information only from sources to which he is
exposed during the normal course of events. No effort is made to obtain information from sources not
usually exposed to.

At the final level, passive attention, a receiver has little immediate need for information. Although no
conscious effort is made to obtain information, some may nevertheless enter the system.

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  Organization:
Our brains tend to relate incoming sensations to others already in memory, based on some
fundamental organizational principles. These principles derive from Gestalt psychology, a school of
thought that maintains that people interpret meaning from the totality of a set of stimuli rather than from
any individual stimulus. In other words, the concept suggests that “the whole is greater than the sum of
its parts.” By implication, a piecemeal perspective that analyses each component of the stimulus
separately cannot capture the total effect. The Gestalt perspective provides several principles relating to
the way our brains organize stimuli. Three principles are worth elaborating here

The closure principle states that people tend to perceive an incomplete picture as complete. For
example, when we hear only part of a jingle or theme. Marketing strategies that use the closure principle
encourage audience participation, which increases the chance that people will attend to the message.

The principle of similarity tells us that consumers tend to group together objects that share similar
physical characteristics. Green Giant relied on this principle when the company redesigned the
packaging for its line of frozen vegetables. It created a “sea of green” look to unify all of its different
offerings.

The figure-ground principle states that one part of a stimulus will dominate (the figure), and other
parts recede into the background (the ground). The figure is dominant, and the eye goes straight to it.
For example, 70% off could be the eye catcher for a pair of ray ban sunglasses but, on closer inspection,
you might notice that the offer is subject to certain terms and conditions.

 Interpretation:
Mowen (1993, p. 778) defines interpretation as: "A process whereby people draw upon their experience,
memory, and expectations to interpret and attach meaning to a stimulus." Interpretation refers to the
meaning that we assign to sensory stimuli. Just as people differ in terms of the stimuli that they perceive,
the meanings we assign to these stimuli vary as well. Two people can see or hear the same event, but
their interpretation of it can be as different as night and day, depending on what they had expected the
stimulus to be. Interpretation phase is uniquely individual, since it is based upon what individuals expect
to see in the light of their previous experience, on the number of plausible explanations they can
envision, and on their interests and motives at the time perception occurs. The meaning we assign to a
stimulus depends on the schema (i.e., set of beliefs), to which we assign it. Personal inclinations, bias,
and most important of all, expectations of the individual, will influence his interpretation of a stimulus.
Identifying and evoking the correct schema is crucial to many marketing decisions because this
determines what criteria consumers will use to evaluate the product, package, or message.

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  Retention:
People fail to remember all that they are exposed to, and would remember and retain what reinforces
one‟s existing attitudes, opinions, values and beliefs, and expectations. It is believed that an average
consumer remembers only 30 per cent of the information that he sees, reads, and hears, and is exposed
to. Thus, of all the stimuli that people are exposed to, only some are stored and retained, to be retrieved
later on. This is known as selective retention. This is marked by the storage of product or brand
information in short-term and long-term memory. Memory plays a critical role in guiding the
perception process. Memory has a long-term storage component and a short-term active component.
Since short-term memory is the active component, it deals with problem-solving by using newly
acquired information. This, however, can only be true if no knowledge about a certain subject exists, and
that is rarely the case. Long-term memory is activated to help solve the problem by supplying relevant
past stored information. Long-term memory is once again activated to retain the information once the
processing has been completed, and this will remain dormant for future reference purposes.

Even if the total perception process was successful it serves no purpose if the individual is unable to
recall the information when he is required to act on it. The message has failed if a person cannot
remember its content. Retention is therefore the actual storage of processed information in the memory
of the individual. The marketer's goal is to provide positive stimuli in the proceeding stages that
translate into consumers storing the information about the product or brand into long-term memory. It
can be concluded that retention is of a temporal nature, i.e. of short duration. A stimulus with constant
intensity therefore needs repetition if it is to be brought to the consciousness.

 Purchase and consumption decision:

Purchase decision is the thought process that leads a consumer from identifying a need, generating
options, and choosing a specific product and brand. Some purchase decisions are minor, like buying
toothpaste, while other purchases are major, like buying a house. The more major the purchase decision,
the more effort is typically put into the process.

The decision to finally purchase a product or service is not necessarily a part of the perception process
rather an outcome of a successful perception process. After the people are exposed to thousands of
advertisements on a daily basis, they pay attention to only some of these stimuli and then organize them
into their thoughts and then interpret them according to their own values and set of beliefs. After the
process the information that is retained with the people is the one that managed to make the most impact
and effect on the people. The people will be inclined to make the purchase decision based on the
retained information.

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1.1.2 FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER PERCEPTION
Consumer perception is an opinion that the customers have formed through every interaction they‟ve had
with the company, both direct and indirect. In recent years when functional attributes are becoming
increasingly difficult, marketers are focusing their efforts on customer perception, a topic of high
interest in all industries. Following are some of the factors that influence consumer perception:

 Presentation and clientele of the brand:

Presentation of a brand, ranging from the logo, and packaging to the lighting of physical stores creates
an initial image for potential customers. This is the reason why companies invest heavily on the design
and as a consequence the appearance of its company and services, considering that those visuals impact
greatly consumer perception. Demographics of clients using products of certain brands impact the
consumer perceptions of those brands too. This is particularly true for the luxury business, as consumers
of this industry link tightly the brand image to their own identity; therefore buyers very much help
convey the brand message in this case. This explains why high luxury brands are so selective on their
customers.

 Partnership on social media:

Nowadays, brands are not responsible just for themselves and their actions, as they are often held
accountable for what their collaborators and employees do. When it comes to consumer perception, the
way the company‟s partners and influencers behave, their values and statements, as well as their socio-
political views reflect on everything the company does. This is why intense research and strict
guidelines should be applied to ensure that the people with whom the company works share the same
values and respect the customers‟ cultural, social and political views.

 Price:
Price has a complex effect on consumer perception. On the one hand, consumers appreciate a bargain
and are often likely to favor an economically-priced item. On the other, consumers often perceive very
inexpensive items as cheap and discardable, ultimately damaging a consumer's view of a product even
if the product remains the same and the consumer is benefited from a price reduction. Especially
sophisticated or skeptical consumers are even prone to distrust a product that is considerably cheaper
than the alternatives. As a result, price should be part of a comprehensive marketing plan, where even
inexpensive products are depicted as favorable alternatives with similar levels of quality to the
competition, with a price that is somewhat lower but still comparable with other possibilities.

 Quality:
The actual quality of a product is a vital part of a consumer's perception of a good or service. Quality
can describe any attribute in a set of characteristics that satisfy or disappoint a consumer, including
usability, reliability and durability. Marketing can influence a consumer's perception of quality, but, in
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the end, and particularly with non-durable goods; only a consumer's actual experience with a product
will determine his perception of quality. Outside the realm of mass communication, word of mouth
regarding quality also travels very quickly.

 Reputation:
A product's reputation is built up over time and is usually a combination of actual experience with the
product, word-of-mouth recommendations and marketing campaigns that attempt to establish a status
or shared view of the product or brand. A consumer's perception of a product's reputation, moreover,
is not only determined by the product's brand identity and manufacturer but by the whole chain of
distribution. Even if a consumer trusts a product's manufacturer, for example, that consumer may
change his mind about the product upon seeing it available in a retailer he associates with cheap,
defective products.

 Service Quality:
Even in the case of goods that exhibit numerous flaws, excellent service quality can often
overshadow a negative experience with the product itself. If a consumer feels that he receives
exceptional attention when encountering a problem with a product, that consumer is somewhat more
likely to trust the brand or product knowing that the manufacturer or retailer provides a prompt and
effective response to problems. Humans are social animals and their consumer behavior is often
determined by the social relationships that surround a product, including interactions with customer
service representatives.

 Customer reviews
Ninety-three percent of customers read online reviews before purchasing. That means the online reviews
can have a big impact on how prospective customers see the brand. Positive reviews are obviously great,
but taking the time to respond to negative reviews can also improve how customers see the brand. Caring
and empathetic responses show that even when things go wrong (as they often do), the business will be
there for the customer.

 Company values:

Customers want to do business with companies that have similar values to their own. Having company
values that the business adheres to heavily influences the customers‟ perception of the company‟s brand.
For example, Patagonia is known for their support of the environment, and their customers appreciate that
about them. When Patagonia received a $10 million dollar tax cut, they donated the entire amount to
combat climate change, acting in line with their company values. This definitely proved to the customers
and the prospects that the company does not only stand for these values but also are strongly dedicated
and passionate towards it. This helps forming a positive perception in the customers‟ mind.

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1.1.3 PERCEPTUAL DEFENCE

Perceptual defense is defined as “Distortion of information by consumers so that it conforms to their

beliefs and attitudes.” This function operates to protect the individual from threatening or contradictory
stimuli. Schiffman et al (1991) view perceptual defense as a subconscious distortion of stimuli that are
important for the consumer not to see, even though exposure may already have taken place. Therefore,
threatening or otherwise damaging stimuli are less likely to achieve awareness than neutral stimuli at the
same level of exposure. There are two reasons why people apparently feel a need to defend themselves
against information. The two reasons are perceived risk and perceptual overload. Perceived risk deals
with the different kinds of risk associated with a purchasing decision, while perceptual overload holds
that the consumer has a limited capacity to process the variety of stimuli directed at him. Because of the
above, consumers erect perceptual defense barriers, also known as the selective perception process.

 PERCIEVED RISK

Perceived risk is the uncertainty that consumers face when they cannot foresee the consequences of their
purchase decision. Since the consumer constantly needs to make decisions regarding products and
services that best satisfy his needs, and the consequences of such decisions are often uncertain, he faces
some degree of risk when making a purchasing decision.

The conception of perceiving the risk was first transferred from the psychology by Raymond Bauer in
Harvard University; it actually means an uncertainty feeling due to the unexpected purchasing result. It
has two aspects, one is the uncertainty about the purchasing result (whether it will meet the customer‟s
need, the other is the uncertainty about the unsuccessful purchasing behavior). During the purchasing
process, the customers will confront different kinds of risks, some of them can be perceived by
themselves, some of them cannot. . Consumers are influenced by risks that they perceive, whether or not
such risks actually exist. Risk that is not perceived will not influence consumer behavior. So the
perceived risk may be different from the actual risk because the risk cannot influence the buying
decision without knowing it. Though there are so many advantages of online shopping, such as
timesaving, immediate information, and convenience, but people still have certain kind of concern to
keep away from the new shopping pattern. Discovered by Tan‟s research that people feel more risky
shopping online than in the traditional shopping mall. The problem of people preferring not to shop on-
line mostly lies in the risk problem.

There are several kinds of risk associated with a purchasing decision. Some people are more vulnerable
to some kinds of risk than others, and some are more vulnerable to all kinds and experience great
difficulty making up their minds. The degree of risk that consumers perceive and their own tolerance for
risk taking are factors that influence their purchase strategies. The different types of perceived risks are
listed below:

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  Functional: Perceived risks can include the fear and/ or doubt a consumer has that the product
they are buying will fail to perform its intended function. The consumer might be afraid that if
they buy a car, the engine or other parts may malfunction.

 Social - This type of risk pertains to a consumer‟s social status. If a person is of a high or
wealthy social class, they want to buy products that their friends would also buy. For example,
they may decide not to buy a cheap car for fear that their friends would disapprove or that it
might impact their social status among their peers.

 Financial - Every consumer suffers some extent of financial risk. They are afraid that a purchase
might strip them of their income sources at that time or in the future. For example, buying a car
could leave them with little to no money or with loans that will affect their income for the next
few months or even years.

 Physical - An item that could cause bodily harm to a person or their family causes perceived
risk. For example, buying a gun, the gun could accidentally malfunction and cause an accident.
A book, on the other hand, can rarely cause any physical harm.

 Time - If a product breaks or fails a few days after purchase and needs replacement, this is a time
risk. The customer will need to go back to the store and wait in line to have it replaced or
repaired, thus wasting time.

 PERCEPTUAL OVERLOAD

Van der Walt (1991), explains that the second reason why consumers have a need for perceptual barriers
(selective perception), is that they have limited capacities to process all the information directed at them.
Perceptual overload occurs because the mind of the individual fails to comprehend all the sensations,
often of conflicting nature, which bombard one's senses at any given moment. Marketing stimuli
bombarding the senses include an enormous number of variables, all of which compete for the
consumer's attention. Different shapes, sizes, colors and conflicting messages are but a few examples of
the variables.

Van der Walt (1991) concludes that perceptual defense occurs throughout the perception process. Man's
ability to be selective when dealing with information helps him to adjust and make consumer decisions
without undue difficulty. It is understandable that these decisions will not always be completely logical
or rational.

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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
A research objective is a clear, concise, declarative statement, which provides direction to investigate
the variables under the study. The objectives of a research project summarize what is to be achieved by
the study. The objectives of this study are divided into two categories namely:

Primary objective
 To find out if online grocery shopping is being preferred by the customers especially
during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Secondary objective
 To find out the factors that leads the customers to purchase their groceries online.
 To identify the issues faced by the user while online shopping.
 To determine whether online grocery shopping will be beneficial and on what factors.

1.3 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Indian consumers have got addicted to online shopping and enjoy numerous online shopping
features like the rest of the world does. Web-stores are massive in different areas and in virtually
all the divisions. The younger population is the biggest attraction of this industry, and they can
significantly contribute to the growth of online shopping in India (Handa & Gupta, 2014).
Internet shopping is a vast rising technology which will flourish in a highly competitive and
complex world if properly used with assured safety and security for transactions. Given the
increasing youth population, online shopping is bound to expand in a big way in the future
(Verma et al., 2016). Time is a significant problem in online grocery shopping and that online
grocery retailers may gain a competitive advantage through successful time management and that
one of the key reasons for customers to take part in online grocery shopping is the perceived time-
saving aspect of online grocery transactions (Weber & Badenhorst-Weiss, 2016). The key
reason to buy online grocery stores is to save time and effort. A customer's preferences are entirely
different when shopping online and in the physical market groceries (Vasic et al., 2019).

In the retail sector, as far as grocery trade is concerned, customers still give preference to price
and testing, while packaging taste and appearance do not play a major role and even most
customers are aware of the brands available in the markets, but do not display willingness to
switch their brand (Kothari et al., 2016). Female shoppers gave credence to product prices; sales
promotions, on the other hand, male shoppers prefer the brand image of the store and ads (Rao,
2018). Modern retail is preferred more for branded and less for perishable categories.
Interestingly, the lower middle class share of modern grocery retail‟s revenues is largest, and this
share is projected to grow as prices fall and store density increases (Narayan et al., 2015).

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The attitude of consumers towards online grocery shopping in India is influenced by four factors:
Perceived Cost, Perceived Convenience, Perceived Danger and Perceived Enjoyable (Baheti &
Kaushal, 2015). The manner in which online stores apply strategies to improve customer loyalty
influences consumers buying decisions on the electronic marketplace (Pratminingsih et al.,
2013). Consumers are also more concerned about product quality among the numerous fear
factors related to online grocery shopping, though online grocery shopping has less social impact
factors (Kaur, 2016). Customers are happy with their online shopping experiences and positive
attitudes towards them, but there are still many customers who are apprehensive about electronic
purchases and share their personal details (Hanus, 2016). Out of total nontravel B2C e-commerce,
online retail holds significant fifty percent share and its prospects for future growth are extremely
positive (Kalia et al., 2017).

Consumer purchases products from the online shopping website on the basis of factors such as
sales and discounts, product selection available, free home delivery, website user friendliness and
cash payment choice. Customers expect enhancement of the website's user-friendliness in order to
select online as a means of buying grocery items instead of shopping with the conventional
approach (Sathiyaraj et al., 2015). Online grocery offers convenience, ease, privacy and time
savings, but still some housewives and females employed prefer to buy the grocery from physical
stores due to factors such as confidence, negotiating ability, credit facility and self-satisfaction of
testing items tangibly before actual purchase. Female majority chose online grocery because of
Time Saving and Ease of Order (Rao, 2018).

Influence of different factors on online grocery shopping: All variables eServQual, performance,
availability of the method, fulfillment and privacy have a clear positive relationship with the
adoption of online grocery shopping. Both variables of situational causes, antecedent conditions,
temporal context and change in lifestyle also have a positive relationship with the acceptance of
online grocery shopping. However, the preceding states are related only moderately to the
adoption of online grocery shopping, while temporal states and lifestyle changes are weakly
linked to the adoption of online grocery shopping (Muhammad et al., 2016). Online grocery
shopping attitudes are affected by various needs including practical, financial, psychological and
physical benefits of online grocery shopping, which means consumers are worried about the
perceived value of negative consequences when purchasing grocery products online (Prasad &
Raghu, 2018). Acceptance of online grocery stores positively affects the experience of emerging
technology from the viewpoint of all consumer generations (Bauerova, 2019).

[Link], [Link] (2015), in their study, the author‟s introduce that, the increasing use of
internet by the younger generation in India provides an emerging prospects for online retailers.
The main objective of their study is to find out the preference of the consumers regarding by the
consumer while online shopping. The author collected the primary data using structured
questionnaire by survey method from 200 respondents.

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The study by White, Gregory K. Manning, Barbara J (2001) examines the factors motivating
consumers' purchases of specialty food and beverage products via the Internet. While convenience
is often cited as a motivating factor, price and product selection have also been identified. This
study considered convenience in terms of time, space, and effort. It also identifies several specific
sub-categories for price and products. Among respondents who had made a recent online
purchase, convenience-related issues were most frequently cited as being relevant to the purchase
decision. Product-related factors were important for nearly one-third of the respondents. Price was
of relatively little importance.

The study “The Missing Element in Online Purchasing Expenditures” by Yong-Mi Kim(2011)
introduces two knowledge-related constructs (1.e, consumer competency and product knowledge)
into online purchasing expenditures and then analyses variables (1.e., convenience, trust, and
privacy) that have been discussed in existing literature in order to investigate how knowledge
plays out in the online purchasing context. The findings, derived from the responses of 124 survey
participants, show that consumer competency is the focal element of online expenditures. While
convenient service is still one of the most important factors, trust and privacy do not directly
impact online expenditures. It is interpreted that competent consumers, who are already
determined to purchase something online, are able to locate trustworthy sites and make purchases
from those sites; consequently, these issues that are traditionally considered important do not
necessarily dissuade consumers' online expenditures, but may affect individual web sites. This
study shows that consumers' knowledge about technology and the Web are the main determining
factors for online purchasing expenditures.

The article by Seybold, Patricia B (2001) talked about how many companies have become adept
at the art of customer relationship management. They've collected mountains of data on
preferences and behavior, divided buyers into ever-finer segments, and refined their products,
services, and marketing pitches. But all too often those efforts are too narrow--they concentrate
only on the points where the customer comes into contact with the company. Few businesses have
bothered to look at what the author calls the customer scenario-the broad context in which
customers select, buy, and use products and services. As a result, consultant Patricia Seybold
maintains, they've routinely missed chances to deepen loyalty and expand sales. In this article, the
author shows how effective three very different companies have been at using customer scenarios
as the centerpiece of their marketing plans. By developing a customer scenario that describes how
people actually shop for groceries, Tesco learned the importance of decentralizing its Web
shopping site and how the extra costs of decentralization could be outweighed by the higher profit
margins online customers generate It has used the Web to create a better way to share their
drawings and manage their projects Seybold lays out the steps managers can take to develop their
own customer scenarios.

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1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLGY

What is research: Research comprises "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to
increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society and the use of
this stock of knowledge to devise new applications. It is used to establish or confirm facts,
reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing problems, support theorem, or develop
new theories. A research project may also be an expansion on past work in the field to test the
validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments research may replicate elements of prior
projects, or the project as a whole. The primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied
research) are documentation discovery, interpretation or the research and development (R&D) of
methods and system for the advancement of human knowledge Approaches to research depend on
epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and science. There
are several forms of research scientific, humanities, artistic, economic, social business, marketing,
practitioner research.

Research methodology is the specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process,
and analyze information about a topic. It defines the purpose of the research, how it proceeds, how
to measure progress and what constitute success with respect to the objectives determined for
carrying out the research study. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is
done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in
studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.

 Descriptive research is followed in this research. It includes surveys and fact finding
enquiries of different kinds. It is a fact- finding investigation with adequate interpretation.
It is the simplest type of research, and is more specific than an exploratory study, as
it focuses on particular aspects of the problem being studied, so research design used
for this project was descriptive.

 Sample size of 50 has been taken. The area of research is Delhi, NCR.

 Sampling technique: The simple random sampling method was used for the primary data
collection. Simple random sampling is the basic sampling technique where we select a
group of subjects (a sample) for study from a larger group (a population). Each individual
is chosen entirely by chance and each member of the population has an equal chance of
being included in the sample. Every possible sample of a given size has the same chance of
selection; i.e. each member of the population is equally to be chosen stage in the sampling
process. There are two types of random sampling techniques. They are Probability
sampling and Non-Probability sampling. Nonprobability sampling has been adopted in this
study.
12
 Non-probability sampling
Non-probability sampling procedure, which does not afford any basis for estimating the
probability that each item in the population has been include in the sample.

 Data collection is done in the following two ways:

PRIMARY DATA: It is first-hand information collected by the surveyor. The data so
collected are pure and original and collected for a specific purpose. They have never
undergone any statistical treatment before. Survey method of data collection was used in
this research. The primary data were collected using structured questionnaire.
SECONDARY DATA: They are collected and published already. They can be used as a
source of data and used by surveyors to collect data from and conduct the analysis.
Secondary data is not original it is collected by somebody else for some other purpose.
Various websites have been referred to for collecting data regarding the company and
about the topic ―customer satisfaction.

1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The research is confined to Delhi and does not necessarily shows a pattern applicable to
the whole of country.
 In a rapidly changing industry, analysis on one day or in one segment can change very
quickly the environmental changes are vital to be considered in order to assimilate the
findings.
 The time for preparing the project report was limited.
 Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, data was collected through online
questionnaires and chats. Face-to-face interaction with the respondents could not take
place.
 Some respondents could be reluctant or unbothered in giving accurate information which
can affect the validity of the responses.
 The unorganized sector of local grocery shops which might be providing home delivery is
not included in the scope of this research. This study is confined to only well-established
online grocery stores.
 This research only involves the consumer perception towards online grocery shopping and
not the dealers, wholesalers or retailers‟ perception towards online shopping which acts as
an agent to the online retail industry to support its business operations.

13
CHAPTER 2:
 PROFILE OF THE INDUSTRY
 PRODUCT RANGE
 MAJOR COMPANIES IN THE INDUSTRY
2.1 PROFILE OF THE INDUSTRY

Many companies have started using the Internet with the aim of cutting marketing costs, thereby
reducing the price of their products and services in order to stay ahead in highly competitive
markets. Companies also use the Internet to convey communicates and disseminate information,
to sell the product, to take feedback and also to conduct satisfaction surveys with customers.
Customers use the Internet not only to buy the product online, but also to compare prices, product
features and after sale service facilities the will receive if they purchase the product from a
particular store. Many experts are optimistic about the prospect of online business. In addition to
the tremendous potential of the E-commerce market, the Internet provides a unique opportunity
for companies to more efficiently reach existing and potential customers. Although most of the
revenue of online transactions comes from business-to-business commerce, the practitioners of
business-to-consumer commerce should not lose confidence .It has been more than a decade since
business-to-consumer E-commerce first evolved. Scholars and practitioners of electronic
commerce constantly strive to gain an improved insight into consumer behavior in cyberspace.

2.1.1 PRE-COVID

Earlier there existed only mom and pop stores, street vendors and street hawkers, from whom the
consumers have been shopping for food and grocery consumption based on their demographic profile
which is termed as unorganized sector accounting for around 97% in India Later on, with liberalization
and foreign direct investment into the retail sector in India paved the way for evolution of organized
retail formats in food and grocery retail sector creeped in, offering plenty of commodity/product
offerings along with service orientation and also emphasizing on certain physical determinants of the
retail store format such as ambience, better services, etc. Various retail stores such as hypermarket,
supermarkets, malls, discount stores, malls have emerged which serve the consumers with an enjoyable
experience/or a fun filled family day out rather than just getting into a particular store, just pick up what
you need and then leave. Therefore, most of the retailers are focusing on making the consumer trip to an
organized retail store as a personalized experience and an enjoyable one by helping them save money
and time in a store. There was a time when the only means to buy groceries was from brick & mortar
stores or roadside peddlers and hawkers. From the time of stepping outside of home to the time when
one can buy from home just at the tip of the hand, the Indian Grocery Market has enlarged. In the year
2018, online F&G i.e. Food and Grocery stood at approximately $1 Billion and grew at almost 110%
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in its initial years of penetration from 2014 to 2018. The
online F&G market in India as of CY19 accounts for almost 0.2% of the overall market share. It is
expected to reach 1.2% and touch a $10.5 Billion by the year 2023.

However, the offline F&G dominates the market and holds the maximum share but the dynamics of this
industry are changing drastically. The online F&G is growing by almost 25-30% rate and the anticipated
CAGR for it is 66% from 2018-23.

14
2.1.2 POST-COVID

The India online grocery market is primarily driven by rapid urbanization, along with significant
growth in the e-commerce industry. In line with this, there is increasing acceptance for online
grocery platforms in India, owing to the rising consumer awareness regarding the associated
convenience, along with increasing digital literacy and improved internet accessibility across the
country. Furthermore, in light of the nationwide response to the coronavi rus (COVID-19)
pandemic, there has been a great shift in consumers‟ shopping habits, which is also providing a
boost to the market growth. Vendors are offering contactless deliveries of essential products and
adopting digital payment methods to minimize the spread of the disease. Additionally, service
providers are adopting various innovative business models, such as express or slotted delivery
and subscription or on-demand delivery models that are also creating a positive outlook for the
market. Other factors including attractive discounts offered by these service portals, are
contributing to the market growth further. The market is projected to witness significant growth in
the years to come. Initiatives such as no contact delivery and online payment have attracted consumers
toward buying their regular grocery from several online platforms, like Amazon, BigBasket, Grofers,
and many more. With the safety concerns encircling coronavirus and a large section of the citizens
working from home, the dependence of consumers on the online platform has increased significantly.
This, in turn, has provided several growth avenues to the market. The establishment of the new normal
in India has pushed every sector to adapt and embrace ways that prove effective on hygiene as well as
safety factors. People need to follow social distancing at public places and even at retail grocery stores,
which takes a lot of their time. On the contrary, consumers realized that online grocery shopping, along
with contactless delivery, not only saves time but is also safe. Moreover, individuals working from home
are trying their best to balance their work and life and are finding it convenient to order their groceries
online with a few clicks from their handheld devices. The market is also expected to be supported by the
declining data tariffs and availability of cheaper smartphones. The online grocery market in India is
being propelled by the ever-increasing internet penetration in the country, along with an upsurge in
digital awareness. With the growing access to smartphones and low data costs, consumers now prefer an
Omni channel shopping experience. With the government promoting the digital economy framework
and digital literacy, the online grocery market in India is likely to witness a further impetus in its growth.
The industry is expected to be driven by the consumers who stay in Tier-I cities, such as Bangalore,
Chennai, Mumbai, and Delhi, who are more adaptable to online shopping due to the availability of high-
speed internet, better adaptability to mobile devices, and the logistical simplicity. The government is
unlocking things in a stepwise manner; hence the concerns related to the supply chain and workforce is
improving to a greater extent. Thus, factors like convenience, smart shopping, and hygiene concerns are
making online grocery shopping the better choice for consumers.

Amidst the pandemic, consumers feared that they could face lockdown regulations at any point in time,
therefore they have been stocking up on these essentials. The breakfast and dairy segment is expected to
expand at a growth rate of 37.6% over the forecast period. This is attributed to the growing demand for
15
dairy products, such as yogurt, milk, and curd. These products are a daily necessity for people and have
a short lifespan as compared to other products. Furthermore, these products cannot be stockpiled for a
longer period and need to be consumed within a specific time.

2.1.3 KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF ONLINE GROCERY

INDUSTRY
 Changes in Consumers Purchasing Patterns: The changing behavioral patterns in consumers
purchasing habits are one of the most influential factors that have encouraged the „Online
Grocery Market‟. With the rising e-commerce, consumers are more inclined towards purchasing
online at the tip of the palm. The online transaction value of a retail shopper buying at-least once
in a month is between Rs.900-1200. It is a commonly notable habit nowadays where an
individual with a free time is mostly scrolling through his/her social media accounts or other
app-based services offered online.

 Convenience: Taking out time from a busy work schedule in office along with tiring days calls
for much more suitable and convenient ways of living. Online purchasing is one such means,
which eases one‟s effort and offers a hassle-free purchasing from anywhere and at any time.

 Offline Players entering App-Based Online Space: On one hand where online purchasing is
seen as a new way of living some others are facing a high competition and business model threat
from the same. Giant offline store-based retailers like D-Mart and Reliance, are now extending
their operations from brick & mortar supermarkets to online-based selling websites. This implies
that the how much big competition and opportunity is this online retail industry.

 Business Model: In order to succeed must have a strategically proven and tested business model
that forms a strong base for the business idea. Selling groceries online is an idea which is
supported by two types of business models- Marketplace Model and Inventory-led Model.

 Internet Penetration: The average rate of using Internet per user is increasing at an exponential
rate. With JIO‟s price disruption the price for using Internet went down drastically and so the
usage of Internet went up within last few years. Telecom operators are introducing more cheap
plans for its users, which have increased the user dependency on Internet and related activities.
Indirectly this led to benefitting a large number of e-commerce players. Due to low-cost Internet,
its accessibility among lower income level groups also increased thereby creating a larger
customer base for online-based businesses.

 Heavy Discounts and Offers: In order to attract a large number of customers these online
players offer huge discounts and cash back schemes. Selling at high discounts calls for the ability
16
 to absorb losses as well. Being backed up by large private equity investors like Softbank backed
Big-Basket, these players are well funded and stable financially, thus having an added advantage.

 Low Cost of Establishment: The biggest expenditure for an offline store is the cost of
establishing the store, which demands a suitable location, rental cost, construction cost (for self-
owned outlets), staff salary, maintenance and other expenses. While on the contrary, an online
store saves on all these costs.

 No-Geographical Barriers: A brick & mortar outlet calls for physical location and has a
limitation of serving that area only an online store has no barriers of servicing a specific area.
Although it calls for a strong supply chain to reach interiors but this has been overcome by the
online operators.

 Comparisons: Many online stores have an invaluable feature that makes the lives of countless
customers a hundred times simpler – the feature of price comparison. Online shopping does not
compel you to remember how much more expensive the products are in store A versus store B.
All the products can be compared while being on the device‟s screen.

 Other Benefits: No time bound purchasing as apps are working 24×7. A wide variety of
products are available. Certain players like Big-Basket offer specific delivery time in order to
confirm the availability of the customer at the time of delivery and enhance consumer
experience. Websites have a customer feedback on the product, which gives a much realistic
view before purchase.

2.1.4 DRAWBACKS OF ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING

 No Physical Examination: Maybe a customer has his own particular way of checking if the
product is up to the mark or not, shopping online won‟t allow checking the quality of the
products however companies will always try to deliver products to a high standard.

 Problems in Delivery: The customer has to be home when the groceries arrive, or there is a
risk of perishables spoiling. Some online services have pick-up locations inside the store. Others
allow picking up the groceries at a set location. The customer sometimes has to make special
provisions to accommodate to the delivery.

 Price: The customer has to pay a premium when they let someone else do the legwork for
them. Between higher-priced items, delivery fees, fuel surcharges and the inability to bargain
shop, online services can take a substantial bite out of the grocery budget.

17
  Frauds in online shopping: Many people are attracted by great offers which seem too good
to be true. Usually, websites which sell fake products instead of the genuine article do not accept
cash on delivery and request customers to make an online payment. There are many cases of
cybercrime where customers debit or credit cards details are misused to make fraudulent
transactions.

2.1.5 MODELS OF E-COMMERCE

 Business-to-Business (B2B):

B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is the type of e-commerce
that deals with relationships between and among businesses. About 80% of e-commerce is of this type,
and most experts predict that B2B ecommerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment. Eg:
[Link], [Link], [Link], etc.

 Business-to-consumer (B2C):

Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consumers, involves

customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer
products) or information goods (or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software, or
e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic network. It is the second
largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be traced to online retailing (or e-tailing).
Thus, the more common B2C business models are the online retailing companies. Eg:[Link]
[Link], [Link], etc.

 Business-to-Government (B2G):

Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce between companies and

the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and
other government-related operations. This kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector
assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector
has the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective. Web-based purchasing policies
increase the transparency of the procurement process (and reduce the risk of irregularities). To date,
however, the size of the B2G ecommerce market as a component of total e-commerce is insignificant, as
government e-procurement systems remain undeveloped.

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  Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C):

Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between private individuals or

consumers. This type of e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces and
online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can bid for what they want
from among multiple suppliers. It perhaps has the greatest potential for developing new markets. Online
auction site eBay, Yahoo! Auctions are a couple of examples of C2C websites.

 M-commerce:

M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless
technology-i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants
(PDAs).Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods
and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks
with the help of an electronic device.

2.1.6 MOBILE COMMERCE IN INDIA

Mobile is growing in India with more than 800 million subscribers across the country. The advancement
in terms of adoption of smart phones with 3G enabled services is happening at a rapid pace. This of
course has opened up the gates to mobile advertising, mobile application development and mobile
commerce in India. According to Buzz City‟s latest report, India is top performing mobile advertising
region in the whole of Asia. The growth in mobile advertising globally is tremendous with ads served on
a year-on-year growth of 139%. With respect to some number crunching, more than 126 billion ads were
served in 2011, compared with 52 billion in 2010. In India, Mobile Commerce is still in the development
phase as the use of mobile phones for carrying out transactions is very limited. However, the
development is taking place at a nice speed and in the coming years, Mobile Commerce is most likely to
make its presence feel as companies and businesses have started understanding the benefits of Mobile
Commerce. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest have all introduced "buy
buttons" that let shoppers make purchases without having to leave the platform. And many retailers have
introduced one-click checkout to their sites. This method requires shoppers to enter their payment
information once, and then they can use the one-click option to make purchases without having to re-
enter it. As app usage continues to grow, it will be a major contributor to sales growth, especially with
Millennials and Gen Zers holding massive spending power. These tech-savvy consumers have the ability
to boost volume, as they're more likely to do a wider share of shopping on their smartphones.

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2.2 PRODUCT RANGE

 The Dry Food Grocery category as a whole contributes 34.7 per cent to the total food market in
India. The category includes cereals, grains and related products; grams and its products;
pulses and its products; sugar in all forms; edible oils; and dry fruits. The large market size of the
category, highest among all food groups, is attributed to the fact that the products that fall in this
category are consumed in raw as well as semi-prepared form. India's DFG market is worth Rs
8,00,000 crore (2014) and has grown at a CAGR of 11 per cent over the last decade. With this
growth rate, the category is all set to grow rapidly, thus becoming almost double of what it is
today.

 Milk and Dairy foods constitute the second-highest share, after Dry Food Grocery, among all
the seven F&G categories. The segment holds about 16 per cent of the overall food market in
India. The country is the largest producer of milk in the world and has a substantially large
bovine population with about 118 million milk-producing animals. India contributes 16 per cent
of the world's milk production followed by USA with 12 per cent contribution. Milk and related
dairy products are worth Rs 3,62,000 crore market and have grown at a CAGR of 12-14 per cent
during the last decade. The market was estimated to cross Rs 8,00,000 crore by 2020. About 50
per cent of India's dairy products market lies with rural consumers and the remaining 42 per cent
with urban consumers.

 Spices category is another growth leader in the food industry. The market for spices was
estimated at Rs 1,50,000 crore and has grown at a CAGR of 13 per cent over the last decade cent
By 2020, the market has grown twice as big as its past size with the same growth rate. In other
words, about Rs 6,000 crore is estimated to be the branded market in spices. India is estimated to
consume over 5 million tonnes of spices annually. This consumption is almost 90 per cent of all
spices produced in the country. Ginger- garlic, dry chillies and turmeric together contribute 44
per cent to 48 per cent of total spices in India. This consumption share is not much varied in rural
and urban markets.

 Fresh Produce market in India is about Rs 3,90,000 crore and has been growing at a CAGR of
14 per cent since the last 8-10 years. At the same growth rate, the category is worth Rs 8,50,000
crore as of 2020 riding on the wave of healthy food habits, which demands significant portion of
fresh produce in daily diet. Fresh produce covers just two broad segments of fruits and
vegetables. Among the two, 70 per cent is contributed by vegetables alone. Although fruits are a
growing segment, they contribute a current share of just 30 per cent, which translates to Rs
1,17,000 crore worth of market. Out of the total fresh produce market of Rs 3,90,000 crore, 60
per cent is rural market. Again, this has three-fourths of the market occupied by vegetables. As
mentioned earlier, fruits form the urban-centric market while vegetables are comparatively a
national market.

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 Beverages category contributes 8-9 per cent to the total F&G market in India. By far, tea is the
largest segment of beverages in India ruling over 79 per cent of the market. The market is
growing at 20-23 per cent and has crossed the past market size by more than three times as of
2020. The average monthly per capita spend on tea is Rs 106 at present. Together with tea,
coffee is another strong beverage market. The market for coffee is growing at 20 per cent and
will be triple its present size in the next 4-5 years. There are various types of coffee in the
market, which come at all relevant price-points. The overall coffee market, though, is very small
in comparison to tea market but the southern region alone contributes 73 per cent of the total
coffee market. This is followed by the western region with 14 per cent share. The monthly per
capita consumption for coffee in the southern region is Rs 17 against the national average of Rs
5.

Packaged drinking and flavored water is the smallest segment in beverages market. The
segment, which is growing at a healthy rate, is worth Rs 6,000–7,000 crore as of 2020. The
market is urban-centric with 85 per cent share. Within this market share, half of it lies in the
eastern region of the country whereas western region has the lowest consumption. The monthly
per capita consumption is Rs 4 in the overall urban market but the urban eastern region has a
higher consumption figure, which is three times higher at Rs 12.

About four per cent of the total beverages market is formed of the juices segment. The segment
is growing at 20–25 per cent and is expected to grow almost four times bigger in the next five
years. Today, Indians are spending at an average just Rs 6 per month on juices, which is less than
what they are spending on other beverages.

The culture of eating out has given birth to meal and soft drink combos, which Indian
consumers are savoring to the fullest. The segment has made some significant achievements and
penetration in rural areas is definitely one of them. Rural areas account for 75 per cent sales of
PET bottles. Public consumption accounts for almost 80 per cent of the total sale of soft drinks
and household consumption accounts for the remaining 20 per cent of the sales.

 Other Processed Foods category market is over Rs 2,00,000 crore and is strongly growing at a
CAGR of over 20 per cent. Biscuits market is growing at 20-23 per cent and has crossed the past
size of total market as of 2020. At present, 46 per cent of biscuits market lies with urban
consumers using the products. In this urban market, the western region alone contributes 31 per
cent. It is estimated that the ketchup market is worth Rs 220 crore in India. Namkeens &
Snacks segment can be truly and aptly defined as „Indian‟ segment. The constituting products
cover thousands of snack items manufactured in traditional as well as modern set up. Industry
reports attribute the branded namkeen market segment to hold 40 per cent of total salted snacks
market in India.

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2.3 MAJOR COMPANIES IN THE INDUSTRY

 BIG BASKET:
Headquarter- Bangalore

Founders- V.S. Sudhakar, Hari Menon, V.S. Ramesh, Vipul Parekh & Abhinay Choudhari

Industry- E-commerce

Founded- 2011

Website- [Link]

BigBasket is into delivering everyday cooking essentials or grocery which includes more than
18,000citems from bread. Fruits and vegetables to laundry detergent for their customers to shop from
and get it delivered at their doorstep. Their target motive is to enable the ease of doing grocery shopping
online to avoid traffic and the drudgery of supermarket runs. To explore new opportunities, the company
has also launched 3 new businesses BB Daily, BB Instant and BB Beauty.

BB Daily is a subscription based service that allows customers to order milk and fresh groceries.
Customers have to place the order before 10 PM, and get the goods delivered with 5AM - 7AM the next
day.

BB Instant is BigBasket's unmanned vending machines that are mostly available in corporate offices,
tech parks, and apartment buildings in Tier I cities.

While BB Beauty that allows the consumers to choose from a wide range of beauty and personal care
products and order online

Prior to BigBasket, the founders also founded [Link], an online platform that sold books, toys,
and groceries in the year 1999. Fabmart was sold to a grocery chain in 2006. BigBasket CEO Hari
Menon comes with a vast experience in diverse fields. Prior to Big Basket Mr Menon was the CEO of
Indiaskills, the Vocational Education joint venture of Manipal Group with City & Guilds, UK. Alumni
of BITS Pilani, Hari Menon also worked as the Country Head at Planetasia, one of India‟s first Internet
services businesses. BigBasket co-founder V S Sudhakar was the CEO of Planetasia. He has vast
experience of working in the IT sector. V.S. Ramesh is the Head of Logistics & Supply Chain at
BigBasket. An Electronics Engineering graduate from Karnataka University, V.S. Ramesh has over 21
years of experience in the Indian Navy handling Operations and Logistics. Vipul Parekh is the Head of
Finance & Marketing at BigBasket. Vipul is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore. Abhinay Choudhari is the
Head of New Initiatives at BigBasket. Abhinay is an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus. Besides working with
leading IT companies like iGATE & Infosys, Abhinay also founded [Link], one of India's
first online fashion retail stores.

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  GROFERS:
Headquarter- Gurugram, India

Founders- Saurabh Kumar, Albinder Dhindsa

Industry- E-commerce

Founded- 2013

Website- [Link]

The Gurugram based Indian on-demand online grocery delivery service Grofers was founded in the year
2013. This e-commerce startup platform provides a variety of daily needs products ranging
from groceries, bakery items, baby care items and many more to its customers.

From the mobile application of Grofers, the customers can buy and order their products at a scheduled
time and the Grofers employees deliver these items to the customers. Currently, the company operates in
28 cities in India.

Albinder after his graduation worked as a transportation analyst at URS Company in the USA. While
working he met Saurabh Kumar and kept in touch with him with absolutely no intentions of any
entrepreneurial motives. Both Albinder and Saurabh found that there was a huge gap in the delivery
industry. They both thought to tap the opportunity as it was the time when many startups were emerging.
They felt the need to sort the unorganized hyperlocal space in the transaction made between merchants
and consumers. That is when they started to build a base for their startup. Their idea was to provide a
one-stop solution for the customers' local delivery needs by having an on-demand pickup and drop
services. This was to facilitate the logistics from the shops around their locality like grocery stores,
medical stores, and restaurants for the consumers. Initially, both of them also facilitated the delivery of
groceries for customers from the neighborhood stores.

Grofers work on a marketplace business model and might also be referred to as the Hyper-Local on-
demand logistics system. It aims to replace the need of consumers traveling to the local shops to buy
consumer goods rather than want them to order online. This startup does not own any grocery stores or
warehouses. It just partners with the local grocery shops in the city and then sends their delivery boys to
pick the items ordered by the consumers from these stores. They accept orders from their mobile
application or the website. This Tie-up system helps the local grocery shop owners get more orders and
also Grofers make a profit from these orders as the company charges some commission. Grofers has
tied up with the local shop owners and merchants for grocery and daily needs goods in the local areas.
Grofers charges these merchants some commission on these orders. The commission ranges from 8% to
15% when the orders are below 700 and charges 12% to 15% when the orders are below 1000. Grofers
also charge a delivery fee when the order is below the amount of INR 250.

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  NATURE’S BASKET:
Headquarter- Mumbai, India

Founders- Narender Bist

Industry- E-commerce

Founded- 2005

Website- [Link]

Nature's Basket is India's pioneering food destination present through physical retail stores, online portal
and a mobile application. Their footprint currently extends to over 36 neighborhood convenience stores
in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore with a diverse product portfolio ranging from fresh and vegetables, fish
and meat, fruits, artisanal breads, FMCG and staples. Their aim is to redefine India's freshest and finest
food experience for our customers. Be it the freshest fruits & vegetables, the finest meats, wide array of
cheese, irresistible bakery products and more, for them, the customers' needs come first and to serve
them better and offer the best in terms of quality, benefits, flavor and taste they have grown and nurtured
the brand over the years. Healthy Alternatives, L'Exclusif and Nature's range of their brands, each
provide a distinct offering to cater to the discerning palate of the Indian consumer.

Nature's Basket has three brands under its name for exotic and organic produce:
3 L'Exclusif : exotic products such as international gourmet, nuts, conserves, savories, digestives,
chocolates, ice creams
4 Healthy Alternatives : organic and health-oriented food such as quinoa, gluten-free pasta, multi-
grain atta (flour), pulses, roasted seed mixes. Twinkle Khanna launched the Nature's Basket Healthy
Alternatives brand in Mumbai on 27 September 2016.
5 Nature's : A range of dry fruits, spices, eggs, vegetables, rice, pulses, rice

Nature's Basket which was earlier a part of Godrej Group has been acquired by RP Sanjiv Goenka
Group's retail flagship Spencer's Retail in May 2019. Nature's Basket was founded in 2005 as a "world
food store" and now operates 31 physical stores in cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata.
The retail chain sells fresh vegetables, fruits, cold cuts, meats, cheese, organic foods and dairy products.
It also operates as an online grocery store and mobile app platform which caters to 125 cities across
India.
Devendra Chawla is the CEO & Tanmay Kumar is the CFO of Natures Basket. Nature's Basket acquired
Mumbai-based online grocery store [Link] in 2015 to strengthen its online presence across 125
cities in India. The company was acquired by Spencer's Retail Ltd from Godrej Group in May 2019 in
an all cash deal. The acquisition proved complementary across a number of fronts. The acquisition
helped Spencer‟s Retail expand its retail presence in Western India, a region for potential business
growth. Natures Basket retained its brand, providing Spencer‟s with a market flanking opportunity.

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  JIO MART:
Headquarter- Navi Mumbai, India

Founders- Mukesh Ambani

Industry- E-commerce

Founded- 2010

Website- [Link]

JioMart is an Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, started
as a joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms. The company initially focused on online
groceries sales before expanding into other product categories such as fashion, home essentials, and
lifestyle products. The platform was soft-launched in December 2019. In May 2020, JioMart was
launched in 200 cities and towns in India. Within a few days of its launch, the JioMart application
crossed 1 million downloads. Reliance Retail Ltd‟s new e-commerce venture JioMart is launched with
the tagline “Desh ki Dukan”.

On the platform, customers can make payments online with a choice of multiple hassle free payment
options, including Debit card, Credit card, Net banking, Loyalty points, e-wallets, COD etc. JioMart
offers a wide range of products in grocery, including fresh fruits and vegetables, groceries, snacks,
beverages, home & household essentials, beauty & hygiene and baby care. It assures great quality
products, while also trying to ensure that the food reaches from the farm to consumers‟ tables with the
minimum delay possible. It has recently started offering apparels to customers. Reliance Retail is not
building a native warehouse, rather they are building JioMart on an online-to-offline marketplace under
which it will source grocery items from nearby merchants, allowing offline retailers to cater to online-
focused customers. In order to make the system work, Reliance Retail will equip the local grocers with
points of sale terminals, low interest working capital, inventory management skills and GST compliance.
JioMart wasn‟t an overnight expedition of Mukesh Ambani but a well-assessed move with the sole
motive of capturing the highly sought-after e-commerce segment. Mukesh Ambani already has a
formidable customer base in the retail sector with Reliance Fresh that functions successfully on the
brick-and-mortar model. His ambitious project emulates his desire to compete with global e-commerce
giants such as Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.

When Jio entered the telecom segment, it stirred a revolution and turned the tables. Big shots like Airtel
and Vodafone who dominated for years were sent tumbling. A potential revolution could be on the cards
again because of Reliance's JioMart.

25
  FLIPKART SUPERMART:

Headquarter- Bangalore, India

Founders- Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal

Industry- E-commerce

Founded- 2017

Website- [Link]

Flipkart has launched its grocery business arm “Supermart” in November 2017. Its portfolio includes
stables, FMCG products and private labels. It is present in 5 cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad,
New Delhi and Mumbai) as of now. It is likely to expand its operations across India. Its strengths are
established e-commerce network, huge capital and existing customer base of its retail business. But this
was not Flipkart‟s first foray into grocery. In October 2015, Flipkart launched its own grocery
delivery arm, “Nearby”, only to shut it down in February the following year. At that time, the
company claimed that Flipkart Nearby was piloted in select areas of Bengaluru as a test
for understanding efficiencies and operations of the hyper local business. The company had then said
that the project had run its course and learning from that pilot would be used for future operations.

“Buy now pay later” is a feature of “Supermart” where customers can buy products without paying
immediately. The total amount should be paid before 10th of next month. “Open box delivery” is a
feature where the products are delivered in an open box. Customers can see the products, check the
quality and if some individual items are not of good quality, they can be returned to the delivery person.

Built from scratch to cater to grocery-specific user needs, and hinging on principles of Quality,
Savings, and Convenience, Flipkart Supermart offers bigger discounts compared to any store,
delivery at doorstep at a preferred time slot, and products with freshness guarantee and „Best before
Date‟ present for each product on the display page. Further, it provides a grocery native shopping
experience that is tailor made for helping users buy multiple items seamlessly, navigate in an aisle
shopping like experience and get direct access to offers, quick buys and top deals. “Grocery shopping
is a mundane chore in any home, despite its outsized impact on a household‟s budget. And it remains
an unsolved e-commerce market, despite its importance to consumers and to the economy. With
Flipkart Supermart we have solved for problems of assured quality, savings, and convenience to
create an unmatched offering. The feedback has been phenomenal. Customers who have tried it are
absolutely delighted and have kept coming back. We‟re now taking it wider and plan to expand our
reach and scale rapidly over the coming months,” said Manish Kumar, Head of Groceries at Flipkart.

26
CHAPTER 3:
 ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION OF DATA
3. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

 GENDER
Male Female Total
20 30 50
TABLE 3.1 Frequency Table (Gender)

Gender

Male
40%

Female
60%

GRAPH 3.1 Gender

 AGE

18-24 24-30 30 & above Total

13 15 22 50

TABLE 3.2 Frequency Table (Age)

Age

18-24
30 & above 26%
44%
25-30
30%

GRAPH 3.2 AGE

27
 Q1. How much money do you spend online on groceries every month? (In rupees)

[Link]. Response Number of Percentage of

respondents respondents
1 500-1000 6 12%
2 1000-3000 9 18%
3 3000-5000 25 50%
4 Above 5000 10 20%
TOTAL 50 100%
TABLE 3.3 Q1

Money spent on grocery monthly (In

ruppees)

Above 5000 500-1000

20% 12%
1000-3000
18%

3000-5000
50%

GRAPH 3.3 Q1

The data suggests that 12% of the people spend only 500-1000rs monthly on grocery and related items,
while 18% of the people spend 1000-3000rs, 20% of the people spend above 5000rs and majority of the
people spend 3000-5000rs monthly on their grocery.

This data indicates that people are willing to pay a good amount of price for their daily essential items
and everything that falls under the category of grocery.

28
Q2. When do you feel the need to shop online for groceries?
(Respondents may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%)

S. No. Response No. of responses Percentage of

responses
1 When I need home delivery 30 60%
2 When I want something unique and special 15 30%
3 When I need to compare products or prices 10 20%
4 When I don't have the time to physically shop 18 36%
TOTAL 73 146%
TABLE 3.4 Q2

Reasons for shopping online

35

30

25

20

15 60%

10
36%
30%
5 20%

0
When I need home When I want something When I need to When I don't have the
delivery unique and special compare products or time to physically shop
prices

GRAPH 3.4 Q2

The data suggests that the major factor that serves as the reason for people to shop online is “when I
need home delivery” (60%), followed by the reason “when I don‟t have time to physically shop” (36%),
then another following reason was “when I want something unique and special” (30%), followed by the
least popular reason “when I need to compare products or prices” (20%).

The data indicates that most popular reason for people to shop online is when they need home delivery
this could be mainly because of the ongoing pandemic where people are being encouraged to follow
covid appropriate behavior which includes being at home and going out only if it is necessary. Home
delivery allows the people to acquire the necessary goods that they need without leaving their home

29
Q3. What features of online grocery shopping websites/ applications attracts you?
(Respondents may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%)

S. No. Response No. of responses Percentage of responses

1 The design of website/ application 4 8%
2 Discounts offered 28 56%
3 Advertisements 4 8%
4 Variety of products 31 62%
5 Value for money 23 46%
TOTAL 90 180%
TABLE 3.5 Q3

Online shopping attraction factors

35

30

25

20

15 62%
56%
46%
10

5
8% 8%
0
The design of Discounts offered Advertisements Variety of products Value for money
website/application

GRAPH 3.5 Q3

The data suggests that the most popular feature that attracts the people to shop online is the “variety of
products” (62%), closely followed by “discounts offered” (56%), then followed by “value for money”
(46%) and the least popular feature that attracts the people to online shopping is “design of the
website/application” (8%) and “advertisements” (8%).

The data indicates that the most popular features as chosen by the respondents are the variety of
products along with the most attractive discounts. Both of these features are somewhat missing from the
traditional system of grocery shopping. Sometimes it becomes difficult to find all the varieties of
products under one single roof. Shopping online lets the customer have the freedom to choose.

30
Q4. What is your most frequently grocery item purchased online?
S. No. Response No. of respondents Percentage of respondents
1 Milk, bread or eggs 5 10%
2 Fruits/ Vegetables 6 12%
3 Snacks/ Beverages 15 30%
4 Grains/ Lentils 18 36%
5 Spices/ Condiments 3 6%
6 Oil/ Ghee 3 6%
TOTAL 50 100%
TABLE 3.6 Q4

Most purchased grocery items

Spices/ Condiments Milk, bread and eggs
6% 10%
Fruits/ Vegetables
Oil' Ghee
12%
6%

Grains/ Lentils
36%
Snacks/ Beverages
30%

GRAPH 3.6 Q4

The data suggests that the most purchased grocery item by the respondents is “Grains/ Lentils” (36%),
closely followed by “Snacks/ Beverages” (30%), other popular purchased items are “Fruits/ Vegetables”
(12%), followed by “Milk, bread and eggs” (10%), the least purchased grocery items by the respondents
are “Oil/ Ghee” (6%) and “Spices and Condiments” (6%).

The data suggests that the most purchased grocery items by the respondents includes all varieties of
grains, lentils (daal/ pulses), this could be due to the fact that the North Indian diet includes mainly of
roti (made of wheat) and rice. The other most purchased grocery item includes all varieties of snacks
(chips, biscuits, namkeen, noodles, maggi) and beverages (tea, coffee, soft drink, juices). These snacks
are mostly enjoyed by the younger generation.

31
Q5. While shopping what features affect your satisfaction the most?
(Respondents may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%)

S. No. Response No. of responses Percentage of responses

1 User friendly website design 13 26%
2 Product variety 21 52%
3 Payments options (Cash on delivery, net 32 64%
banking, debit/credit card, etc.)
4 Offers & discounts 30 60%
5 Tracking information and updates 10 20%
TOTAL 106 222%
TABLE 3.7 Q5

Factors affecting customer satisfaction

35

30

25

20

15 64% 60%

10 52%
26%
5 20%

0
User friendly Product variety Payment options Offers & Discounts Tracking
website information &
Updates

GRAPH 3.7 Q5

The data suggests that the most important factor that affects customer satisfaction is “Payment Options”
(64%), closely followed by “Offers & Discounts” (60%), then followed by “Product variety” (52%), the
least important factors affecting customer satisfaction are “User friendly website” (26%) and “Tracking
information & Updates” (20%).

The data indicates that the most important factor affecting customer satisfaction is the various payment
options available to the customers; it includes cash on delivery, net banking, credit/debit cards, UPI
payment. Along with various options, the customers‟ satisfaction is also affected by the level of security
of these payment options. A close second important factor affecting customer satisfaction is the Offers
and Discounts, which the customers are always in search for.

32
Q6. What are your issues regarding online shopping?
(Respondents may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%)

S. No. Response No. of responses Percentage of responses

1 No offers or discounts 2 4%
2 Highly priced product 10 20%
3 Payment security issue 20 40%
4 No physical examination 39 78%
5 Possibility of fraud 19 38%
TOTAL 90 162%
TABLE 3.8 Q6

Issues of online shopping

45
40
35
30
25
20 78%
15
10 40% 38%
5 20%
0 4%
No offers or Highly priced Payment security No physical Possibility of fraud
discounts products issue examination

GRAPH 3.8 Q6

The data suggests that the most prominent issue faced by the respondents while shopping online is “No
physical examination” (78%), followed by “Payment security issue” (40%), and “Possibility of fraud”
(38%), and then followed by “Highly priced products” (20%) and then the least prominent issue is “No
discounts or offers” (4%).

The data indicates that among the various issues faced by the respondents while shopping online, the
most prominent one is that there is no provision of physical examination. While shopping grocery items
it is very important for the customers to check the expiry date, the size and quality of the products,
especially when shopping for fruits and vegetables The next prominent issue is of payment security.
When making payment through net banking or credit/debit card there is always an element of risk

33
Q7. If given an option to buy groceries from online stores regularly, will you buy
online?
S. No. Response No. of respondents Percentage of respondents
1 Yes 24 48%
2 No 8 16%
3 Maybe 18 36%
TOTAL 50 100%
TABLE 3.9 Q7

Option to buy groceries online regularly

Maybe
36% Yes
48%

No
16%

GRAPH 3.9 Q7

The data indicates that if given the option buy groceries from online stores regularly even after the
pandemic, majority of the respondents, i.e., 48% said “Yes”, 36% said “Maybe”. While only 16% of the
total respondents said “No”.

The data suggests that even when the ongoing coronavirus pandemic gets over many of the respondents
will keep up buying groceries online regularly. This can be due to the convenience that online shopping
provides. A significant percentage of respondents said that maybe they will keep buying online groceries
regularly but they are not 100% sure. This little reluctance could be due to the few drawbacks present
while shopping online that can sometime overpower the benefits. The drawbacks include no physical
examination, possibility of fraud where the products don‟t get delivered even after placing the order, or
there is a possibility of payment fraud on distrusted websites.

34
Q8. Do you think buying groceries online is beneficial?

S. No. Response No. of respondents Percentage of respondents

1 Yes 38 76%
2 No 12 24%
50 100%
TABLE 3.10 Q8

Online grocery shopping, beneficial or not

No
24%

Yes
76%

GRAPH 3.10 Q8

The data suggests that the majority of the respondents, i.e., 76% said “Yes”, they think that buying
groceries online is beneficial. While only a small percentage, i.e. 24% said “No”, they do not think that
buying groceries online is beneficial.

The data indicates that the majority of the respondents think that online grocery shopping is beneficial;
this could be due to the many benefits of online shopping. The reason is determined in the next question
of the questionnaire. Groceries are sold irrespective of the economy condition as it is a necessity. The
only thing that can be changed is the mode of buying; it could be traditional or online. Even though
online shopping is very popular some people might still not be positive towards the online shopping
experience. The percentage of respondents who think that buying groceries online is not beneficial could
be due to a personal bad experience they had or due to the other obvious drawbacks of shopping online
that are already discussed in the previous questions.

35
Q9. If yes, why do you think it is beneficial?
(Respondents may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%)

S. No. Response No. of respondents Percentage of respondents

1 Easy to order 30 79%
2 Product variety 12 31%
3 Discounts & offers 15 40%
4 Time saving 23 60%
5 Safe option during Covid-19 pandemic 28 74%
TOTAL 108 284%
TABLE 3.11 Q9

Beneficial factors
35

30

25

20

15 79% 74%
60%
10
40%
5 31%

0
Easy to order Product variety Discounts & offers Time saving Safe option during
Covid-19 pandemic

GRAPH 3.11 Q9

The data suggests that out of all the 38 respondents who said “Yes” to the previous question, think that
the most beneficial factor about buying groceries online is “Easy to order” (79%), closely followed by
“Safe option during Covid-19 pandemic” (74%), and then followed by “Time saving” (60%). The next
popular beneficial factor includes “Discounts & offers” (40%) and then “Product variety” (31%).

The data indicates that the respondents who say that buying groceries online is beneficial think it is
because shopping online is very convenient. The next factor that the respondents think is beneficial is
that shopping groceries online will help them avoid going outside and provide the safety that is required
during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Even when the pandemic is over shopping online will still be
beneficial because it saves time of the customers and provides convenience.

36
CHAPTER 4:
• CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
4.1 CONCLUSION
E-grocery platforms in India are not new. They have been delivering affordable products to your
doorstep in a hygienic and no fuss manner for quite some time now. With the advent of 2020, this has
proven to be the ultimate solution for the hardships and conundrums caused by the pandemic. These
platforms have gained a lot of prominence lately and the future looks bright for them, says a RedSeer
report. Ordering online for daily FMCG products, vegetables etc. have catapulted the e-commerce
market in India towards rapid growth. However, the e-grocery sector got a major boost last year, when
out of necessity, a majority of Indian households which were not buying online earlier, also started to
shop online for groceries. Being an essential category, grocery was the least affected retail category due
to the COVID induced lockdowns. It is now projected to grow at a healthy 8 per cent CAGR and
become a humungous $850 billion+ market by 2025. The coronavirus pandemic is a blessing in disguise
for the e-commerce industry, it cannot deny that the pandemic led to great growth for it last year, which
benefitted e-grocery players a lot and soon many others rushed in to seize the opportunity as well. For
instance, retail giant Reliance launched its own grocery platform JioMart in May 2020, Amazon Pantry
expanded to 300+ cities, Swiggy started delivering groceries etc. Besides these big names, multiple new
players started their own online grocery stores, while most retailers partnered with these e-grocery
platforms. To summarize, the rising number of internet users, online transactions and consumers‟
willingness and awareness towards online shopping has supported the growth of the e-grocery segment.
The RedSeer report analysis shows that around 130 million users, who were transacting online, either
used e-grocery apps or knew about them and were willing to use them. The consumers definitely have a
positive perception towards online grocery shopping.

 The report found that demand for comfort foods like noodles and cookies, immunity boosters
like lemon and hygiene products like sanitizers picked up after the pandemic while essentials
remained strong. Snacks and branded foods grew by 5 per cent quarterly pre-Covid; however
growth jumped to 75 per cent in the June of 2020.

 Within snacks and branded foods, biscuits and cookies was the largest sub-category and grew
the most in 2nd quarter of 2020.

 Beverages grew by 2 per cent quarterly pre-Covid, however growth jumped to 50 per cent in
2nd quarter of 2020.

 "Personal Care” grew by 5 per cent quarterly pre-Covid but jumped to 24 per cent in 2nd
quarter of 2020 due to Covid.

37
Through this report entitled “Consumer Perception towards Online Grocery Shopping.” Data was
gathered from 50 respondents about their perception towards the phenomenon of shopping for groceries
online. In simple words consumer perception is all about the company or brand‟s impression on the
people and the opinions and feelings that the people have towards the company, brand or industry. In
this study it is found out that majority of the respondents had only good things to say about the industry
of online grocery companies and the whole phenomenon of shopping online. The online grocery
business operation is not only beneficial for the consumer but also to the firm, as it allows the firm to
maintain its low operation cost while providing customer satisfaction.

From the data analysis it can be concluded that people prefer to buy groceries online when they need
home delivery or they don‟t have the time to shop at the physical stores. The most prominent factors that
attracts the people is the variety of products offered by the companies and the discounts, offers and
frequent flash sales that have now become a very regular thing. Majority of the respondents believe that
online grocery shopping is beneficial not only during the Covid era but also post Covid era because of
the convenience. The main objective of this study was to find out if online grocery shopping is being
preferred by the customers especially during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

 PRE-COVID Vs. POST-COVID:

It can be concluded that since few years before the pandemic (2015-2018) the online grocery industry
had started to pick up speed due to the changing lifestyles, better technology, deeper penetration of the
internet and increased sale and use of smartphones. The growth was predicted to go in a steady speed
but after the coronavirus hit the growth speed accelerated manifolds. This year 2020 has witnessed a
76% surge in online shopping for groceries. With the increasing consumer base for shopping online for
groceries, many major retail brands like Zomato, JioMart and Swiggy have started selling groceries
online. Other retail brands like Grofers, BigBasket, Amazon, etc. have also witnessed an increase of
about 60% in the sale of groceries since the current pandemic. Definitely when compared to the pre
pandemic years the customers today prefer to make online purchases more and avoid going outside.

 TRADITIONAL SHOPPING Vs. ONLINE SHOPPING:

Even though the online grocery industry‟s rapid growth in the previous year is undeniable, it has still a
long way to go until it can be anywhere near the size of traditional grocery industry. The grocery market
has evolved so much but kirana or mom-&-pop stores are still the lifeline of this sector. The grocery
sector is dominated by traditional and unorganized retail formats, specifically hawkers and
neighborhood kirana stores (similar to mom & pop stores in the United States), which represent 90
percent of the market in sales. The remaining 10 percent is made up of modern grocery retailers (such as
supermarkets and hypermarkets) and e-commerce. E-commerce is not a replacement for regular mortar
and brick stores but a complementary for our shopping needs. Online grocery shopping cannot perfectly
replace the traditional ways because the drawbacks can sometimes overpower the benefits or
advantages. However it does not mean that people completely ignore the online method of shopping.

38
4.1.1 FUTURE OF ONLINE GROCERY
We all evolved from living in a world with no Internet to living in a world that cannot be imagined
without Internet. We exist in the era of digitization. From our daily needs to our daily activities we are
surrounded by online apps, which have now become an integral part of our lives. The future of online
grocery shopping is looking very bright as lot of new players would be coming and exploring the
opportunities in the online segment offering groceries online. As the market is huge, currently only a
small percentage of the market is being served by the existing players hence there are lot of
opportunities which are available and can be explored upon. It is not wrong to say that some of the
major players in the offline like Reliance Retail, Tata‟s or even D-Mart are trying their hands in the
online grocery segment. Also it would not be surprising if tomorrow some foreign players join the race
in-collaboration with some Indian players. Overall, it would be good for consumers only as more and
more players join the race in the online grocery segment, more benefit would be passed on to the
consumers in-terms of wide range of product availability, price competitiveness in the online market,
more offers and discounts, etc.

With the government promoting the digital economy framework and digital literacy, the online grocery
market in India is likely to witness a further impetus in its growth. The industry is expected to be driven
by the consumers who stay in Tier-I cities, such as Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, and Delhi, who are
more adaptable to online shopping due to the availability of high-speed internet, better adaptability to
mobile devices, and the logistical simplicity. Concerns related to the supply chain and workforce is
improving to a greater extent. Thus, factors like convenience, smart shopping, and hygiene concerns will
making online grocery shopping the better choice for consumers in the coming future.

4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

 From the survey in this study it is clear that the factors that affect the satisfaction of the
customers the most is the variety of payment options available, their security and various
discounts and offers. Usually discounts are not offered in the unorganized sector but it is a trend
in the online industry due to competition. So the companies in the online grocery industries
should focus on these aspects and improve them so more and more customers are attracted
towards shopping online.

 From the survey it is found out that the majority of the people think that online grocery shopping
is beneficial because it provides ease of order or convenience. The companies should work on
this area and try to make the customers ordering experience more seamless and easy to
encourage more customers to purchase. The companies could improve the website, the interface
and include information and images of products on the website, etc.

39
 The main issues that keep the people away from shopping online is that there is no provision to
physically examine the products, there is a risk involving payment security and the possibility of
fraud. Even though nothing can be done regarding physical examination the online grocery
industry should compensate the people by providing benefits and assurity in other aspects.
Building a trust so that people can have faith in the online industry should be a top priority to
build positive consumer perception by the companies.

 Many factors affect the consumer perception including the quality of products, quality of
customer service, advertising and marketing, etc. The online grocery industry as a whole should
make efforts to maintain and increase the current positive perception that the people have
towards it.

 When it comes to operational aspects of the business, the firm should consider the following
business operation model:

Instead of going the regular ecommerce way of Grocery shopping, the firms should start bringing
existing retailers online. For the purchase of the grocery item user can choose their nearby
Kirana Store from the listed stores along with a convenient time of the delivery. The local store
would be informed about the order and it would be delivered to the address at the time
mentioned with the payment of cash only on delivery. Some of the companies like Dunzo
already follow this model and more startup companies should come up and follow this model in
the near future due to the following advantages:
o The firm will have a low operating cost compared to other online grocery website, as they
don‟t have to stock any inventory of grocery products.
o It will allow more user interference, when the consumer can order their grocery from the
trusted local retailer, than unknown new player in the market and will help to develop a
better relationship between their neighborhood retailer and the consumers.
o Most importantly it will help the unorganized grocery retail sector and protect the local
retailers from diminishing from the market due the presence of supermarket and foreign
players.

40
 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

5.1 WEBSITES:
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]

5.2 RESEARCH REPORTS

 Patil, Sandoval, Sawant, (2021). COVID-19 Accelerates the Growth of India's Online Grocery
Market
 S Kurnia, (2003). The acceptance of Online grocery shopping
 Torben Hansen (2005). Understanding Consumer Online Grocery Behaviour

41
6. ANNEXURE (QUESTIONNAIRE)
Name:

Age:

Email/ Phone no.:

City:

Q1. How much money do you spend online on groceries every month? (In rupees )

o 500-1000
o 1000-3000
o 3000-5000
o Above 5000

Q2. When do you feel the need to shop online for groceries?

When I need home delivery

When I want something unique and special
When I need to compare products or prices
When I don't have the time to physically shop

Q3. What features of online grocery shopping websites/ applications attracts you?

The design of website/ application

Discounts offered
Advertisements
Variety of products
Value for money

Q4. What is your most frequently grocery item purchased online?

o Milk, bread or eggs

o Fruits/ Vegetables
o Snacks/ Beverages
o Grains/ Lentils
o Spices/ Condiments
o Oil/ Ghee

Q5. While shopping what features affect your satisfaction the most?

User friendly website design

Product variety

42
 Payments options (Cash on delivery, net banking, debit/credit card, etc.)
Offers & discounts
Tracking information and updates

Q6. What are your issues regarding online shopping?

No offers or discounts
Highly priced product
Payment security issue
No physical examination
Possibility of fraud

Q7. If given an option to buy groceries from online stores regularly, will you buy online?

o Yes
o No
o Maybe

Q8. Do you think buying groceries online is beneficial?

o Yes
o No

Q9. If yes, why do you think it is beneficial?

Easy to order
Product variety
Discounts & offers
Time saving
Safe option during Covid-19 pandemic

43