Only 7% of Indian households are using e-commerce or grocery apps to buy fruits and vegetables online, a survey by Localcircles has found. The key consumer concerns include low quality of produce, high prices and cumbersome return process.
LocalCircles conducted a national survey which received over 24,000 responses from household consumers located in 297 districts of India. While 61% respondents were men, 39% respondents were women. A total of 44% respondents were from tier 1, 35% from tier 2 and 21% respondents were from tier 3 districts.
‘66% BUY THEIR FRESH GROCERY FROM LOCAL OR WEEKLY MARKET’
From mandi or wholesale market to local markets, people have a wide choice for shopping fresh vegetables and fruits. The survey asked consumers: “How are you buying majority of the fruits and vegetable for your household?”
Of the 12,207 respondents to this query, only 7% indicated that they buy fresh fruits and vegetables “from online/ecommerce/ grocery apps”. As for the rest, 45% of respondents indicated “from the local market”; 21% from the “weekly market near me”; 3% from the “wholesale market”; 19% from the “vendors that come in my area”; and 5% from “organized retail stores”.
In effect, 66% of Indian households surveyed confirmed that they buy their fresh grocery (fruits and vegetables) from the local or weekly market near their homes, while 19% buy from the vendors coming to their neighbourhood.
‘LOW QUALITY OF PRODUCE BIGGEST ISSUE’
The next survey question reached out to consumers who buy fruits and vegetables online and asked them, “What are some of the issues you have had with buying fruits and vegetables online via ecommerce/ grocery/quick delivery apps?”
Some among the 11,964 who responded to this query chose more than one option. The biggest issue of buying fresh fruits and vegetables online, according to 73% consumers, is the “low quality of produce”; 56% of respondents complained of “high prices”; 51% indicated problem of “difficult returns/grievance redressal process”; 37% had issues with “inconsistent stocking/ availability” of produce they would like to buy; 7% have issues with “long delivery time taken”. However, 12% of respondents indicated that “it works well by and large and I don’t have issues”.
“Quality of fruits and vegetables delivered via online platforms was always average and the return/refund process mostly painful, according to consumers. However, due to competitive prices and good discounts, most tended to ignore these shortcomings. With discounts reducing and risk of COVID minimal, many consumers are now buying majority of their fresh supplies from the local market, buying only incidentals or topping up via online grocery apps. Returns and refund of fresh produce is another major issue where some of the apps expect a consumer to spend 5-15 minutes to request refund of small quantities of fresh produce, which is just impractical,” said Sachin Taparia, Founder of LocalCircles. Taparia.
LocalCircles is a community social media platform which enables citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions and enables the Government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric. It is also a pollster on issues of governance, public and consumer interest.
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