VIJAYAWADA: Visiting a shop or a supermarket or a departmental store for buying groceries is passe. All you have to do is to access a website, place your order for grocery items or fruits or vegetables and very soon whatever you have purchased online will be delivered at your doorstep.
A few e-commerce websites like ‘fatafut.in’, ‘sundaykart.in’, ‘mstores.com’ have started offering online grocery shopping and have caught the fancy of the residents of Vijayawada and Guntur.
The first online supermarket named ‘fatafut.in’ started in Vijayawada in 2014 and offers more than 1,400 products apart from providing free doorstep delivery of the ordered items to its customers.
“Besides regular sections of grocery, home food, home care products, personal care products, stationery, packed food and cool drinks, we also have a special discounts section. The customers can also place their orders through ‘WhatsApp’ by taking a picture of the ticked items on the shopping list and sending it to us. Our staff will deliver the order according to the convenience of the customers,” said fatafut.in proprietor G Balakrishna Murthy. He added that if a customer was not satisfied with any product, he could return the same and that it would be taken back by them without any questions or arguments.
Meanwhile, some small shops have also entered the e-commerce and have started creating their footprints in competition with giant retail stores. The sundaykart.in, which started in January this year is one such that helps to bring the local store at your doorstep. This website is providing a platform for all the local grocery store-owners, who do not have an online presence to register in the site and start providing online services to the customers.
“People can select the food items from their favourite restaurant in the city and also can shop for groceries and bakery items at best prices. Though we don’t offer any discount sales, we are providing an opportunity to the customers to compare the prices of any item from various grocery stores before ordering the same from us. The delivery will be made at the customer’s convenience and he or she can pay the cash on delivery,” explained K Venkata Sai Kalyan, co-founder of sundaykart.in.
This website is being operated from Narasaraopet by a 16-member team and it has tie-ups with 22 grocery stores, restaurants and fast food centers in the city. Presently, it is receiving more than 10 orders. It proposes to a launch a mobile app for its customers. Meanwhile, most of the people are turning to online stores that offer groceries, vegetables and even small household items like sundaykart.in.
K Surekha, a private employee and a resident of Vijayawada, said that she had started ordering groceries online as it was hassle-free. “I don’t find many shops that offer quality products and with my busy schedule it is difficult to manage work, family and shopping.
Besides, doorstep delivery is convenient as they will deliver the order at my convenience,” she said.