We are all in an unprecedented phase of our life. Something, none of us even imagined. The Covid-19 has changed the way we live our life and even the way we think. A lot of essentials now seems to be materialistic and non essential. We are all just home bound and trying to be positive.
However, in this quest of living happy and safe, we still have our daily needs, but a lot of us are scared to go out. This is where these online platforms are coming to our rescue. There are quite a few online apps and sites who are delivering grocery, milk & other essentials during lockdown. Its not easy for them to deliver in such scenarios. They are facing too many hassles, yet they are trying to do their best. Here we are going to talk about such e-commerce who have emerged as Superheroes in these testing times. Please note that, this is not any sort of ranking, this is a list of e-commerce sites / apps which are doing really good work during Covid-19 lockdown in India.
Big Basket
- Big Basket is facing a shortage of warehouse and delivery staff. To overcome this situation, the online store has partnered with Uber to deliver staples (tea, coffee, atta, rice, etc) and essentials to its customers. The online platform has also partnered with restaurant associations to resolve the manpower issue. The store is currently working at 60% of its capacity.
- Big Basket is ensuring a safe delivery by sanitizing the delivery crates & other equipment on a regular basis and disinfecting the warehouse to store the products in a safe environment. Warehouse staff and delivery persons are thermally scanned before they start their workday.
- All the customers are given a slot in which they can receive essentials; all day delivery is not entertained by the online platform.
Grofers
- Grofers is also facing the problem of low manpower because of which the co-founder of the app, Albinder Dhindsa, has asked for help from various companies’ semi-skilled workforce to join Grofers; he did this with the help of a tweet.
- Grofers is giving away some part of essentials, on a daily basis, to all its ground staff; this is over and above the regular monetary pay. This is helping Grofers in retaining the existing staff base. You can order groceries and daily essentials via Grofers.
Supr Daily
- Super Daily is managing its customer base by contacting them via Tweeter, SMS, and Whatsapp. Any customer is able to place an order for groceries, fruits, vegetables, curd, bread, egg, etc. at the Supr Daily online store; if the delivery is not possible, the customer is informed about the same via message. Supr Daily has also started delivering Milk in selected pin codes of the country.
1MG
- Medicines that are directly related to increasing immunity are in high demand; to fulfill as many as orders possible 1MG is in the process of hiring 500 people and another 1000 within 2-3 months.
- The online pharmacy is also on a constant talks with the local government bodies and concerned authorities to issue passes for its delivery staff so that that the process of last-mile delivery keeps running smoothly.
- You can also get 18% OFF on your orders at 1MG.
Dunzo
- Dunzo has been all over the place, in metro cities, amid this lockdown. Right from delivering medicines & toiletries to receiving & sending meals, this is proving out to be one of the best runner-based apps delivering during the lockdown.
- Dunzo and Britannia Industries have entered into a partnership, where a customer will be able to order Britannia products like milkshakes, ghee, biscuits, wafers, etc, via Dunzo app.
MedLife
- MedLife has been facing the issue of inventory shortage by 20-30% because of first-mile issues. However, the store has been able to pull off 20,000 orders on a daily basis. This has become possible because this healthcare platform has tied-up with the likes of Yulu, Zoomcar, and Uber that provide last-mile delivery service to MedLife.
- MedLife has also partnered with MyGate and Big Basket to deliver disinfectants, masks, and sanitizers in Indian Hot Spot areas.
- MedLife is also hiring part-time employees and training them to increase their delivery capacity (which is at 60%-70% as of now) and manage the warehouses.
- All the fulfillment centers of MedLife have doctors stationed there and warehouses are getting sanitized in every two hours gap.
PharmEasy
- PharmEasy has seen a surge in its demand of medicines (especially the immunity boosters like zinc and Vitamin C supplements) and disinfectants by 100% and to cater to that, the online pharmacy is hiring semi-skilled staff to do the last-mile delivery.
- This online pharmacy platform has also come up with Covid Assist which is an AI powered Bot (a self-assessment tool), where you can take the test and know if you/someone around you has got infected.
FreshtoHome
- This online store has inculcated all kinds of safety norms to ensure safe essentials delivery during the lockdown. You can order fresh poultry, meat, and fish via this store. Staff is allowed to enter the factory set-up only once the staff has worn protective body suit, masks, and gloves. The delivery staff is continuously trained on the norms that are supposed to be maintained during the lockdown. The transport vehicles are disinfected before they enter the factory premise.
Swiggy
- Swiggy has launched a new service called ‘Swiggy Genie’ that is designed to deliver cooked food and groceries, in 15 cities.
- Swiggy has also entered into a partnership with Marico Limited so that essentials delivery during lockdown can be made possible. A customer can find ‘Saffola Store’ in the food-delivery platform’s app and place an order for Saffola plain oats, oil, coconut oil, etc. Apart from Marico, Swiggy has also entered into a partnership with other FMCG brands like Adani Wilmers, Cipla, Dabur, Godrej, HUL, P&G, and Vishal Mega Mart. The grocery delivery is now made possible in 125 cities via Swiggy.
- This food delivery platform has started the initiative, ‘Hope, Not Hunger’ under which it has partnered with various NGO firms and corporate kitchens to provide daily free meals to the migrant workers and underprivileged. The platform has served 2,50,000 meals till date.
Zomato
- Zomato has a good delivery network and that is being put to good use; the food-delivery platform has now started delivering groceries in 80+ cities within India. Any customer can check out the ‘Zomato Market’ section and place orders for groceries.
- Zomato has also partnered with Godrej Consumer Products Limited where Zomato will ensure smooth last-line delivery of Godrej personal care, home care, insecticides, and hair care products.
- Zomato has been delivering food prepared by the hotel chain Hilton via contactless delivery.
- Zomato has come up with ‘Feed the Daily Wager’ initiative where it is providing ration kits to daily wage earners. 1 lakh kits has been procured by the food delivery chain, under this initiative.
Amazon Pantry
- A customer can now place orders, only for essential delivery during the lockdown, at Amazon Pantry; Amazon is now able to deliver the groceries within 3 days of placing the order at some selected pin-codes of some selected cities. Not only that but Amazon Pantry is also first trying to process all the requests that are pending for 7-10 days.
- Amazon confirmed that the delivery of packaged food, medicines, and household commodities will start taking place in many other pin codes of metro cities and tier-1 cities very soon.
Flipkart
- Flipkart and Tata Consumer Products Ltd have entered into a partnership to ensure uninterrupted grocery delivery during the lockdown. Tata Consumer Products is now listed in the e-commerce platform; any consumer can check out the platform and place an order via the newly listed distributer. A customer can buy combos of beverages and food (Tata Tea, pluses, nutria mixes, etc). The duo has started its operations from Bengaluru and will soon take it to tier-2 cities of India.
Dominos
- Dominos has partnered with ITC Foods to ensure essentials delivery during the lockdown. The duo has come up with the concept of a combo pack of Atta (Aashirvaad Brand) along with basic Indian spices (coriander, turmeric, and chilli) that can be ordered via the app. The customers will need to download the latest version of the app and place an order in the ‘Domino’s Essential Section’.
- It was this fast-food chain that came up with the concept of ‘Zero Contact Delivery’ to ensure the safety of its customers and delivery staff.
Paytm Mall
- This digital payment app started by waiving off all kinds of penalties charged on merchants for cancelation of orders amid lockdown.
- Paytm Mall has entered into a partnership with various logistics players to ensure smooth delivery of products to a maximum number of pin-codes and essential product suppliers to ensure adequate maintenance of a stock of essential commodities (household product, personal safety goods, etc).
Mojo Pizza
- Along with 2X Topping Pizza, Mojo Pizza is also doing grocery delivery during lockdown that too by maintain no contact delivery rule. They deliver the pizza box right at your doorstep, ring your house bell and stand 6 feet away from the box, till you come to receive the box. You, however, need to pay upfront for the order while placing an order online. You can also get veggies, fruits, cottage cheese, and bread via this store.