Quick deliveries a priority for only 8% of online grocery buyers: Survey

Only 8 per cent of online grocery buyers see fast deliveries as a priority whenordering from a platform – whereas 49 per cent see selection and availability as most important and 37 per cent consider prices as priority, according to a survey by LocalCircles.

The survey and the pilot study received over 30,000 responses from household consumers residing in 272 districts of India. Among the respondents, 61 per cent  respondents were men while 39 per cent respondents were women. While 49 per cent respondents were from tier 1, 33 per cent from  tier 2 and 18 per cent respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. 

The survey comes at a time when grocery delivery and quick commerce have become points of focus for almost all the big names in the e-commerce sector – be it Reliance’s JioMart, Tata-backed BigBasket or unicorn start-ups like Swiggy, Zomato, Ola, Flipkart and more. 

According to the survey, one in 10 households buying groceries online is placing over 10 orders a month via quick commerce apps. Of those households that are using fast delivery apps, 71 per cent are using them to purchase last minute  essentials or indulgence foods; 29 per cent are buying even their regular groceries. 

Another question in the survey asked, “As a household, how many orders are you placing each month with fast delivery apps (delivery within 10 minutes -2 hours)?” In response, 8 per cent said “15-20” and 2 per cent said “10- 15.” 7 per cent of the households each said “5-10,” “3-4” and “1-2.” 

On the other hand, 38 per cent said “none” while 31 per cent said “not applicable” as they don’t use fast delivery apps to order anything. On an average, 1 in 4 households  that shops for groceries online is using fast delivery apps each month; 1 in 10 of them is placing over 10  orders a month.

The survey asked household consumers who shop for groceries online about what  category of items they are ordering using fast delivery or quick commerce apps (delivery within 10 minutes 2 hours). In response, 37 per cent of the households said last minute essentials (milk, bread, eggs, curd, fruits,  veggies etc); 11 per cent of the households buy indulgence items (soft drink, ice cream, chocolate, paan etc.); 23 per cent of the households said they purchase both last minute essentials and indulgences while 29 per cent said they only buy groceries.

India's quick commerce sector is expected to grow 10-15 times in the next five years to become a $5 billion market by 2025, according to a report by consulting firm RedSeer last year. Meanwhile, the larger online grocery segment is projected to touch $24 billion by 2025.