- According to a survey by LocalCircles, 80 percent of those who purchased online during lockdown did so for convenience because opposed to price and variety.
According to a survey by LocalCircles, 80 percent of those who purchased online during lockdown did so for convenience because opposed to price and variety.
The survey showed that 52 percent of online grocery shoppers found the devices to be useful during lockdown. During the lockdown, 32 percent of online grocery shoppers placed one or more orders per week, while 38 percent considered fruit and vegetables delivered via e-commerce grocery apps to be of poor quality.
During the lockdown, LocalCircles surveyed to get customer’s pulse about their online grocery shopping experience. The five-poll sample got over 39,000 votes
the survey asked customers about the main reason they or their family were ordering groceries online. 80 percent said it was convenient as doorstep / contactless delivery, while 14 percent said it was open and selectable. Just 2 percent said their key reason was better quality.
One of the inputs from consumers was that many e-commerce grocery apps rose prices during the lockdown by reducing the discounts or, in many cases, eliminating them. As a result, very few customers ordered grocery stores using these devices because they got a bargain but used them because of the ease of delivery from the doorstep and not having to go out.
“Now that we are in the third phase of the lockdown and restrictions are slowly being eased out, many consumers feel that the grocery delivery apps will play an important role in keeping people from visiting crowded markets,” Local Circles said.
Consumers were also asked what category of products did they experience most quality issues with when ordering them during the lockdown.
Because of simply sending cooked food to customers during the lockout, several other channels like grocery distribution have expanded into distributing necessities. Similarly, during the lockout, several local eCommerce grocery apps or networks appeared and enabled the delivery of groceries to consumers home.
Based on the customer conversations on LocalCircles, just as Work From Home and Video Conferences are here to stay as alternative models for work and meetings, buying online groceries is likely to become a habit for many as well.
Fruits and vegetables turned out to be the group of foodstuffs where customers were faced with the most quality problems when purchasing online. 4% said milk & butter, 10% said grains & spices, 17% said processed foods and 8% said others. 23 percent had no regard for efficiency.
Specifically, many consumers have reported the below-average quality of fruits and vegetables delivered via e-commerce grocery apps.
During the lockdown, the availability of food items remained a concern with e-commerce or online grocery goods, with just 58 percent of customers being able to get what they wanted via e-commerce apps in the April 20 LocalCircles survey.
Just before the start of the lockdown, the percentage had fallen to 21 percent as many Indians were panic buying through e-commerce grocery apps.
Consumers were asked how much online shopping they do during the lockdown or their family order. 31% said they do it once a month, 24% said they do it once a week and 8% said they do it many times a week. 35 percent said they rarely did so.
This means that despite the lockdown, 32 percent of online grocery shoppers place one or more orders per week. With the national shutdown, many families opted to remain at home, relying solely on websites to position online grocery orders and some placing several orders per week.
Next question asked customers what the main problem they faced when they bought online groceries during the lockdown. Thirteen percent said high prices, eighteen percent said low quality, eight percent said it took a long time, and eighteen percent said that they were picked. During the lockdown 43 percent said that they had no doubts and were able to order groceries online.
