AskMe Grocery Plans To Expand Its Services To 45 Cities

AskMe Grocery, the online grocery delivery platform, has plans to expand its services to more than 45 cities within the next 3-6 months. The expansion is part of the company’s target to achieve Rs. 1,800 crore in gross merchandise volume by March of next year through its platform. The company currently has a presence in 38 cities across the country and plans to expand to other tier II towns in the coming months. 

Growing Potential

Online grocery delivery service has tremendous growth potential in the country with the market expected to reach Rs. 2.7 billion by 2018-19, according to a report by Franchise India. Speaking to PTI, Ankit Jain, Co-founder of AskMe Grocery, said, “Grocery online has a lot of potential when the business is at a scale. We have been doing well and our average cart size is about Rs 1,900 and we are already processing 20,000 orders daily. The hyperlocal delivery model has really helped us.” The partnership with local kirana stores has helped the company offer several deals to its consumers and has helped increase sales on its online platform. “We expect our annual GMV (by the end of March 2017) to touch Rs 1,800 crore. Currently, business has been growing at 30 per cent month-on-month,” added  Jain. 

Fresh Food 

According to Jain, AskMe Grocery has put increasing focus on the fresh food category by partnering with Mother Dairy Fruits and Vegetables. “Fresh foods is a segment where we see a huge scope of growth. We expect about Rs 150 crore in GMV from this category,” said Jain. The partnership with Mother Dairy will enable consumers to purchase its products through AskMe Grocery’s platform. The service is currently available in Delhi-NCR region with further expansion to other cities in the coming months. “We will arrange pick ups from the nearest Mother Dairy booth and get the products delivered in 4-6 hours,” added Jain. 

Roadblock To Growth

Although the online grocery delivery market is expected to rise in the coming years, the business is considered to be extremely cash-intensive with many companies such as Grofers and Big Basket losing money on every delivery. With competition from similar companies and profits expected to be thin, startups offering these services are facing pressure from investors. PepperTap, one of the big players in this specific sector shut shop last year due to lack of demand and has shifted its focus to becoming an e-commerce logistics company.