Indian on-demand delivery companies urge retailers to set up warehouses for online orders
Two of India’s on-demand delivery companies, Grofers and Pepper Tap, have urged their retailer partners to set up warehousing facilities in order to process the online orders faster. According to a report published last month on the website IndianRetailer.com, Grofers has asked its top retail partners to set up “dark stores”, and has “even offered to pay rent for the initial two three months”.
Grofers and Pepper Tap both work with “neighbourhood stores” to sourced groceries and household items. But Albinder Dhindsa, cofounder and chief executive of Grofers, reportedly told IndianRetailer.com that delivery boys often have to wait 30-45 minutes to source items from a partner store.
“Majority of the delays are not caused because we don’t have delivery boys, but merchants are not able to fulfill the orders in time,” he was quoted as saying.
Grofers and PepperTap are both based in Gurgaon – and both reportedly have backing from Sequoia Capital.