In the past few days, if you have tried to order online groceries you have been greeted by the message that there are “no delivery windows available” or “please try again later” which might have made you wonder that why these sites are not allowing you to place your order instead wasting your time filling up the cart. The reason is most of the online grocery companies are understaffed and are unable to keep a track of orders and deliver them on time.
Many online grocery companies and online retailers have faced the shortage of workers and are on a hiring process for hundreds and thousands of workers to pace with the orders and fulfil the mass shortage of staff members. The problem has been faced due to the rising demand of the groceries and migration of workers to their hometowns and villages amid the corona virus pandemic. The situation has forced the companies to undertake the deliveries of only essential orders and have also reduced the number of items available on the app and website.
Even though the number of products are limited and the groceries have asked customers to not hoard there’s still struggle to keep up with the demand. As the customers are already experiencing a long delivery time the companies are hiring more warehouse and delivery workers to meet the demands.
The corona virus crisis is changing the way people shop, people buying and hoarding items in panic is stressing the grocery stores. There’s a huge demand of essentials in store as well as online and to cope with that stores are hiring staff members across the world.
Big Basket, India’s biggest grocery store is hiring around 10,000 workers to meet the current demand; these people will be working at warehouse, distribution centres and as delivery personnel. Currently Big Basket is operating at 60% efficiency due to shortage of staff and struggling to deal with large volume of orders on its website and app. The hiring process will take place in 26 cities in which Big Basket is present. Other online grocers like Grofers is at 70% functioning and are hiring 2,000 people for the working staff from the companies like textiles, manufacturing and services which are deeply impacted by the current crisis and has also reduced the number of items available on its app from 3,500 to 600.
The store has also decided to expand its services in tier II cities and will think about the territories like Jammu and Kashmir. Keeping in mind, a customer acquisition strategy Grofers has hired 400 women employers as helping hands in the business. The mass migration of the workers has forced the companies to undertake orders on essential items only. Grofers has also offered rs.100 extra allowance to its staff members and an extra compensation to its delivery members. Snapdeal has also joined its hands in delivering essential goods and other delivers will began once this lockdown is lifted up. Other E- commerce platforms are also mobilising their resources and ensuring themselves in delivering essential goods.
Amid panic and bulk buying the online grocery orders have racked up by 20-25% and firms like Big Basket and Grofers have started delaying orders and cancelling those of selective pin codes. The firms took to their twitter handles and apologised for the inconvenience. Flipkart has appealed to its sellers to ensure that products like handwash, hand sanitizers; masks are made available and at possible price to the customers and Grofers have joined hands with additional manufacturing partners to speed up the supply and fulfil the demands.
However, most online companies and E-commerce firms are still not sure about the lockdown being lifted up after April 15.
