Stockpiling 2.0: E-commerce sites witness rise in demand for essentials
Apart from regular food-based items, other important items like hygiene products such as sanitizers, masks, soaps, sanitary pads, etc. are also in high demand
With a second major wave of Covid-19 in India, many e-commerce websites are witnessing a rise in the number of orders for essential items and groceries. According to reports, the demand has increased by almost double than it was earlier before the cases started increasing. The highest demand for essential items online is coming from customers residing in the states like Maharashtra and Delhi, where the number of Covid cases is dramatically peaking.
After a recent spike in cases, many states have started imposing a partial lockdown, including Maharashtra, which imposed a 15-day curfew, except on essential services.
Various e-commerce industry executives are reporting that there is a rise in orders for essential items, including food grains, vegetables, dairy products. For BigBasket, delivery slot availability went from a few hours to as much as two days. Amazon also said that it is taking orders only for essential items and deliveries may take longer than usual.
Apart from regular food-based items, other important items like hygiene products such as sanitizers, masks, soaps, sanitary pads, etc. are also in high demand.
Similar to last year, this year also the states are lacking clarity on what constitutes an essential item. For instance in case of Maharashtra, which announced the movement of only essential goods during the 15-day curfew, there is confusion among both e-commerce firms and customers.
According to an analysis by LocalCircles, a community platform, about 21% of urban households are likely to buy their essentials online in the month of April as compared to 16% in March and 11 per cent in February. This is putting a lot of threshold on the delivery times of major e-commerce sites, whose expected delivery times have extended twofold in locations like Delhi-NCR. Another e-commerce site Snapdeal reported that though there are experiencing major traffic in orders pan India, it is more prominent in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and West Bengal.