Case Study
Grocery Delivery App
(Grocery Route)
About Grocery Route
Subzi Mandi, a 20-year-old New York based grocery retail chain, reached out to us during the lockdown to digitize their business. They didn't have a clear vision but had a determination to move online digitally. We faced a variety of challenges faced by those in the grocery tech industry, after which we developed niche technological solutions to help them.
Managing Inventory Digitally
Problem
- Subzi Mandi never had a digital management of their inventory.
- There were no defined product categories.
- There were 12,000+ products and no time to create a digital database manually.
- Losses in lockdown had to be minimized.
Solution
- We extracted all their raw inventory data from Point-of-Sale into a CSV file.
- The extracted and organised data was entered into the system from the back-end.
- We used data analysis to categorize their inventory and import it into the digital system.
- Created a complete digital inventory without much manual work — in record time.
Uploading Images of 12,000+ Products
Problem
Subzi Mandi had a product range of 12,000+ items without images. For migrating to digital markets they needed photos online but didn't have them.
Traditional approach would require:
Click Photos
Change Image Name
Upload on FTP
→ This would take a few months!
Solution
We added a direct photo uploading functionality with an embedded camera in the mobile app.
- Scan bar-code of the product in the application and capture the image after scanning.
- Real-time upload on the website and mobile app.
- A task that would have taken months happened in a week's time.
12,000+
Products Catalogued
Done in 1 week instead of months
Orders of Items Already Sold
Problem
Subzi Mandi dealt with everyday-use items with very high offline rotation — a big headache after going online.
- The store processed and delivered orders in the next 24 hrs — items meanwhile got sold physically.
- Led to a lack of inventory as compared to the number of orders.
- Manager had to manually process the refunds.
- Cancelled orders led to negative customer reviews and less customer retention.
Solution — Stripe Auth & Capture
We integrated a Stripe payment gateway with authorization and capture functionality.
Authorize the order amount from the credit card.
Store manager confirms the order and product availability.
System won't charge the customer more than the authorized amount.
Final amount is debited only after confirmation from the store manager.
High-rotation product categories
Oil / Ghee
Organic Grocery
Oil / Ghee
Rice
- Manager does not have to refund manually.
- Happens real-time and without delay.
- Avoids order cancellations and negative reviews.
- Better customer service and high customer retention.
Managing Orders with 80+ Items
Problem
Each order received had 80+ items in the basket on average.
- Staff missed a few items during packing.
- Managing large, multi-quantity item orders is time-consuming.
- Logistical challenge to provide alternate for non-available items.
- Negative reviews due to missed items.
Solution
We developed a mobile app for staff with two panels on the same screen — one with a camera and one with the order list.
Camera scans item barcode. Multiple scans for multi-quantity.
Device ticks 'yes' or 'no' based on availability.
Provide an alternate for non-available items to the customer.
30-minute time limit for customer approval of alternate items.
Maximum Order Delivery in 1-Hour Span
Problem
- Logistics facility only for one hour to avoid extra cost.
- Mismanagement limits the capacity of orders that can be delivered.
- Delivery persons repeat routes while on the field, wasting time.
Solution — Zone-based Routing
The store delivers orders in a 15-mile radius with delivery outsourced to gig-workers at a minimum wage of USD 15/hr.
Divided the 15-mile delivery area into four equal zones — A, B, C, D.
Sorted zip codes as per the divided zones.
Sorted orders in each zone in ascending order of radial distance from the store.
Assigned one delivery person for every zone.
Example Profit Calculation
Store charges USD 15 per delivery
4 orders from one zone = USD 60 collected
1 delivery person covers zone in 2 hrs = USD 30 cost
Profit = USD 60 − 30 = USD 30
The Result
$80,000
Average Monthly Sales
Generated in first 3 months after launch
Subzi Mandi came to us at a time when the whole world was shaken by the pandemic and lockdown. We were able to support them with innovative and comprehensive solutions for all the challenges faced in the order cycle — order processing, logistics, inventory and catalogue. Their large product catalogue, large order quantity and high rotation made it a daunting task but we solved their problems and helped their 20-year-old offline business venture into e-commerce.
