Last year, a dark cloud loomed over food-tech companies. This year, it is hovering over e-grocers. Here are some of the apparently successful companies offering this service which later shut shop.
Last year, a dark cloud loomed over food-tech companies. This year, it is hovering over e-grocers. Even big guns like Ola and Flipkart discontinued their grocery delivery system. Here are some of the apparently successful companies offering this service which later shut shop.
PepperTap
This company was founded in November 2014 and aimed to revolutionize grocery shopping by eliminating hassles like queues and parking. 18 months and four rounds of funding later, the founders decided to shut it down in April 2016 after running into losses due to heavy discounts offered by them.
Ola’s Store
Ola launched its grocery delivery service with its own app in July 2015 but shut it down after seven months in March 2016. In an interview, CFO Rajiv Bansal said that this move was just an experiment. Ola Store’s death was accompanied by the collapse of Ola Store – a food delivery service – which was another ‘experiment’ as well.
Flipkart’s Nearby
Perhaps one of the most successful startups originated in India, this retail giant too explored the grocery delivery market by launching “Nearby” in October 2015. Like Ola, the company stated that it was just an experiment and was operating only in Bangalore. Five months later, it quietly shut it down in February 2016 without any explanations.
LocalBanya
Founded in 2012 in Mumbai, the company started downsizing in October 2015 by firing 40 percent of its staff and announced that it “temporarily suspended operations to upgrade its technology and services.” Fast forward to today, the company hasn’t relaunched yet and there are rumours that the founders may have shut shop permanently.
Grofers
One of the most popular e-grocers, Grofers too ran into a brick wall in January 2016 and shut operations in nine cities, in a move to focus on its highest revenue generating areas. The company was founded in January 2013 and still operates in 17 cities including Bangalore and Mumbai.
Paytm’s Zip
This company probably had the shortest tenure in the grocery delivery industry and was in operation from April to June 2015. It partnered with retailers for the products and with third party logistics for delivery. The company simply pulled back its app from the Google Play Store quietly.