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Remember the olden days when you could hear thelaywalas pass through your street, screaming on top of their lungs and you could just stop them to buy some fruit, vegetable or even fish? Well, now they are on steroids and branded as tech startups. Triggered by the pandemic, a number of e-commerce players have emerged promising to deliver you groceries and other stuff in 30 minutes or less, paving the way for the world of quick commerce. And the investors seem to be absolutely sold on it. And are willing to throw their buck behind it as recent mega-rounds globally, such as GoPuff’s $1.5 billion or Turkish Getir’s $1bn, have shown.
Given the globalised nature of tech and venture capital, Pakistani startups have also tried to cash in on this wave with Airlift bagging $85 million Series B and Krave Mart announcing a $6m pre-seed round for 10-minute deliveries less than a month into operations. Then there’s Pandamart which launched towards the last quarter of 2020 and seems to have grown rapidly since then.
But how does it really work? E-commerce players of all sizes find logistics to be a major headache but now to do it in less than 30 minutes, that too with a fleet of independent contractors? Doesn’t it sound like a huge operational challenge to ensure everything from product availability and packing to pick up and last mile in such a small window? To have control over the product as well as pricing, companies buy inventory which is then stocked up in dark stores — sort of...
Read Full Story: https://www.dawn.com/news/1672478
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