DMart Ready in metros after q-comm trips it in small cities

Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which runs the DMart retail chain, exited its DMart Ready order-and-pickup operations in five cities in the July-September quarter, signalling continuing pressure from quick commerce companies and a pivot towards metro markets with stronger digital demand for groceries.

- Vaeshnavi Kasthuri

The Ready sub-brand allows customers to order online for pick-up or deliveries to homes in six hours.

(ISTOCKPHOTO)

The company discontinued e-commerce pickup and delivery services in Amritsar, Belagavi, Bhilai, Chandigarh, and Ghaziabad, it said in its earnings release this month.

The Ready sub-brand allows customers to order online and collect groceries from a pickup point or deliveries to homes in six hours.

DMart has been trying to get its e-commerce model right for some years now. Earlier this year, CEO Neville Noronha said on an analyst call that home deliveries had begun to outpace pickup point sales for the firm, adding that delivery volumes now “far exceed” those from pickup stores.

This isn’t the first time DMart has scaled back its Ready footprint, however.