Delivery For E-com Firms Comes To A Grinding Halt

The Indian e-commerce sector has come to anear standstill across the country, hurting the supply of essential commodities, amid lockdowns in several states and cities to prevent the spread of coronavirus, according to industry executives.

- Peerzada Abrar & Samreen Ahmad

They said there is a lot of police action on the ground and even inter-state movement has been stopped, because of which deliveries of essential items via platforms, such as Flipkart, Amazon, Grofers, and Milkbasket, aren't happening. Food delivery firms — Swiggy and Zomato -are facing similar challenges, according to the sources.

"There are a lot of ambiguities. The authorities keep coming up with circulars which are contradictory to the previous ones," said an e-commerce industry executive. “It is more a miscommunication issue.”

E-commerce companies are facing challenges in delivering essential items such as rice, wheat, pulses, baby food, milk and dairy products, and fruits and vegetables. The other important items include hygiene products such as soaps, sanitary pads, sanitisers, and masks.

As most of the people are working from home, e-commerce industry insiders said that etailers are also finding it a challenge to deliver items like power banks, laptops, routers, headsets, and tables and chairs to their customers, despite a tremendous increase in demand.