'Help local kirana stores with dedicated tech platform to compete with quick-commerce

Small and medium retailers, facing heat from intense competition from e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms, through their association FRAI, have urged the government to create a dedicated technology platform, which will help them to compete with hyperlocal delivery platforms on an equal footing.

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The Federation of Retailer Association of India (FRAI) has sought creating a Bharat Taxi-like digital system where customer orders are routed to nearby kirana shops, with the order going to the first store that accepts it.

The rapid growth of e-commerce and hyperlocal delivery platforms, such as Blinkit and Zepto, have caused a decline in income and livelihoods for thousands of local grocery and kirana shop owners, the FRAI said. At least two lakh kirana stores closed last year as consumers shifted to quick commerce platforms, FRAI said, while citing a market study.

Moreover, in cities like Mumbai, a whopping number of 60 per cent offline grocery stores (kirana stores) witnessed a decline in sales volume due to the mushrooming of dark stores of quick commerce platforms, as per a December 2024 study by JP Morgan.