Digital Grocery

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, online grocery platform TaniHub aims a robust sales growth.

- Ulisari Eslita

As the coronavirus pandemic hit millions of people worldwide, nations enforce work-from-home and physical distancing campaigns. Consequently, some industrial sectors are toiling to stay afloat. Still, some others have accelerated growth, mainly those who comprise the online technology. For the past few months, online grocery shopping has accelerated the trend globally as shoppers have sought ways to avoid or limit their visit to stores. According to consulting firm Bain & Company, at the height of the pandemic, online grocery sales increased as much as fivefold in the US. In Indonesia, online grocery platform TaniHub booked a 30% increase in monthly demand after the large-scale social distancing applied in many cities.

“We see a meaningful change in a way people do grocery shopping, from offline to online channel. The traction also increases significantly on a weekly basis at the TaniHub platform,” says Ivan Arie, co-founder and CEO of TaniHub Group. He adds the growth is also seen in the number of farmers that supply goods to the platform.

The monthly increase was attributed to sales growth in the business-to-consumer segment, which grew more than 100% every month since March. The demand was mainly contributed by the increase in herbal products, which are believed to boost immunity, as well as assorted types of groceries. Moreover, in March and April, there were more than 100,000 new users downloaded the TaniHub platform. TaniHub’s business-to-business segment stays stable. While many hotels and restaurants are closed down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the decrease of sales in the sector is offset by the increase of sales in the modern trade and food industry. Ivan adds that this year TaniHub aims to gain 300% of sales growth.