Progressive Grocer - March 2022

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It’s the most buzzy segment of grocery retail to have emerged after the post-Covid era, occupying the headspace of both retailers and consumers. Yes, we are talking of Quick Commerce, and the model seems to have brewed up a perfect storm in the grocery industry.
We gathered a slate of leading retail professionals who spoke out their minds (Industry Round Table, pages 44) on the nitties gritties of the model and walked us through the important metrics that matter in this business: average ticket size, unit economics, product mix, blended margins, number of bills, average bill value, key value categories and items and, of course profitability. As we see it, though it’s too early to predict the future of the quick commerce model, the segment has already become a market darling with venture capitalists and investors rushing in with dreams of striking gold.
Our Cover Story on Namdhari’s (pages 36) turns the spotlight on perhaps the only fully integrated seed-to-plate retailer in India. The Bangalore-based Namdhari’s Group forayed into the retail business in 2002 and currently operates a total of 31 stores under its two banners: Namdhari’s Fresh and Simpli Namdhari’s. The striking thing about the retailer is that about 50-60 percent of its sales comes through products of which it controls the complete value chain – from the seed to the plate stage.
At a time when food safety and sustainability has come to acquire the mindshare of consumers everywhere, Namdhari’s retailing strategy and initiatives deserve a big shout out. We hope that their success story will spawn more such emulative initiatives from other retailers as well.