E-grocery market to hit $3 billion this year

In the short-term, the size of the e-grocery market in the country is expected to expand from $1.9 billion in 2019 to $3 billion by the year-end and then grow at an annual pace of 57% for the next four years, the report said.

India’s online grocery market has emerged as the new battleground for BigBasket, Flipkart, Reliance JioMart, Swiggy and Amazon India.

Almost every food delivery and e-commerce firm pivoted to selling groceries because of the restrictions on the delivery of non-essentials during lockdown. (Bloomberg)

With customers preferring to stay indoors, companies are battling to grab a larger slice of this online grocery business that is estimated to expand ninefold to $18.2 billion by 2024, according to a new report from RedSeer.

In the short-term, the size of the e-grocery market in the country is expected to expand from $1.9 billion in 2019 to $3 billion by the year-end and then grow at an annual pace of 57% for the next four years, the report said. Online sales contribute to a minuscule 0.3% of the overall grocery sales in India and are expected to increase to 2.3% by 2024, RedSeer said.

Almost every food delivery and e-commerce firm pivoted to selling groceries because of the restrictions on the delivery of non-essentials during lockdown. With customers left with no option but to look at digital channels for home essentials, GMV for the online grocery segment in the country jumped by 73%, between January and June.