Hyperlocal Commerce, The Next Big Thing In India

The Hyperlocal Commerce app has taken the planet by storm, changing the way we shop for our daily needs. Hyperlocal commerce or Proximity Commerce is expected to become a booming sector by the end of 2021. The industry has been growing phenomenally in recent years and this is where new kinds of start-up firms have come out as feasible game-changers by ensuring quicker delivery and higher credibility.

The ‘hyperlocal model’ is changing the consumers’ behavioural patterns and at the same time attracting significant investments. Hyperlocal commerce involves almost 50% of subscription services and the rest of all on-demand services. These are more recurring in nature and mostly daily essentials. We can also say small ticket size transactions, but with higher frequency.

So what’s ‘Hyperlocal’?

The Hyperlocal model simply requires understanding all possible service providers from the local vicinity onto the available platforms and facilitating the consumers with services. We feel hyperlocal is more TRUST-driven commerce, while e-Commerce is more BRAND-driven commerce. In a neighbourhood, customers know almost all merchants, who are small business owners including delivery persons. They know they can exchange and even return items with ease and quickly. Most transactions happen over the phone or WhatsApp and delivery happens within an average of 30 minutes. The payment often happens post-delivery, and it’s more of a buy now and pay later (BNPL) model. The buyers have access to those in their vicinity, as and when required. Whether you would like to order milk, vegetables, grocery, newspaper, stationery, or get your laptop repaired, laundry dry cleaned, suit altered or microwave repaired, you’ll be able to easily place an order or request for a service with just a few clicks on your smartphone’s screen. 

In the case of online grocery shopping, there’s generally a time window within which the order can often be rescheduled, so if one cannot make it range in time to receive an order, there’s peace of mind within the knowledge that the order would still be delivered at a more convenient time. Moreover, compared to the brick and mortar grocery shops, e-grocery websites have the extra advantage of quick interfacing time. One doesn’t must drive to a supermarket and flick through endless shelves of grocery products just to seek out a required item; it gets easily done within some minutes through a mobile app or a website.

E-grocers on their part have the added benefit of enhanced outreach and better inventories. While a specific item won’t be available at the local grocery shop, it’s often available at the grocer’s portal through their inventory back-linking.

Hyperlocal– A win-win situation

Apart from convenience, consumers can enjoy more benefits with hyperlocal retailers including greater customization of products, exact delivery times, and negligible delivery charges. Hyperlocal firms can greatly modify their off-the-shelf products and repair offerings, supporting local preferences and tastes.

They can even exploit their advantage and build a long-term relationship with their target customers. No wonder then Hyperlocal will make lives easier for buyers by offering a bunch of advantages.

On their part, the sellers foresee greater revenues through increased business volumes and better customer loyalty because of an expert, organized channel of retail. This could create a really sustainable business proposition for them. There’s no denying that this rapidly growing convenience-oriented segment incorporates a great scope.

The next few years will witness a variety of players emerging in the hyperlocal commerce space and people who will ab able to find their daily needs more easily with their smartphones. A seamless integration across online and offline channels where an order will be placed employing a combination of a mobile app, website or walking into an offline store is the next trend that will define customer experience.

Businesses that will drive this interesting matrix to their advantage will persuade the long-distance runners within the race towards profitable sustainability.

To facilitate all the above-mentioned advantages, we have created Zopnote, India’s very own Hyperlocal or Proximity Commerce App. With its easy to understand UI and unique features, it’s taking the hyperlocal economy by storm. To know more, please visit Zopnote.  Have any doubt in mind or have any questions, please get in touch with us at care@zopnote.com, we’ll be more than happy to assist you.