Udaan, a B2B trade unicorn, is piloting a direct-to-consumer (D2C) grocery delivery project with social commerce as its core business model across different cities. According to the sources, upon completing the pilot project, Udaan is expected to expand its grocery delivery footprint to over 1000 cities in the country. Notably, the company had success with its existing B2B model. The startup will also leverage its current logistics and brick-and-mortar network to strengthen its upcoming grocery delivery services.
As per a news source from a respected news entity, Udaan is eyeing to develop a model similar to the Chinese social-commerce startup, Pinduoduo, which has revolutionized the Chinese eCommerce world with its unique offerings. Hence, it is exciting to build its community-based model dealing with the public communities across the majority of the cities in India. Through this new association, Udaan is expected to transition from offline to online through various group purchases.
The initiative will encourage buyers to form a group and initiate a bulk purchase from the suppliers using its Udaan platform through both the buyers/suppliers. This will help both buyers and suppliers to get discounts as well as increased profits as well.
Social commerce is a rising concept as many eCommerce entities are trying to leverage its advantages in today’s highly precedent web world. Websites such as Meesho and other niche players use social commerce to sell off their categories such as apparel, home appliances, etc. They are entering into grocery delivery, embarking on a new age and unique opportunity that could lead to the success story of social commerce in India.
When asked, Udaan's spokesperson refused to comment officially on the matter.
Social commerce is an interesting and widely accepted marketing technique embraced by prominent eCommerce websites such as Myntra, which recently started its M-Live to attract traffic volumes; Amazon and Flipkart are also evaluating their potential to include social commerce in their marketing mix. Social commerce is a futuristic marketing proposition as it is more interactive and personal that connects directly with shoppers and users.
According to the recent reports by Bain & Company, social commerce in India is estimated at $2 billion in 2020( in terms of gross merchandise value) and is expected to reach $16-20 billion by 2025 and will extend to $60-70 by 2030. In India, social commerce contributes to $38 billion in 2020 and is expected to rise to $140 billion by 2025, raising its current share from 1-2 percent to 4-5 percent by 2025.
Pavankumar Baboori is an experienced Sr. Content Analyst who improves the workflow by identifying and resolving the content development gap. He works closely with the marketing team to deploy strategies for improving brand awareness, website traffic, search engine ranking, and lead generation activities. He gauges up marketing channels for the real digital transformations.
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