Point of View

“ When the going gets tough, the tough gets going” was a chart busting song by Billy Ocean in the 80s. He would have never expected it to be relevant in tough economic conditions far removed from the romantic overtones of the song.  But I do admit the difficulties of romancing do infact display an indication of the hard times. However more relevant is a sports team. When everything is good, all blemishes are glossed over but when it hits a tough phase, that is when all problems are highlighted.

The old adage is only the fittest survive is fitting. During a downturn, the weak and feeble will fade away and the stronger ones will survive and live to fight another day.

Having said that there are some good points in the bad times. Everything is not gloomy and there are many bright spots. Organizations need to leverage that to furrow a successful path.




Human relationships are a clear indicator,  in the good times a successful person/ organization will have many friends/ partners but in bad t…

At around $350 billion, India is in the top grocery markets of the world.  This is approximately 70% of the Indian retail business which is around $500 billion. Modern retail accounts for 10 - 20% of this pie.  E-commerce or hyperlocals are obviously a tiny part of the pie just yet. Most companies, therefore, are still at a stage where they have to prove their business models and change consumer behaviour. These type of businesses are expected to reach around 2% of the grocery market by 2020, creating a potential market size of around $10 billion (Rs 60,000 crore).


The hyperlocal on demand grocery has mainly two models -
a) A large player like Big Basket offering localised services. Inventory is carried by the company.
b) An aggregator using the local retailers to source products and handling the delivery
c) An aggregator using local retailers to stock and deliver

It is a no-brainer that an aggregation model, as it is asset-light, is less capital-intensive than the inventory-led one. Bu…

The 'hot' business till a year ago is seemingly ' hot to handle' now. There is a pervading sense of fear exacerbated by the closure some famous start ups in food delivery business. However, the naysayers will not question the potential in food delivery-

The organised food business in India is worth $48 billion, or Rs 3 lakh crore, of which food delivery is valued at $15 billion (Rs 94,755 crore).In developed nations, takeaway and home delivery contributes to about 35% of the food business. In India only about 10% of the orders are for takeaway and home delivery. Furthermore, 80% of the orders are made through phone calls.  Eateries like Dominos, Pizza Hut etc. alone get 50-60% of their sales through eCommerce.