Showing posts with label e commerce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e commerce. Show all posts

09 August, 2024

People, passion and processes

In a recent post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), a user from Bangalore posted her recent experience of being a female delivery partner for a day. She chose to work in the “gig economy” at one of India’s top 3 Q-commerce delivery apps, Blinkit.


She narrated the learnings of her day at this part time role in a long thread which gained a lot of attention from many users, including from Blinkit Founder Albinder Dhindsa.


She conceded why she did this trial, that it was just out of curiosity how Blinkit (and other Q-Commerce companies) could deliver orders within just 10 mins.


She highlighted abysmal working conditions at the dark store - a mini warehouse with just a fan, from where delivery partners pick up the stuff, technical flaws, and a few potential improvements in commercial queries such as insurance payouts, how to earn payments, etc.



I initially felt that this was a great PR exercise led by the brand in a surrogate manner for hiring new staff, however when I saw that she had mentioned poor working conditions, I realised that wasn’t the case. The user, who goes by the name Sneha had mentioned that the working conditions were quite poor, without a proper seating place or access to drinking water for the delivery staff.


She also narrated her ordeals getting stuck in the notorious traffic that the Garden city is known for or having to ride through narrow roads and that she apologised to customers for her delayed deliveries.


Sajal Gupta, CTO of Blinkit replied to her a day later that a few enhancements were done in the app, as well as improved working conditions at the dark stores such as putting up seating.



I was curious to note why would a young lady wish to go-the mile to understand a delivery process. When I looked up on Linkedin, I learned that her company is a SaaS platform in warehouse management operations. 


Hopstack, Austin, Texas based company has offices in the US as well as in Bangalore, serving over 25 clients with over 12 mn orders. The company’s key goals include precision in fulfilment coupled with realtime insights and seamless integration.


Now, why I am writing about this episode?



Because I would like to stand up and salute the passion that Ms. Sneha carried in her work. 


While it was her inquisitiveness on how delivery partners operate in a market like India, it was also a very fulfilling exercise to the lady on the professional front, as she could learn first hand what are the pain points that Q-commerce giants in India are currently facing and the associated pangs at the warehouse / dark stores.


Though there are just three top (surviving) players today in the Q-commerce market, such as Swiggy’s Instamart, Zomato’s Blinkit and Zepto, all serving around USD 1 Bn worth of deliveries annually, the space is hotting up with several others pivoting in this format. 



Flipkart has recently launched “Minutes” service, and market is abuzz that Ola (Cabs) is coming back to the delivery business.


Nothing better than to learn first hand at the job role. This professional took that effort, much to the chagrin of her mother as she narrated in another tweet.


Over the years, I have seen so many disinterested staff members who do not move from their coveted seats at workplace and wish to see the world from the little lenses of their eyes. 


First hand knowledge – and it is different across industries – is so vital for professional growth.



Ask any CEO who is leading a large FMCG company today anywhere in the world and these women and gentlemen would have walked the streets, travelled in despatch vehicles and stood beside the shopkeepers to understand how people shop during their formative years.


In my own experience when I used to work for Foodworld Supermarkets around the turn of the millennium, I would stand and observe how home makers, housewives kids and men would shop at India’s first organised grocery retail chain. This was my daily routine from 6pm – 9pm.


When I set-up and ran India’s first airport retail business at Bangalore International Airport in 2008, it was a delight to watch how air passengers would shop, across various categories. There are nights when I have turned up around midnight to witness the shopping patterns of international passengers who were departing from, or arriving in to India.  



However, I have also had the misfortune of working with several co-workers ranging from those with 20+ years’ experience, all the way to freshers and new comers, who prefer the digital route for learning ground realities. 


The result, is that many of them end up suggesting incorrect decisions to the Management, which lead to their, as well as the company’s downfall. 


Ms. Sneha, took the plunge to experiment a gig job, largely known to be a male bastion, all for the love of learning more about the industry she works for. Kudos to her again, her passion and perseverance for taking this initiative.

A short flight that I enjoyed…

On 4 Nov. ’24, I stepped down from my role as Executive Vice President, Minmini app. Touted as the world’s first hyperlocal social media pla...