E-com goes rural as retailers focus on increasing customer base

E-commerce companies in India are exploring the idea of setting up offline stores in smaller towns as they look to grow their customer base and improve logistics in the unmapped areas. Rather than investing in their own stores, e-commerce marketplaces are partnering with local merchants who can assist offline buyers in purchasing goods online.

The move to tap offline stores in small towns comes as these marketplaces begin seeing a larger chunk of their sales coming from outside the six large metros. During its five-day Big Billion Days sale last month, over 65 percent of Flipkart’s orders came from Tier II and smaller towns. Amazon saw a similar percentage of sales coming from non-metros and rural areas. Indeed, the efficiencies that e-commerce brings in could finally open up India’s rural markets to retail.

Storeking, an e-commerce firm focusing on serving India’s rural areas, has partnered with large players Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal to bring online buying to rural areas. Storeking has partnered with over 25,000 offline stores across 100 districts and services around 10 million customers a month. Apart from facilitating commerce, Storeking also gathers intelligence on customer needs in each region, helping it reach brands and cut exclusive deals with them to serve rural customers.