Retailers tap RWAs to bulk deliver to societies to overcome lockdown restrictions

Retailers and online grocery companies have started tapping resident welfare associations to bulk deliver to thousands of households with minimum resources amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

Hypermarket chain Spencer’s Retail has placed drop boxes in various housing complexes in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi NCR among other cities where residents drop their order lists for Spencer’s to delivers the next day, while online grocer Grofers has started servicing the residential societies in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bengaluru with a limited number of essential products.

Cash and carry operators Metro and Walmart India, too, have either piloted or are planning bulk supplies to RWAs.

“Two weeks back we came up with a model to ‘solve for’ consumer convenience as well as manpower and logistics optimisation by servicing RWA as one order,” Devendra Chawla, chief executive of Spencer’s, told ET. “Only three-four staff is required to service 40-50 orders as one single delivery at pre-agreed time of booking as well as delivery.”

Residents say such bulk deliveries by retailers are helping them at a time when the country is undergoing a 21-day lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

“We only had one grocery store in the vicinity of our society, and it was not able to service our essential needs,” said Rajat Choudhury, RWA vice president of Sethi Max Royal apartments in Sector 76 in Noida. “Spencer’s truck comes at a particular time and we WhatsApp residents to come in batches of tens and as per their token numbers.”

Rohit Sharma, head of supply chain for Grofers, said hundreds of RWAs have approached the company for bulk delivery and it has started delivering to many of them. “This is a unique format. We just supply in bulk to them and distribution is the RWAs’ responsibility,” he said.

Retailers said it is logistically easier for them to send full loads of minitrucks directly to the residential gated communities and that would help free up delivery guys whose numbers have already been curtailed due to the lockdown. Also, only a limited number of delivery guys are issued with “curfew passes” by various city and district authorities.

“Deliveries to RWAs is one opportunity we are exploring,” said Arvind Mediratta, MD of Metro Cash and Carry India that operate wholesale outlets in many cities. “We were given this idea by the Indore municipal administration. We have Metro stores right next to condominiums in Delhi, East Delhi, Ghaziabad, Mumbai. RWAs are registered bodies and have GSTs. So, they become our customers.”

Walmart India has started delivering essential goods to RWAs in some places in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, a person familiar with the development said. Walmart did not respond to an email seeking comments.

Ahmedabad-based Osia Hypermart encourages families in societies to combine their orders so the company can bulk deliver.