ShopClues improvises portfolio to reach consumers in Tier II, III, IV towns & cities

In an interaction with IMAGES Retail, Sanjay Sethi, Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer, ShopClues.com talks about the changing shopping behavior of consumers and how e-commerce has turned out to become the biggest opportunity in the COIVID-19 crisis
ShopClues has taken note of the shift in consumer behaviour in COVID-19 times and has worked towards improvising its product portfolio. In this time of need, the brand wants to use its platform – that has a vast reach across Tier II/III/IV towns and cities – to bring essential items to its consumers.
Tell us about the impact of COVID-19 on your sector?
 
There is absolutely no doubt that the e-commerce sector has been affected as a result of COVID-19 in terms of a decrease in the number of orders and disruption in deliveries. However, the pandemic has also presented the e-commerce firms with an opportunity to restructure and realign their businesses keeping the current situation and demand in mind. As a result of lockdowns across the world, more people are exploring the e-commerce platform to meet their daily and essential needs. E-commerce firms have to look at new and innovative ways to meet the demands of the customers. We have been It will be interesting to note how we rise up to this challenge.
What are the changes which you have witnessed in the demands of the consumers?
 
As a result of lockdown across the nation, the supply chain has been thrown off track. The nature of the customer’s demand has taken a complete U-turn with orders of essential commodities such as personal hygiene, safety products, OTC medicines, groceries and medical equipment taking precedence. We, at ShopClues, immediately took note of this shift and have improvised the product portfolio on our platform. In this time of need, we want to use our platform that has a vast reach across Tier II, III & IV consumers of India, to be able to buy these essential items from our portal.
How is your organisation fulfilling its responsibilities towards employees and customers during this challenging time?
The safety of our employees and customers is of the utmost priority for us. ShopClues has stepped up its level of hygiene and sanitation at the warehouses where goods are processed and packaged before being delivered. We are also providing OTP-based, real-time deliveries with the delivery agent dropping off the package at the doorstep of the customer with no contact. We are delivering our products to our customers while adhering to all Government guidelines. We are using thermal scanners to monitor our staff’s temperatures and have provided them with essential safety items like masks, gloves and sanitisers.
Will this pandemic bring about a new way of work for the future?
Absolutely! The trend of WFH or ‘Work from Home’ has gained a lot of traction. Many companies are going back to the drawing board to firm up new strategies around the WFH trend in a manner that will be efficient and digitally secure. This is also a time to introspect and re-strategise our ways of doing business and find new and innovative ways to improve logistics and delivery.
Which initiative has so far been very successful in the lockdown period?
We came up with our two-day delivery initiative to fulfill all the requirements as far as essential services are concerned.  In this current situation, what is important is that our customers have quick access to products that are essential for their daily living without having to step out of their homes to make these purchases and still have them delivered at home as early as possible. The essentials include items related to Personal hygiene and safety, Groceries, OTC Medicines, Medical Equipment, etc. To make this possible, we are very closely aligning our technology and logistic teams so that service to the customer is seamless and quick.