Technological Disruption Caused by E-Commerce in the Grocery Industry

Abstract

The ‘Kirana store’ model has for decades been the primary source of grocery and food resources for Indian consumers. With the extreme growth in e-commerce across sectors in India, this essential Indian business pillar is being disrupted as well. The objective of this paper is to analyse and deduct from a survey of Indian consumers the primary means of shopping for grocery within Indian communities and the relative extent of the online shopping consumer base with respect to grocery items. The paper will utilize primary research, and use convenience sampling with a structured questionnaire to analyse the extent of disruption of brick-and-mortar FMCG shops by e-commerce initiatives. The paper will address ground-level disruptions of the grocery store infrastructure while comparing the consumer approach to online and offline grocery shopping, therefore addressing a less-analysed research gap.