Lockdown leads to sluggish delivery of online groceries, shortage of staff increases companies’ troubles
- Online delivery platforms assured that services would be streamlined in 4 to 5 days
- Currently, the grofers have a backlog of 5 lakh orders.
The nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus epidemic has broken the back of online delivery platforms like BigBasket, grofers within a week.
Meanwhile, online delivery platforms such as BigBasket and grofers are facing difficulties in delivering the orders due to shortage of staff. These online delivery platforms received a large number of orders that these companies had to fulfill before the lockdown came into force from 24 March midnight. Following assurances from the center as well as local authorities, online delivery platforms last week assured users of streamlining its services over the next four to five days. But due to the lockdown, the company is unable to complete its delivery process.
Grofers currently have backlog of five lacs orders
Presently, the grofers have a backlog of 5 lakh orders. The company said in a statement, “We are able to do much less than our 100 percent capacity.” Because permits are required for all warehouses and passes are also required for delivery. Grofers have so far received passes for about 50 percent of their workforce. The company said, the local authorities are helping us with the other passes. This may take a few more days. The lockdown has caused delivery partners to go home and online delivery platforms are requesting them to return. “We will take a few days to get back to 100 percent of our operations,” Grofers said.
Increased customer inconvenience
Millions of users across the country who buy goods online are also disappointed, as they have not received their goods on time. These customers are also writing messages to companies to find out the delivery deadline for their important goods. Users are also keeping their complaints through social media. BigBasket Company, like Grofers, is also facing difficulties. The company said on Wednesday that they have now increased their server capacity by 50 percent to handle more traffic (users orders), which will help in placing more orders. The company said it was operating at 10 percent of its capacity last week and is now operating at 40 percent of planned capacity.
