How humble Indian kirana shops went digital

In the chaos of the first lockdowns, trusty neighbourhood grocery stores had to suddenly shift online, while juggling inventory and frantic sales. They did it in true kirana style, as those in business explain to us

Chennai’s Grace Supermarket chain has been online for over two years now, even before the COVID-19 lockdowns hit. But its website was a backburner project, a very small part of its operations. The chain’s dozen physical grocery shops across Chennai have always been its mainstay, till the first nationwide lockdown of 2020 flipped the tables completely. Suddenly, the website was handling most of their sales. “We were also delivering to customers who placed orders over phone calls or WhatsApp,” says Subramanian Sundaram, manager and head of operations.

To announce that they were available online, they put their website on their delivery vans ferrying goods around the neighbourhood, thus attracting even more cutsomers.