SUMMARY
Grofers has already added 400 stores in Delhi NCR
The company plans to expand to Mumbai and Bengaluru
The grocery emarketplace also plans to expand its catalogue to 1500 products
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In order to cross $1 Bn revenue target by the end of the year, the SoftBank-backed Grofers has decided to start getting more offline stores on board as vendors. The company’s founder Saurabh Kumar plans to get 50K offline stores onboard in the next 30-36 months.
Under the programme, the Gurugram-based startup plans to convert local kirana stores into Grofers-branded stores, which will showcase the company’s private label products that are priced 30-40% lower.
The company started working with brick-and-mortar stores in Delhi-NCR in June this year. In the first phase, the company got 100 stores. Till now, it has added close to 300 stores and plans to scale up to 1K stores.
Grofers will start the onboarding process in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well by the end of the year. By converting kirana stores Grofers-branded stores, the company will manage backend sourcing, inventory management and technology support on a revenue-sharing model.
We are aggressively growing our business and aiming to clock $1 billion in revenue by the end of 2019 with a significant focus on our in-house brands in 2019. Our G-brands contribute 40% to our current revenue, and we plan to increase it to 60% in the coming years,” Kumar told Mint.
Founded in 2013 by IIT graduates Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar, Grofers offers products across categories such as kitchen staples, FMCG products, personal hygiene products and household needs. The groceries marketplace also plans to expand its catalogue to 1,500 products from the current 1,200 products by the end of 2020.
The company had recently closed a $200 Mn funding round led by SoftBank. The round also saw participation from existing investors Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital as well as new investor KTB. Till now, the company has raised $501.8Mn dollars in multiple funding rounds. In addition, the company is currently valued at $1 Bn.
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