Firstly, What are these hyperlocal startups..?? Hyperlocal signifies information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community.
Well..!!! As you know this era is the span of innovation, creativity, development, and progress, where the world is spinning and getting mixed in these changes rapidly. The development has also invaded the stream of business, where things are dramatically changing, with everything becoming online with the help of the internet. One such development and invention led to the emergence of “E-Commerce” (Buying and Selling on an online platform), but e-commerce has become a little old after the evolution of “Hyperlocals”.
Hyperlocals are basically like a home- grown solution to a variety of requirements. It helps in solving out the locally raised needs regarding grocery deliveries, food deliveries, offering sites for price comparison, educational services, by helping book specialized services, home services etc., but then, these are made available within the restricted local boundaries. They generally have the tie-up with the shops near the location of the buyer or randomly. A hyperlocal startup does not compete with the offline retailers, but they tend to partner with them to offer, the requisite services to their respective buyer.
Hyperlocal startups are mainly either inventory oriented or service oriented. People develop a sense of security sooner in the case of hyperlocals because of their physical presence. And also it is one of the best ways to start up, to begin with as they can easily become the bridge between the customer and an existing retailer.
Some of the promising hyperlocal startups in India:
Groceries:
- Peppertap
- Zopnow
- Jiffstore
- Ninjacart
Medicine:
- Pluss App
- 1mg
Food:
- Tinyowl
- Swiggy
- Zomato
- Justeat
- Tap Tap Meals
Electronics:
- Zopper
Fashion:
- Storewalk.in
These are just a few mentions from a variety of hyperlocals.
Every business is likely to face problems which are quite inevitable, but then the control over the problem lies in one’s hand. An individual involved in the business should put in his best effort to forecast the happening of an uncertain event so that he could at least face it tactfully. And when it comes to a startup they face numerous problems and challenges in their way, which at times make them go zero on funds or say unfundable.
The following part list down some of the common problems faced by hyperlocal startups:
Training Individuals:
When you have a hyperlocal setup, it is very essential to have a considerate number of people working under you or retail partners, so that you can stand available anytime to offer service at the call of the buyer. And training them is one of the biggest problems which the hyperlocals face because it is very difficult to train each and every individual in the line of service. The training process consumes more time and money.
Product Delivery:
The buyer for your product happens to be situated in different locations, so you should have the proper arrangement for delivery. The problem here is, mere delivery is not enough because some products include service as well. So, in that case, the concerned person should be well aware of the product to offer optimum service to the customer. The coordination between these two functions becomes a chaos.
Partnering Tends To Be A Major Issue:
The thought of partnering may seem to be an easy thing. But in reality, when you set out to find any group or association to partner you are likely to face hardships. Because the factors like trust and reputation hamper an individual from entering into partnerships. And also they might fear happening of misfortune due to any mistake from your side.
Creating Demand:
This is something which is a pain in the head. Hyperlocal startup should stand extraordinarily creative and outstanding to create demand among the customer. Because every individual has their own local shops to make purchases from. So, in that case, it is in your hand and fortune to land in the court of success.
Scaling:
It would be very difficult for the hyperlocals to survive if they do not have an effective model that support scaling because hanging in one single local market is going to be of no use in this kind of economy where the behavior of customers is highly unpredictable. If you do not work on scaling then you will have to shut down.
Thereby, these are some of the problems faced by a hyperlocal startup. A bad control on these issues would force your startup to the way of closing. So an entrepreneur should make an effort to have good control on this issue else he is bound to ruin his reputation and customer which would lead his concern to go unfundable.