Here’s why Indians are ditching vendors and buying vegetables online even if it’s costly

Indians know lifehacks like nobody else. Discounts are a priority while buying a phone or TV. However, for daily essential vegetables, the new age Indians are paying a premium. And the clever Indian knows that buying vegetables online has its own convenience. Not only are the products available ‘claimed’ to be superior in quality but also packed and diced.

"We are trying to make it as easy as possible," Hari Menon, co-founder and CEO of Bigbasket told the Economic Times. "From scientific packaging that keeps veggies and fruits fresh to no questions-asked returns, thoughtful initiatives by e-grocers are enticing many to give up age-old habits such as bargaining with vendors and snapping an okra into half to check for freshness."

If statistics of the online grocery company is to be believed, around 70% of Bigbasket's daily orders contain fruits and vegetables. This is a vast improvement over last year when fresh produce did not contribute much to an e-grocer's topline.

"When we started selling greens on our website, our primary challenge was assuring the user that despite not touching or feeling the vegetables, they should have confidence in buying from us," Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder of Grofers, told the ET.

"Starting November, we will introduce a quality score on all fruits and vegetables bought through us and our vendors will have to adhere to it," adds Dhindsa.

While convenience and quality are primarily responsible for this leap in vegetable sale of the online grocers, it is also noted that Indians are experimenting with food like never before. Now they have requirement of items that the street vendor can’t procure or are too over-priced. Like an avocado in any of the vegetable sellers cost not less than Rs 100 a piece, Amazon Now was selling the same at the rate of Rs 250 for 3 in Delhi NCR until last month.

“They are just not cooking Indian food at home anymore," Mohit Khattar, head, retail strategy at Godrej Industries, which operate Nature's Basket chain of stores told the financial daily. "Along with organic produce, certain herbs (celery, parsley, etc) are often the reason why many people are turning to online stores."