Inspiration can come from anywhere, and a lot of the time, it depends on how you feel when you get up in the morning” Tyler Shaw. From inspiring books and buildings to a kind word from a good friend, there can be absolutely anything that inspires entrepreneurs to open up about the things, actions and people that make them engaged and wanting to make a difference. Rajan Patel drew his inspiration from a book named ‘Hot Flat and crowded’ by Thomas Freidman. He was startled by some heart blowing facts and figures which mentioned the countries which were less greedy, had robust sustainable development policies resulting in sound and sustainable growth. They were happier than countries which had poor sustainable policies and were greedier comparatively which sucked the natural resources from the earth for their selfish benefits. This provoked thought in his mind and compelled him to think if the same could be functional for an individual too. With an environment sensitive approach, he zeroed in upon creating GreenoBazaar, a company that would deliver the wholesomeness of an organic, ecofriendly bazaar at the doorstep.

The company provides only certified organic and eco-friendly products. Its target market is niche and a segment of the market which is conscious about their health and environment. “We focus on serving better

rather than offering deep discounts and retaining customers. We have experienced only those will survive in this fiercely competitive market which is providing impeccable service to the end user and provide a simple and userfriendly platform. The kind of mix we have is a bit unique than any of our competitors and we have everything in our plate for a family to live organic and ecofriendly life sourced from producers and farmers from across India,” enlightens Rajan.

GreenoBaazar has carved a niche for it in the market by completely focusing on offering organic and ecofriendly products clearly and specifically targeted to a very specific market

Addressing the Challenges
When it comes to the challenges that online grocery startups stumble upon, logistics remains to be the major one. The weights of basic groceries are higher and their prices are lower and the shipping charges are weight based; hence it’s difficult to operate particularly with basic kitchen groceries online. “This is why many online grocers have stopped basic grocery like cereals and pulses as most of their margins are wiped off in shipping charges and they cannot also charge to customers also else they would be turned off. So we have adopted weight based shipping wherein we are charge shipping as per weight and part of the cost we bear and the other part is taken care of by the customers. We adopt this considering we will make our loss of groceries form other rest 90 per cent products which don’t have this ironic higher weight and lower price issue,” he informs.

The Growth
Functioning amongst the giant players, GreenoBazaar has carved a niche for it in the market by completely focusing on offering organic and ecofriendly products clearly and specifically targeted to a very specific market. It has managed to create reach through bulk sales and corporate gifting also as they are few important channels of revenue. “We have a customer base of around 2500 and retention ratio of more than 70 per cent,” he adds.

In the coming years, team GreenoBaazar envisions having brick and mortar stores. “This will help us create better customer retention and make our relationship with the customers warmer. We are planning to start our first brick and mortar store in Ahmedabad and then wish to offer franchisee across India,” he concludes.