Residents of Bengaluru will soon be able to buy groceries along with milk products on the Nandini e-dairy portal. Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is planning this in an attempt to increase its online reach and boost the sales of Nandini milk and its products.
The KMF launched its online shopping portal in May last year. Even though the response has been encouraging, a majority of the online sales are currently driven by institutions rather than individual customers. Through this tie-up, the federation hopes to cater to the needs of more individuals, said M.T. Kulkarni, director (marketing), KMF.
The new service is expected to be launched in two months, according to Pradeep Kumar, executive director, Vikas Global Solutions, the agency managing the e-dairy portal on behalf of the KMF. “It is in the testing stage,” he said.
For provision of groceries, they have tied up with Karnataka Oil Federation’s eSafal portal. They have also tied up with Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd. to offer toiletries under its flagship Mysore Sandal brand, Mr. Kumar added.
Since the launch of the portal, about 2,000 customers have shopped online for milk products. Last month, the KMF saw a turnover of ₹70 lakh through online sales, with about 250 individual customers and 40 institutions buying online. However, only ₹7 lakh was contributed by individuals; the rest came from large organisations such as hospitals, corporate companies, hotels, and restaurants. What has worked for large companies is that they get their delivery within the stipulated time if their order it online.
However, with individual customers, they are not just looking to buy milk products but other products as well. The federation wants to include groceries on the portal to attract more such customers, Mr. Kulkarni said.
Expansion
The federation is also planning to expand its reach within the city by setting up more godowns for online sales. At present, the KMF caters to its online business by storing products in five godowns in the city, and the delivery time varies between half a day to one day, depending on the size of the order and product availability.
The federation wants to set up at least 15 godowns in the city, near localities with high demand, to reduce the delivery time, officials said. Whitefield, BTM Layout, JP Nagar, and Rajajinagar are some of the localities with high demand for online products.
