After failing to make much stride in the online market earlier, the Horticulture Producers’ Cooperative Marketing Society (HOPCOMS) has now hopped on to Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to consumers’ doorsteps. Under a pilot programme which began in May, around 25 HOPCOMS stalls are taking orders from ONDC now. In the month of May, with a total of 397 orders, HOPCOMS earned a revenue of ₹56,804.
The HOPCOMS stall in Basavanagudi near Ramakrishna Ashram, the head office on Marigowda Road, and stalls in Indiranagar, Banashankari (near BDA complex), BEML layout are amongst those from which customers can order on ONDC.
“There were many other players in the online market, and we were not active. With central government’s ONDC, we have gotten a good platform. We are seeing around ₹5000-10,000 daily business this month from online orders. Along with being able to deliver on time, we also have the added advantage of being able to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables, unlike other players who might refrigerate their produce,” said N. Devaraj, president, HOPCOMS. He added that mangos were selling well to online customers.
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With no technical expertise on its side, HOPCOMS has collaborated with Innobits, for tech support in the backend. The technical partner takes care of receiving the orders, conveying them to respective stalls and payment. With the benefit of an open network, any delivery executive associated with any company can deliver the order to the customers and thereby take out logistical worries for HOPCOMS. “The delivery charge has to be borne by the customer,” said Umesh Mirji, Managing Director, HOPCOMS.
Decentralised approach this time
Mr. Mirji said that centralisation was the main reason for the online delivery system of HOPCOMS not working efficiently last time. This time, the whole process is decentralised. “As it was very centralised, it was time consuming. Now. We deliver within two kilometre radius of the stalls. With this approach, each unit (stall) will become more independent,” he said.
HOPCOMS is currently working on publicising the option to newer customers. “While our regular customers prefer coming to the stalls, this will help us cater to newer, younger customer base,” Mr. Mirji added.
With the number of orders increasing each day, HOPCOMS is looking towards business up to ₹1 lakh this month. “If business improves this way, we will definitely extend the programme to other stalls,” Mr. Mirji said.
Customers also expressed their happiness about being able to order online from HOPCOMS. “With HOPCOMS, we usually do not have to worry about quality. For fresh fruits and stuff like mushrooms, baby corn, HOPCOMS is always the better option. With ONDC, delivery charges will also be lesser when compared to other websites and I will definitely make use of this option,” said Navya. Y, a resident of Basavanagudi.
How to order from HOPCOMS on ONDC?
- Open the ONDC website.
- Choose one of the buyer apps like Paytm or Pincode.
- Find the nearest HOPCOMS stall.
- Add your items to the cart and proceed in the same manner as any other e-commerce platform.
