Now Grofers will deliver iPhones in 10 minutes; here’s how

New Delhi: Grofers, an online grocery delivery platform, is preparing to grow into a full-fledged e-commerce corporation capable of delivering everything, even mobile phones, within 10 minutes of receiving an order.

In a blog post, Grofers' founder and CEO Albinder Dhinsa expressed his vision for the company, which was founded in December 2013.

"Imagine if you can get anything delivered to you in less than 10 minutes. Milk for your morning chai. The perfect shade of lipstick for tonight’s party. Even an iPhone. Imagine the store that delivered these to you is owned by someone just like you – a community entrepreneur. Your neighbour. Your friend. Maybe even you. This is the Grofers vision," Dhindsa wrote in the blog on October 18.

Grofers intends to foster community entrepreneurship by collaborating with ambitious business women and men who will run "dark stores" where inventory will be housed.

Dark stores are regular retail businesses, such as clothing and appliance stores, that have been transformed into fulfilment centres for online clients' orders. Grofers has already collaborated with 86 dark store owners in 13 locations and processed over 1 million orders in the three months since the introduction of its rapid delivery service.

Surprisingly, Dhindsa announced his ambitions just months after Grofers co-founder Saurabh Kumar exited the company and announced aspirations to launch a rapid commerce startup.

Kumar, who left Grofers in July, has founded Warpli, which promises to deliver things to clients within "a few hours, if not minutes" of placing an order. He has begun hiring engineers and product managers and intends to launch the company within the next several months.

Kumar is still a member of the Grofers board of directors and a shareholder in the company.

Grofers now distributes groceries and necessary things such as baby care, pet care, and home design items, which are low-value products in comparison to smartphones that cost upwards of Rs 12,000 in India.

According to a recent Redseer Consulting analysis, mobile phones accounted for 46 percent of the entire gross merchandise value (GMV) recorded by e-commerce companies in the first week of their holiday season sales this year.

The total GMV of items sold during the period was $4.6 billion, with mobile phones accounting for over half of this total.

E-commerce companies often deliver things across the country in 2-5 days.

According to the Redseer report, India's e-commerce business is expected to generate $55 billion in sales by 2021, with 40 million additional online buyers.

At the same time, quick commerce, which is defined as delivery of items within 45 minutes, is expected to grow by 10-15 times in the next five years to become a $5 billion market by 2025.