Is D-Mart ready for the e-commerce battle?

India’s most profitable retailer is making a play for the online grocery market, but it could be a case of too much, too soon

Over the last 18 months, Mumbai-based Avenue Supermarts has been discreetly experimenting with the e-retail space

The company, which runs the D-Mart supermarket chain, is the largest Indian retailer by market capitalisation

However, the online grocery business is tough because the margins are lower and the products are perishable

D-Mart’s push into a space that is known to drive losses may not offer any silver lining in the near future

Here is what a retail consultant told me a year ago: “The next war of e-commerce will be fought over food and groceries.” His words have proved prophetic. With China’s Alibaba investing $146 million in BigBasket, Amazon committing $500 million to food retail, and, most recently, US giant Walmart’s $16 billion Flipkart buy, the online grocery war is no secret.

In the shadow of these big-ticket moves though, a dark horse is stirring. Over the last 18 months, the RK Damani-promoted Avenue Supermarts has been discreetly experimenting with the e-retail space. Focussed primarily on food and grocery, the company looks set to be the latest addition to an increasingly crowded online grocery sector.

AUTHOR

Harveen Ahluwalia

In her last assignment, Harveen was at Mint, the business daily published by HT Media. At Mint, where she spent about two years, she wrote stories on retail, food and the media business. Harveen is a B.Com (H) graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. She has a diploma in journalism from the Times School of Journalism. Like many folks at The Ken, Harveen talks and tweets a lot. When she isn’t writing or reading, she likes to sketch and doodle. She can be reached at harveen at the-ken dot com.

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