Home Delivery Is My Birthright

Slowly, silently but strongly, the segment of home delivery is growing by leaps and bounds in India. Indians are royal people and, influenced by thousands of years of culture and legacy, they like to be served at home – like rajas and ranis.

‘Home delivery is my birthright!’ That is what every Indian feels and expects. Whether it be early morning, evening, or night, we want, we desire, and we expect home delivery—of product brands and service brands. Any brand that does not have the home delivery feature is missing out on a huge amount of sales, revenue, and customer satisfaction.

Across categories of products and services, home delivery is regarded as the birthright of every Indian. Whether in major cities, Class I towns, smaller towns, or villages, home delivery is considered essential by Indian consumers.

Let us begin with the morning. For years, newspapers and milk have followed the route of home delivery. It is expected. It is delivered.

Can you imagine your day beginning without a newspaper and milk being delivered to your doorstep? Day after day, year after year, they arrive diligently. This helps start the day well—with a cup of tea or coffee and the reading of the newspaper, whether it be in English or any other Indian language.

Just like charity begins at home, the home delivery system begins at home—and that too, early in the morning.

There are many services we take for granted. Like the postman who delivers mail at home or the courier with his technological devices delivering important packages at home.

Why is respecting this consumer behavior so important? Why is home delivery a major marketing strategy element? Well, there could be many reasons.

• One of them is that Indians are obsessed with the royal heritage of being served at home like rajas and ranis, like kings and queens.
• The second reason could be that we are lazy. At every stage, we want convenience—and why not?
• Thirdly, technology is now a growing enabler, helping companies with the support of logistics and manpower to reach your desired product brand or service brand at home.

During the course of the day, there could be a grocery delivery from Big Basket or even from the neighborhood kirana store. Along the way, all through the day, there could be a pharma delivery from Netmeds or Pharmeasy, or the wonderful neighborhood chemist, or the day and night Wellness Forever chemist chain.

• If we need furniture, there could be a delivery from Pepperfry and Urban Ladder.
• If we need electronics, there is Croma with a home delivery feature.
• If we need a blood test done, hospitals like Hiranandani will send their team home, allowing patients to avoid a hospital visit, making it easy and convenient.
• Then, of course, there is the huge Amazon and Flipkart revolution, delivering brands at home, based on the consumer’s needs, wants, and desires.
• If you would like to order dinner or snacks, then the highly successful Swiggy and Zomato help out. Individual restaurants also deliver home.
• If it is groceries, there is D’mart or Godrej Nature’s Basket.
• Even if it is a bulb or a tube light from the neighborhood electrical store, home delivery is expected—and in many cases, delivered.

In some cases, there is a minimum order value requirement, which, to my mind, is silly. Why miss out on a chance to penetrate the household, even if it is a small order? In fact, big chains need to learn that today’s small order could be tomorrow’s big order, and day after tomorrow’s regular order, allowing the consumer to invite you to his home and get served.

In fact, neighborhood stores have much to teach the big modern trade chains, because they deliver even a loaf of bread. This is because penetrating a household is a great opportunity, and building relationships with the consumer is an even bigger opportunity.

I may have missed out many categories or brands, but the home delivery revolution is permeating and spreading like wildfire. Marketers must not miss this wave, which is taking the shape of a long-term consumer behavior trend.

There are many product categories where people may hesitate to provide home delivery. This does not have to be the case.

• Even a product category like ice-cream can be delivered at home with the right type of packaging and consumed at the right temperature. Natural Ice-Cream is a great example of providing a home delivery service.
• In the case of services, home delivery has been in practice for many years. Home tuitions are an example.
• The proportion of home delivery sales to sales in-store has been increasing.

If there are companies or marketers who miss out on the home delivery strategy, they need to consider this as a part of their marketing arsenal.