Every person we are not able to serve is one person more lining up at local grocery store: Grofers

By Pragya Kaushika
New Delhi [India], May 2 : At a time when the loss of jobs is emerging as a serious concern in view of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe, e-commerce giant Grofers is on a hiring spree.
"Hiring is on across Noida, Gurugram, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. We are open to hiring more," informed Rohit Sharma, head of supply chain, Grofers.
The online grocery platform is also signing up with delivery organisations, which have been its long time partners, asking them to expand their warehouses.
However, things weren't as smooth as they are today when the lockdown 1.0 kicked in.
"Just when the lockdown started, we saw a sudden dip in the attendance of workers. We have 5,000 workers in our warehouses alone, but the number halved whereas orders went up," he said.
"The customers were saying they want us to serve them and we were short of capacity. Between March 24 and April 7, we hired 2,000 workers," added Sharma.
The company is looking at expansion to meet demand and orders.
"Every person we are not able to serve is one person more lining up at local grocery store," reasons Grofers supply chain in-charge.
Grofers would be opening two new warehouses in Delhi and is in consultation for a new warehouse in Chennai, Jaipur, and a few other cities as Grofers doesn't want people to line up at stores as this would be bad for social distancing.
"In luck now, we are running at 120 per cent of expanded capacity. We are doing equally well in Kolkata and Bengaluru. We are delighted with the fact that we are able to serve in many cities. The administration in Delhi and NCR has been very supportive. The only zone where we are struggling is Mumbai, Pune, and Ahmedabad," said Sharma.
He said that many e-commerce platforms are partnering with kiranas. Grofers too isn't averse to the idea. It, however, believes that these shops also need to upgrade themselves to partner with online platforms.
"I believe as time goes by, kiranas will have to upgrade themselves. We are looking to partner with them. We know there are some people, who are struggling to get supplies," he said.
Recently a pizza delivery boy tested positive in Delhi that put a spotlight on companies operating on e-commerce platforms and also on how safe online buying is.
"It is good to be scared as it keeps us alert and ensures that we become stricter in enforcing preventive measures. None of our workers goes out without getting temperature checked, sanitisers, and masks. Coming to products, every piece is disinfected twice or thrice a day," said Sharma.
Sharma also gave a detailed account of how they are ensuring a safe environment inside the office.
"No one can share computers. Lunch-time has been staggered at three hours and in six batches. We have gone from the two-shift model to three-shift model. We comply with social distancing norm," he said.
"If anyone contracts the infection, there will be no financial repercussions as the person continues to get the salary," stated Grofers representative, saying that his company has changed the strategy of supply to hotspot zones.