As for day-to-day essential items like milk, eggs, bread and vegetables, the housing society has tied up with vendors who come at designated time. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
With services of online grocery delivery platforms patchy at best, several residents of Pune have tied up with their grocery shops and medical outlets for the delivery of essential items.
Mohona Bhowmick, a resident of Konark Indrayu, NIBM, said that while she orders regularly from online grocery delivery services, due to the overcrowding of orders, she is now placing her orders with other platforms like Amazon pantry and D-Mart Ready. “I ordered from Amazon pantry a few days ago, before the lockdown came into effect, but the delivery was made after 15 days. The next time, I ordered my essentials from D-Mart’s mobile application. I got the delivery in a matter of two days. However, there are certain items which could not be delivered due to lack of stock. They have assured me that as soon as they get it in their stock, they will deliver,” she said.
As for day-to-day essential items like milk, eggs, bread and vegetables, the housing society has tied up with vendors who come at designated time. “The payments are taken online or through UPI to avoid any contact,” she said.
Koli Sen, a resident of Vimannagar, said she was “lucky” to get a slot with online grocery service Big Basket after a few attempts and get essential items delivered the same day. “There are several people placing orders at the same time, so it is very difficult to get a slot… moreover, several items such as certain vegetables and pulses are out of stock due to the number of orders placed,” she said.
Aditya Bhattacharjee, another resident of Vimannagar, ordered from D-Mart Ready but due to the overwhelming numbers of orders, his order was delayed. “It is commendable that they are taking online deliveries now… we are waiting patiently for our order to get delivered. As for our medicines, we go to our nearby medical shop and buy from it, maintaining a safe social distance,” he said.
The D-Mart Ready customer care centre, located in Mumbai, told The Indian Express that while the D-Mart Ready services were once restricted to Mumbai, the services have been overstretched across the country in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the time for deliveries is subject to available manpower and stock, and it will vary from region to region, they said.