Online grocery prices rise as brands slash discounts

Discounts on online grocery shopping are coming down with almost all e-grocery companies increasing prices in the last two months as brands have reduced offers due to inflationary pressure.

E-grocery companies have raised prices by 4-6% in October and November, while quick commerce platforms have undertaken 7-9% price hike, a research report by brokerage Motilal Oswal said.

B Krishna Rao, senior category head at the country's largest biscuits maker Parle Products, said brands have reduced offers due to inflationary pressure, which appears as if there is a price increase.

"Overall consumer offers have come down both in modern retail and e-commerce," he said. "This will continue for a while till some input prices cool down with the exception of big days like the Republic Day sales in January."

Motilal Oswal said Tata-owned online grocer BigBasket and hypermarket chain DMart's ecommerce site raised prices by 5% and 6%, respectively, last month. In the quick commerce segment, Dunzo and Zepto have raised prices by 9-11% on a month-on-month basis, it said in a report released on Tuesday.