A Pioneering Frontier and Brainchild of Technology – Hyperlocal E-commerce

“Hyperlocal e-commerce has been a harbinger of good times for twenty-first-century businesses, modern-age entrepreneurs, and contemporary consumers. They all have been left spellbound by the unbridled leaps it has made in the industry with the help of cutting-edge technology.”

Technology has made long, significant strides, more so in the years gone by. It has been a roller coaster ride amidst unrestrained technological ascension in the past decade for some firms. But for most others, they have just struck the right chords with technical progress. They have found the much-needed ambo that they were looking for. While I say ’ambo,’ I mean anything that uplifts. Technology has disrupted e-commerce and has inspired hyperlocal e-commerce businesses to tremendous heights. Hence, all the quick commerce that we see happening around us.

Rapid technological advancements viz a viz automation, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, drone deliveries, etc., have assisted the coming into being of hyperlocal e-commerce. This phenomenon is quick and gratifying for businesses and consumers alike. The rampant growth of technology has led SaaS companies to provide robust digital platforms to twenty-first-century firms and entrepreneurs, where they can quickly market their offerings, become visible and recognized, and leverage several platform-generated advantages.

Modern-day firms and corporate houses, armed with state-of-the-art technology and cutting-edge automated delivery solutions, have found a comfortable and safe haven in hyperlocal e-commerce marketplace platforms. Such platforms not only provide businesses with the ‘ambo’ to become more noticeable online, but they also help them customize their business offerings, automate their operations, streamline their logistics, and become increasingly scalable, besides other benefits- all to provide seamless customer experiences.

Making Commerce Go Online — and E-commerce Go Hyperlocal

What’s the need to make your business go online? Why should firms and entrepreneurs choose the hyperlocal e-commerce model? Well! There are myriad reasons and a strong predilection for businesses to go online. They are the rising adoption of smartphones, increasing interconnectedness, flourishing app culture, push for digitalization, and growing seated lifestyles.

Everybody is going online- firms, entrepreneurs, consumers, prospects, bloggers, influencers, peers, family, and friends. Besides, pretty much everything is getting hyperlocal- food, groceries, medicines, stationery, clothes, footwear, accessories, and everything you can think of. The e-commerce market is projected to reach a revenue of US$3.64tn in 2023, highlighting its immense size.

This is why an increasing number of commercial establishments, no matter how minuscule, are choosing to go online, and those who are already online are desperately choosing to go hyperlocal.

The Unique Attribute of the Hyperlocal E-commerce Model

Hyperlocal e-commerce has been believed to grow steadily, all the more during and after the sudden pandemic. When the pandemic struck, hyperlocal e-commerce gradually entered homes, ensuring that goods reached needy consumers. Because the model focuses on geography and time, proximity between the vendor & buyer helps businesses deliver products at lightning-fast speeds. Perhaps this feature was a blessing for everyone when the pandemic suddenly left us dumbstruck.

For such sudden and desperate times, hyperlocal e-commerce delivery platforms have emerged as the closest amigos of businesses. Since they closely cater to niches and adopt a local approach, they are better positioned to make lightning-fast deliveries possible; otherwise, a decade or two back could take several days because the vendors and buyers were distant. The rise of such platforms has made them come closer and become noticeable. Additionally, it has opened avenues of growth and profitability. It has helped businesses see through challenging times by bringing in continuous sales, increasing their reach, and outnumbering the not-so-digital businesses.

The hyperlocal on-demand delivery model broadly has admins, buyers, and delivery drivers as parties involved in the process. Once a buyer orders through the platform, the admin receives a notification. He then assigns delivery drivers to proceed with the delivery, providing them with a previously agreed-upon commission.

Some Palpable Reasons That Are Making Hyperlocal E-commerce Go Boom

From a Business’s Perspective

• Hyperlocal e-commerce platforms bring together local offline retailers and vendors. This gives them an ambo and hence bridges the gap between them and their target market. Through this blend, businesses can easily meet their set objectives.
• Hyperlocal businesses operate only within a particular geographical area. It helps businesses attend to the needs of their customers quickly and productively. Quick commerce has thus contributed to its increasing popularity. It continues to go strong today, and consumers are growing increasingly rapacious for fast deliveries.
• It enables hyperlocal businesses to increase sales and ramp up their revenue in a shorter time frame. This is possible because of increased visibility and far better market outreach. As a result, clients have more chances of presenting their products online in front of their customers.

From Customers’ Perspectives

• Hyperlocal e-commerce provides customers with a much better shopping experience. Its platform offers them a smooth user experience and a complete view of a digital dashboard of products.
• Modern-age customers can buy products from the comfort of their homes and get them delivered at a reasonable price. The hyperlocal model fits in well in our contemporary times. It is so because buyers are wishful to lead a sedentary lifestyle- something that hyperlocal e-commerce aptly fulfills by making deliveries at the doorsteps.
• In today’s world of ultra-fast deliveries, consumers are keeping so busy that going out and availing products has become a challenge. Hyperlocal e-commerce solves this dilemma of theirs, as well. The hyperlocal model efficiently develops robust systems. This enables individuals to receive quick and safe product deliveries, saving them from the hassles of going out and shopping.

Key Points to Consider Before Going Hyperlocal

The following must be considered before starting an online business, beginning with a hyperlocal presence.

Deciding upon what to sell: Knowing ‘what to sell’ is perhaps one of the primary questions you can ask yourself before launching a business. Businesses must learn about their portfolio of products and services that will go up for grabs once the business is launched. What does the product do? Does it have features that the target market will be interested in? What USP are we putting forth through our product or service? etc., like questions can help tackle the dilemma.

Deciding on your target market: Consumer behavior is a complex phenomenon, as is the study of the target market. Businesses wishing to have a hyperlocal e-commerce delivery solution should initially know their market’s geography, demography, psychographics, and behavior. A target market, if recognized rightly and reached out effectively, can be the most predominant thing for a hyperlocal business wanting to get started.

Teaming up with the right hyperlocal partner: There is little doubt that hyperlocal businesses are thriving. And more and more businesses are jumping on the hyperlocal trend. Prospective firms can liaise with the right hyperlocal e-commerce delivery partners to produce synergistic advantages. This not only helps give a substantial push to merely starting an online endeavor, but the onboard clients can reap the benefits of collaboration in the long term by scaling.

Wrapping Up

Hyperlocal e-commerce is becoming a buzzword for some obvious reasons. It is the speed and ease that it offers today’s businesses. Hyperlocal e-commerce deliveries have become lightning-quick because of end-to-end automation, inbuilt GPS, and real-time notifications. With hyperlocal e-commerce platforms around, standalone businesses and new-age entrepreneurs own a lot of computing power they can easily exploit. Perhaps this is why on-demand deliveries have picked up a significant pace recently.

As technology like AI, IoT, automation, robotics & drone deliveries rapidly advances and becomes more mainstream, people will likely depend on it, relying on technology for a wide range of needs. Therefore, modern-day businesses and entrepreneur-led corporations must embrace technology-driven solutions and the changes that come with them.

In the highly dynamic environment, changing market scenario, and evolving e-commerce landscape, businesses would have to put their best foot forward to come up with an answer to the ‘hyperlocal calling’ from the ever-ravenous twenty-first-century consumers.

They are desperate for hyperlocal deliveries, and firms that satisfy this craving will likely reign supreme in the highly transformative hyperlocal e-commerce landscape.

Originally published on ReadWrite by Dr. Shamael Zaheer Khan.