Kolkata: Have employed two to tackle delivery demand

KOLKATA: I have actually seen a sizeable growth in business over the past one week. I cannot handle the home delivery load by myself and have now employed two men who have bikes. They are carrying grocery and other essential items to hundreds of doorsteps from my shop.
My business has gone up with the second wave that saw people prefer to stay indoors.With the enhanced restrictions now in place, even those who used to come here to buy, are placing orders on phone, by either calling up or via WhatsApp texts. They send a timeline by which they want their orders delivered and I ensure that it is done according to the time of their choice.
I have started getting orders from the AJ, AD, BJ, BD, BF, BH, CF, CJ and even GD blocks. Word of mouth publicity is helping and my phone just doesn’t stop ringing. Most of my customers check different brands and offers before placing their orders with me. I am also surfing the net to keep myself abreast of offers and schemes that the superstores in malls are providing. I am also asking my customers routinely at the time of delivery if they have any particular product in mind, which they would want us to procure for them. We are asking for suggestions too.
If there’s an issue with the goods delivered, we have them exchanged immediately. People are liking the personalised services we are offering and we repeatedly tell them not to hesitate to place an order even if it’s a single item or very small quantity. After all, what are neighbourhood shops there for?
Delivery is always free of charge. We have seen people moving away from us in favour of online shopping and big stores in malls in the past. But the current situation has brought local kirana stores back in reckoning.
(Koushik Howladar, owner of a grocery store at the AH Block in Salt Lake, spoke to Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey.)