June 3, 2013: Coke2Home.com, the first online store of Coca Cola India for home delivery of its products started its operations on a test basis in Ahmedabad region. This pilot project which is first of its kind by any FMCG company is an attempt by Coke to tap the growing e-
commerce market in India which according to Technopak is estimated to reach USD 76 billion by 2021. Though there are many grocery companies which sell their products through various portals this is first time that a FMCG company has come up with an exclusive portal.
Though this move of Coke is sure to raise some eyebrows among its delivery partners, the company says that they would be using them for the last mile connectivity with the consumers. Speaking about this initiative, T Krishnakuma, CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverage said, “The objective of this initiative is to take advantage of the rapid growth of e-commerce and provide consumers an added avenue of choosing and ordering our beverages. This is a step which is in keeping with Coca-Cola India’s efforts of being within easy reach of the consumers.”
The industry would be closely watching how Coca Cola takes on the challenges of delivery and distribution which most of the grocery e-tailers face in India. It will all depend on how much is the average order size because that is ultimately going to decide whether this business model is going to sustain.
