Mobile application supported urban-township e-grocery distribution

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a mobile application supported townshipand urban e-grocery distribution models that uses a software application (app) to bridge the infrastructural barriers, costs and complexities associated with e-grocery delivery operations in rural township areas. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative multi-case approach and semi-structured interviews, the study explored distribution practices of eight national emerging e-grocery retail businesses to demonstrate how mobile applications can facilitate South African urban and township e-grocery delivery models. Findings The study reveals how the need to scale the use of new mobile application innovations fuels value-added services that power new e-grocery distribution models. Of interest is how the application aggregates demand rapidly, respond to demand within a short lead time and how e-grocers use competitors’ stores as their fulfilment centres. The use of apps reveals a slow transformation of society towards an inclusive model that integrates different types of workers in an informal context. Practical implications The mobile application value-added service business model offers a new wave of scaling e-grocery retail to rural and township areas constrained by technological, economic and road infrastructure. The apps transcend e-grocery barriers and enables small businesses with limited resources to leverage e-grocery market opportunities that are unimaginable in townships and rural areas. Originality/value The innovative mobile platform-base model offers emerging contextual insight of a pull e-grocery distribution model that demonstrates the supply chain innovations for addressing under-resource and under-developed logistics infrastructure.

The Impact of COVID19 on E grocery Mobile Apps: Urban Township Perspective

“…There were reports of unavailability and substitutions, but they were quite minimal for the wholesale model. The insight supports Mkansi et al's (2020) findings on the moderate impact of unavailability issues on the e-grocery mobile application wholesale-configured model. In those instances of unavailability, customers were willing to take an alternative product, regardless of the price, because many orders were made by wealthy or well-to-do individuals on behalf of township families and communities.…”

“…We aim to re-launch in the next year". However, the e-grocers also witnessed increased competition from both small and big egrocery retailers, since the last interview with Mkansi et al (2020). For example, Shoprite Checkers, one of the biggest grocery retailers in South Africa launched Sixty60, an on-demand e-grocery mobile application with a value proposition beyond price, which is delivery of egroceries purchases within 60 minutes of order placement.…”

“…Most of the small e-grocery retailers operate in the urban, township and rural areas of the Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, with the exception of Spazzapp that has a national and international footprint, and Buy Grocery online that has national distribution capabilities. Of them all, Grocerease and Zulzi limited their operations to the urban market at the time of the study by Mkansi et al (2020). The reliance on competitors and third parties makes e-grocery retailers more susceptible to the impact of COVID-19 for several reasons: • Firstly, South Africa's longest level 5 and 4 lockdown restrictions precluded businesses without essential business certificates from operation.…”

Urban e-Grocery Distribution Design in Pamplona (Spain) Applying an Agent-Based Simulation Model with Horizontal Cooperation Scenarios

“…The interest of analysing the e-grocery demand in a medium sized city is three-fold. Firstly, the e-grocery penetration is lower and customers' characteristics heavily differ from those in large cities [46]. Secondly, the transportation infrastructure is usually poorer than in large cities, which makes transportation activities less efficient [47].…”

Investigation on the Last-Mile Delivery of Rural Logistics Under Crowdsourcing Transportation in China

“…And the results indicated that the convenience of goods changing and refunding, completeness of goods, pick-up appointment in advance, distribution cost are the utmost basic factors for sustainable last-mile delivery. Mkansi et al (2019) believed that insufficient resources and under-developed logistics infrastructure restrained the development of e-grocery logistics in townships and villages. Moreover, they developed an APP supported township and urban e-grocery distribution models to eliminate infrastructural barriers, costs, and complexities in rural township areas.…”