Kashmir Entrepreneur Sets Up Valley's 1st Online Grocery Store

Srinagar: A 28-year-old Kashmiri entrepreneur Malik Aadil has set up the first and largest online grocery delivery service in Kashmir.

Aadil's project, titled as Groxery-The Store Next Door, is covering almost the entirety of Srinagar city. He informed the media about his app as well. "I have developed an app for Groxery through which customers book their orders and we drop it at their doorsteps within 70 minutes."

He further said that the app has over 45 thousand downloads on Android's Play Store and 5 thousand downloads on Apple's IOS Store. He said that they are aiming to cover Jammu city by the first week of February and then move forward into the districts Baramulla, Bugdam, Ganderbal and Pulwama.

Adil, who hails from a remote north Kashmir village in Bandipor district credits the idea of this project to his experience of working for Grofers. He said, "I was working for Grofers (an Indian online grocery delivery service) in Bangalore in 2015 after completing my MBA when I decided to start my own venture. I had received a handful of experience as I was handling the marketing side of the company there."

He informed that the app offers two modes of delivery- express and slot. The express option is for urgent deliveries which are delivered within 70 minutes while the slot option is for delivery during time slots as per the customer's convenience.

Adil has also set up an in-house inventory with almost ten thousand products which include household items, pet care, personal care, stationery, and others. He also added that they deliver Harrisa, a minced mutton delicacy, eggs and Kashmiri Rotis along with these products, grocery and vegetables.

A graduate from Alliance Business School, Bangalore, Adil's venture employs thirty-five Kashmiri men and women. He further added that they have plans to open Groxery branded retail stores across the city and in other districts.

Adil also informed that they followed all necessary SOPs while carrying out deliveries during the Covid lockdown but lamented that slow internet speeds hurts their business. He said that in the case of internet shutdowns, they would take offline orders.

This is not Adil's first venture of entrepreneurial life. In 2015, he started an event management company in Bangalore called ProBranding 365, which has been handling big brands in India. He said that they have employed over a hundred people there and have started working in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, and Chennai.

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