Curio

Six months ago, while traveling alone in the city, what would you have booked go, micro, mini, share, or pool? I can hear the majority of you saying share or pool. Well, till six months back, many companies were looking at the sharing economy as the way forward, making resources available for everyone at a reasonable price. It also created quite an asset-light model for everyone, even for the consumers, as they do not have to buy a car and spend on maintenance when they can travel to their offices at ease without the hefty down payments, subsequent EMIs and maintenance bills. Everyone was very optimistic about the shared economy model; many companies build their businesses around it right from the likes of Airbnb to Bounce (ride-sharing start-up). Everything was going hunky-dory, customers were getting their needs fulfilled, and companies were generating revenue. But suddenly mankind got hit by the worst pandemic of the all-time changing our perception about the shared economy over-...

As more and more people switched to online grocery shopping during the lockdown, chewing gum sales took a hit and became an unexpected casualty of the pandemic. Generally, chewing gum’s sales are the result of the impulse buys when shoppers wait in the long checkout lines. Another segment that contributes to the majority of its sales is young smokers, who try to cover their breath after smoke with the mint. Now, most offices are closed, and so do the small nukkad shops, mint sales saw a significant drop. At the surface, it looks like a problem for a definite period, i.e., till the lockdown gets over and we adjust to the new normal. But, there is more to it; minty-fresh breath forms a significant part of the social etiquette. Most of the mint brand’s communication revolves around the fresh breath, teeth whitening, and beautiful, confident smile with a focus not directed towards self but to the others (society). Now, most of the people are working from home, so even if they want con...

Zomato is re-evaluating its expansion in the e-grocery delivery segment. Though it started aggressively by initiating its operations across 80 cities and there were rumors about Zomato being in talks to acquire or form a strategic relationship to provide an additional boost to its rapid expansion plan (Delivery War: Catching Fire). Though the e-grocery delivery looks highly synergistic to Zomato’s current business model centered around food delivery. But e-grocery delivery comes with its own added disadvantage like lack of control over inventory and low average order values. According to an article published by the Ken- Though Zomato will continue to operate and provide services for grocery delivery. But as the lockdown will be lifted, the firm will re-focusing its time and resources on its food delivery segment. It’s just not Zomato; many companies like dominoes, no-broker, Meesho, Perpule fall back on grocery delivery to keep up the drying revenue stream. As the lockdown will be li...