COVID on a decline, but Hyderabadis stick to online shopping

E-commerce transactions have skyrocketed in the city over the past two years, thanks to fear of stepping out amid the pandemic. The pandemic has taught people that they can now do away with visiting different stores as everything is just a click away with online shopping.

Hyderabad: Although the pandemic fears have subsided with relative normalcy returning to the country, city dwellers in Hyderabad are sticking to online services that would be delivered to their homes in today's busy life. From milk and snacks to vegetables, fruits, groceries, medicines, non-vegetarian food, to dinner, products are just a touch away.

E-commerce transactions have skyrocketed in the city over the past two years -- thanks to fear of stepping out amid the pandemic. The pandemic has taught people that the they can now do away with visiting different stores as everything is just a click away with online shopping.

Hyderabad is a paradise for non-vegetarian lovers. Long queues at meat stalls used to be a common sight on Sundays. But it is a rare sight these days because of the online deliveries. Licious, TenderCuts and Fipola are the top three online meat providers that deliver fresh meat through online tools without having to sweat for the non-veg dishes.

On the other hand, with groceries and staples making up the majority of online orders, up to a hundred odd small and large supermarkets in the city have started delivering goods home. Consumers anyway prefer online billing as compared to waiting lines at physical stores. Popular apps like Big Basket, Dunzo, Reliance Mart, Amazon and Flipkart are delivering fresh groceries to customers’ doorstep. Snapdeal, Myntra and other online retailers are go-to option for clothes and accessories. Few e-stores have launched instant delivery too.

Food delivery accounts for a large share of online orders. Right from breakfast till midnight cravings, delivery executives work round the clock to serve customers their favourite foods. During Iftar in the holy month of Ramadan, between April 2 to 22, Swiggy delivered 4.50 lakh orders between 5 and 7 pm. Cloud kitchens were set up specifically for online orders.

Changing means of entertainment

At present, families are hooked to OTT platforms for watching movies. In the face of rising ticket and fuel prices, households are looking to cut down costs. They are preferring to take a quick walk in the park then spend an evening in a mall. The new generation, adept with online trading, invested heavily in the stock market, along with real estate during Covid.

Until now, shares were traded by going to stock broking offices and opening a demat account. With the availability of apps like Groww‌, people are trading at home on the go.

Online coaching for competitive exams

Currently, the Telangana government has released a notification for 80,000 job openings. In the past, this would have attracted job enthusiast crowds in Ameerpet, Dilsukhnagar and Ashok Nagar, where coaching centers are aplenty. Though the situation is more or less the same today, equal number of people are taking coaching from home as all the leading coaching centers are offering online courses.

T-SAT is broadcasting lessons on TV. Job aspirants are purchasing coaching material from Amazon. In fact, e-commerce platforms are providing high employment.