New Delhi, September 21: Qaddoo, a location-based service, born to connect the digital space with the physical world, has launched its application on Google Play Store. With an emphasis on hyperlocal, Qaddoo wants to empower small retailers and local vendors to compete with the biggest digital stores. The aim is to preserve the relationship, and warmth consumers have with their neighbourhood stores while enabling the retail shops based in close proximity to go digital and broaden their reach. On top of it, the service quality is as expected by the customer through a generation of mutual understanding between the retailer and the customer.
The founders of Qaddoo, Sumit Kapoor and Anurag Gupta inform, “We applied such a concept after closely observing the loss of sales for small retailers and a major fall in their overall incomes due to digitisation in India. Moreover, for customers, the availability of a free market means better products, prices, and more options to choose from. The app is, therefore, looking forward to eliminating this gap between a large and a small scale retailer and promote fair competition between neighbourhood retailers and big e-tail outlets.
Both also explain that Qaddoo has entered this frame to help all kinds of small retail businesses to scale equally. As the pandemic has disrupted the flow, small outlets have been left out due to a major transition towards digital platforms. But with this application, when a consumer has the same store available at a single click, the sole reliability of big e-commerce chains is broken. Also, since the Qaddoo App is able to serve consumers while also creating demand, the relationship between both entities is effectively managed.
Qaddoo’s application is GPS-enabled and uses a number of functionalities to show consumers a list of retailers they can pick from a location of their choice. Also, if a certain retailer’s catalogue does not display a product needed by a consumer, they can still order it by typing the requirement. This opportunity also helps create a more satisfying buying experience and increases trust between both parties.
Qaddoo is available on Google Play Store, and each retail outlet enjoys a number of exclusive features. This includes the choice of creating a location-based store, joining groups for sharing news, events, videos, etc., promoting offers to invite more visitors, creating real-time posts for any location, and chatting one-on-one with the user or admin of the group. Moreover, Qaddoo does not charge any commission, implying all the revenue and the subsequent growth of a business remains fixed with the store owner.
All these features enable the Qaddoo App to underscore the value of the one-size-does-not-fit-all model and sideline the big e-commerce giants from taking advantage of their one-size-fits-all model. Each retailer extends their business online on the Qaddoo platform while being fully in charge of their vision and growth of their digital store.
“The company, via its app, has come ahead to work as an enabler rather than just being a facilitator for mom & pop shops and Kirana stores. Through its application, Qaddoo ensures retailers control the price,” says Sumit Kapoor. He adds, “No matter what the industry is, the company does not charge any transaction fee on orders placed.”
This application is not just limited to the grocery or other retail but is also for businesses, including home chefs, enthusiasts looking forward to selling their artwork, and individuals who have some services to offer. This implies whatever the scale of business, Qaddoo is enabled in providing a digital platform.
As per the analysis drawn by the company, the majority of the consumption still comes from small retailers in the grocery retail business. This implies the need to protect these outlets is more than ever before. And the application, by moving the same store over the internet, promotes ease of doing business. From setting up the catalogue, keeping all the user data, and deciding on what time and place to deliver, retailers remain the sole proprietor of their entity.
“Since the application works all over India, it has been kept in mind that the orders are read by retailers in their preferred language. Currently, the app is available in Hindi & English but soon, we shall be adding more regional languages. In this way, any hindrance while dealing with customers is completely eliminated. The process creates a pool of loyal customers,” explains Anurag Gupta.
Qaddoo has taken the road less travelled. The company, using its application, forecasts to save millions of small retailers and vendors from going out of business. It is also helping consumers by encouraging them to pick an item best suited to them from the open market.