Online classifieds site Quikr is testing a new hyperlocal delivery service in Bangalore, under which it will purchase products from merchants for you and will deliver to your doorstep. The company’s website says that the new pick-and-drop service can be availed for grocery requirements, getting street food, or “want to deliver anything anywhere”. It adds, “Just order, we will purchase & deliver at your place”.
Quikr’s spokesperson said that this is one of the many experiments Quikr keep doing, and it is unclear if this service will be expanded or be launched in near future.
The service is free as of now. The pilot has been launched under its newly renamed QuikrEasy service. The company recently re-branded its services vertical QuikrServices to QuikrEasy, as the company feels that the new name depicts more convenience, and wider choice. Under QuikrEasy it provides services from service providers like interior designers, relocation services, home-improvement, health and wellness, etc. The company claims to have around 200 such services under this category.
The company already have a doorstep delivery model in place, which was launched in March last year. Under Quikr Doorstep, the company provides logistics for C2C transactions (customer-to-customer).
First Impressions
We tried this service via desktop site, and it looked pretty simple and easy to use. To order whatever you need, you just need to click the pick and drop tap under QuikrEasy section, and you will be asked mobile number. To start listing what you need, you will need to punch OTP sent to you. Once you are done with listing items one by one, you can proceed the order by entering your address. To complete the order, you will be pre-charged convenience fee/ logistics fee of Rs 49, which you can pay via card, net banking, or wallets like Ola Money, Paytm, and Mobikwik, and probably the total bill of the items purchased for you is to be paid at the time of delivery. Also, note that the pick-and-drop service is only available from 8am to 8 pm. Below are some screenshots:
Since we tried doing it from Delhi (and did not proceed with payment, hence incomplete order), we could not figure out how much time it takes to deliver the ordered items to users. But at the surface, we found the delivery process simple and usable. However, it is unclear if users can pay via other modes of payments other than cash at the time of delivery. Since we tried ordering from Delhi, we are not sure about the quality of items such as street food or flowers.
