Gurugram-headquartered e-grocery startup Grofers has lately been in a PR overdrive, amplifying its ambitious targets, especially its grand plan to clock $4 Bn (Rs 30,000 Cr) in gross merchandise value (GMV) by the end of CY2021-22. According to several media reports, the company claims to be on track to touch $1.4 Bn (Rs 10,000 Cr) GMV by the end of the current financial year ended March 2021 (FY21). Besides, just a few months after the Covid-19 lockdowns ended in July 2020, Grofers’ cofounder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa told the media the company would bring forward its IPO date to the end of CY2021, from its earlier schedule of mid-2022.
Going by these announcements, it seems business has never been so good for Grofers. However, some of these GMV targets do not add up when we look at the numbers from an overall online grocery perspective.
According to market research firm RedSeer, the entire online grocery market in India crossed $3 Bn in GMV as of December 2020, a sizable…