How to scale your hyperlocal marketplace?

1. Introduction

“Sell the problem you solve, not the product.”

With the coming into being of technology and a rapid adoption of new channels of communication, the classical approach to marketing various merchandise and services at a local level has undergone a big paradigm change. From the age of small print ads, inserts and banners, etc. the world has found itself greatly exposed to the likes of digital marketing mediums and hyperlocal marketing techniques.

Without an iota of doubt, hyperlocal marketplaces, with the help of a multivendor marketplace software, have almost everything of need that they can offer to their customers and they are already solving many of their problems in today’s times.

Moreover, due to the increasing proliferation of e-commerce platforms, online marketplaces, and delivery-based enterprises, the expectations and needs of the consumers are increasing, too. Companies that deliver faster than their competitors naturally tend to attract more customers. So, it would not be wrong to assert that the hyperlocal delivery model, in today’s competitive era, does open up a slew of opportunities for entrepreneurs and start-ups.

In point of fact, increasingly well-funded start-ups, nicely curated products and services, and rapid on-demand delivery have contributed to hyperlocal e-commerce’s popularity. Their success has led to interest and participation by some of the large business houses and online giants, lately.

But what is a hyperlocal marketplace that a vast majority of prudent businesses are wanting to cater to, so desperately? And, what is hyperlocal marketing that contemporary businesses are rushing for and resorting to, so often?

2. Knowing the basics of a hyperlocal marketplace

The hyperlocal marketplace can be defined as a marketplace that helps in catering to the needs of a set geographical area of customers. In a hyperlocal marketplace environment, users can simply figure out the products and services on their own, offering them exactly more of their requirements. On-demand food delivery app-based services, personal care services, house care services, on-demand groceries’ delivery, etc. all are part of the hyperlocal marketplace.

All of us, at least once, if not more than that, have availed the services of Amazon, Flipkart or Myntra. Very much like them, a hyperlocal marketplace is an online multivendor place in that it caters to a limited or a predefined geographic area. The predominant feature of a hyperlocal marketplace is that the entire supply chain is located pretty close to the buyers as well as the sellers. In fact, just because the retailers, delivery drivers and customers are present physically close enough, a hyperlocal delivery is a matter of a few minutes. There you order, here it arrives at your doorstep. Ding dong!

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So, does a hyperlocal marketplace really solve a customers’ myriad problems? Yes, it certainly does.

My Kirana is a popular hyperlocal marketplace app wherein you can conveniently order groceries or personal care products or avail other essential commodities of need. They have shops for different locations listed on their app and the products available in these stores. For instance, if you live in location ‘X’, the app would not show you shops of location ‘Y’ or ‘Z’. This makes the whole process of delivery easy and quick. Moreover, such a hyperlocal marketplace gives the consumers the convenience of relaxing at home and ordering while saving a lot of time and buying effort that could have been wasted, had they themselves moved out of their homes to get the food they ordered online.

Read more about how to start a hyperlocal delivery marketplace

3. What Is meant by hyperlocal marketing?

Hyperlocal marketing is a technique of focusing your marketing and advertising efforts to a specific geographic location with the intention of targeting people conducting ‘near me’ searches on their mobile phones on a real time basis.

In other words, it is the process of targeting the prospective customers in a highly specific and geographically restricted area so as to lure them into visiting and buying from the website or app more often.

This blog, therefore, is centered around discussing precise location targeting through sharply defined marketing techniques called hyperlocal marketing and the ways of scaling a hyperlocal business in today’s fiercely growing hyperlocal marketplace.

NOTE: It was revealed through a research that the global hyperlocal service market size was worth $1714 billion in the year 2020 and is expected to grow to a whopping $5188 billion by the year 2030, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.9 % from 2021 to 2030.

Hyperlocal marketing is strictly purpose driven. Its fundamental purpose is to capitalize on the ‘near me’ searches made by the customers. In fact, as per a published article, ‘near me’ searches have become extremely popular in the recent years among customers among the users. Data from Google indicates that ‘near me’ searches grew in volume by 130% year over year between 2014 and 2015 alone, and since then, Google users are using ‘near me’ searches to find everything from post offices in San Francisco to dispensaries in Los Angeles, to Chinese restaurants in Washington D.C and what not.

In tandem with the increase in near me searches during the last few years, the popularity of hyperlocal marketing has risen by leaps and bounds.

4. Hyperlocal marketplace: knowing step by how it works

The working of a hyperlocal marketplace is simple. Here is how it works

• Sellers and retail outlets (restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc.) upload their inventory on the marketplace website/app.
• Customers browse the items they want & add them to the cart so as to place an order.
• The customers make payment either via online modes or choose to pay via cash-on-delivery mode.
• Seller receives the order on its marketplace website/app.
• The seller accepts the order.
• They pack the order to avoid any shipping and transportation damage and in order to make the delivery convenient.
• Delivery agent visits the store and picks up the order for delivery.
• Customers’ order is eventually delivered to his doorstep.

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The simplicity of the working of a hyperlocal marketplace and the benefits associated with it make it one of the most sought-after destinations to consider for entrepreneurs and start-ups. Be it food, grocery, medicines or other household essentials, hyperlocal marketplaces are undoubtedly witnessing a surge in customer demand.

It would not be too far fetched to assert that hyperlocal businesses and their marketplaces have come a long way in their pursuit of attracting a greater number of customers with each passing day.

But, have you ever wondered what connects the sellers, customers and the delivery drivers?

The above step by step model may appear to be simple but there is a lot going on in the back end. A team of dedicated software developers who continuously keep an eye on what changes are needed in a hyperlocal business software, as per the growing trend or how often customer preferences or their choices are witnessing a shift so as to be tapped accordingly.

Also, why hyperlocal businesses are gaining momentum and attracting a quick sight of the global customers and therefore, are scaling like anything?

5. Factors that have contributed to the growing hyperlocal culture

Following are the few factors that have actively contributed to their phenomenal rise.

• Growing number of mobile internet users
• Increasing rate of smartphone adoption and its penetration
• Growing sense of urbanization among the customers
• A call for bettered standard of living and improved lifestyle
• Changing consumer preferences
• Improvement in logistics infrastructure
• Increase in business digitalization
• High funding for e-commerce businesses

Taking due heed of the above-mentioned factors that have over the last few years significantly contributed to the whopping growth of the hyperlocal industry, one can learn about the path a business takes in its pursuit of economic prosperity and growth.

But, to be able to scale the business splendidly where every competing business is trying really hard to supersede the other, one needs to capitalize and make the most of a few of these factors, if not all.

6. The TOWS matrix: learning to put a SWOT strategy into action to help businesses upscale

A SWOT analysis of the business is often very handy and can lead to significant gains; and if carried out strategically, it can help you scale your hyperlocal marketplace in quick time.

While strengths and weaknesses are internal to an organization, opportunities and threats are always present in the external environment. It is true that there can be several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats concerning a business, but it is even truer that many businesses are not aware of it. Only those who are, get to succeed.

The below provided image gives a vivid insight into some probable forms of S,W,O,T that can concern a business.

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Prudent businesses of modern era are highly attentive and careful about the deployment of the right set of strategies in today’s fiercely placed hyperlocal marketplace, one of which is the application of SWOT.

To conduct an exhaustive SWOT analysis, following steps must be taken due care of-

1. Make yourself familiar with the internal and external environment of your hyperlocal business.
2. List your hyperlocal business’s strengths and weaknesses and its opportunities and threats.
3. Divide your strengths into two groups:
4. Those that can help you take advantage of opportunities concerning your business
5. And, those that can help you head off potential threats
6. Now, classify your weaknesses into two groups:
7. Those that require improvement before you can take advantage of the present opportunities.
8. And, those that you need to completely and quickly overhaul and convert into strengths in order to avert any potential threats that may affect your business.
9. Use your lists as you make decisions that contribute to your business plan.

Develop strategies and actions for capitalizing on opportunities and create plans for countering the external threats and overcome weaknesses that could threaten the future of your hyperlocal business.

There are few possible strategic combinations of SWOT that hyperlocal businesses can work upon and upscale themselves. Let us have a look at them.

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• SO Strategy: This set of strategy is aimed at capturing the market opportunities present externally by making a good and impeccable use of your inherent strengths. In the context of a hyperlocal marketplace, an example of an opportunity can be growing internet usage among the worldwide users, which can be timely captured by efficiently working on your strength of already being a strong contender in that space, to make your marketplace presence more prominent. Running blitzkrieg advertising campaigns or sales offers can also be used in order to tap into the opportunity and scale your hyperlocal marketplace.

• WO Strategy: This is aimed at overcoming inherently present weaknesses by exploiting the external opportunities. For instance, your weakness could be the absence of skilled technical people who can help you upscale the technical front of your business in the hyperlocal marketplace; but there is an opportunity in the form of people wanting more and more hyperlocal services in your area. In such a case, your business can allocate resources towards employing such technical people so as to develop the required technical knowhow or let’s say digital aspect of marketing and promoting its business and thus overcome its weakness.

• ST Strategy: This strategy is about countering the threats present in the external environment with the help of your internal strengths. For instance, the hyperlocal marketplace is getting fierce with each passing day. The threat is the presence of potential competitors that may destabilize you from your competitive position. Adopting ST strategy, your business can ramp up its marketing efforts and come up with irresistible offers so as to outcompete your counterparts or it can work on its speedy delivery model and introduce drone deliveries so as to carve a delivery niche for itself and thence outpace other businesses.

• WT Strategy: The aim of WT strategy is to minimize both weaknesses and threats. A company faced with external threats and internal weaknesses may indeed be in a precarious position. In the hyperlocal marketplace context, a weakness can be a restaurant’s inability to come up with food offerings of customer’s liking in a hyperlocal food delivery environment where competing restaurant players have a lot to offer to their customers, which is a potential threat. In such a scenario, weaknesses need to be overcome by prioritizing things of concern and thereby save oneself from the prevailing threats.

7. Hyperlocal marketplace: exploring the scaling possibilities and the future that lies there in

It is noteworthy that growing number of mobile internet users is seen as a potential opportunity by businesses wanting to grow and expand. By partnering with a company that provides a wide range of hyperlocal services through its e-commerce marketplace software and making your website or app attractive and more utility driven, your business can easily lure the users into using your website/app more often. The greater number of users turn up to your app, increased is the likelihood to generate sales and profits.

Once sales start to pick up, the chances of your business getting more visible among the users increases by leaps and bounds. This is what is known as increased brand visibility. But to be able to sustain that brand visibility in a highly fierce hyperlocal marketplace can be pretty challenging unless you couple it with the right set of marketing and advertising tactics and strategies. By smartly working on your online/digital presence, your business can easily create a hyperlocal presence for itself, which is what every business wants.

Besides this, your hyperlocal marketplace can be scaled by building and sustaining relationships and expanding your hyperlocal network by partnering with local stores, shops, vendors, delivery agents, etc.

With the boom of information technology and the growing usage of internet, one thing which is evident is that the consumers are liking and moving towards effortless buying options and the hyperlocal model is enabling just that. With hyperlocal deliveries getting prevalent day by day, entrepreneurs and businesses can capitalize on customer loyalty and experience.

What makes a hyperlocal marketplace more interesting and intriguing a place is the fact that it has a lot of scope and it is a world full of infinite possibilities for aspiring businesses. It is more so with the coming into being of artificial intelligence, robotics and drone deliveries that renders the marketplace worth being into.

With everything considered, your hyperlocal marketplace could be scaled and made more competitive, with the right set of tools and tactics. While the right set of tactics through proper marketing strategies and plans need to be employed carefully from time to time, the former part (i.e., tools) is something which we at Hyperzod can promise to provide you.

From helping to place quick orders to real time monitoring of them and from live GPS tracking to having an elaborate dashboard for all the statistics your business may require, Hyperzod’s robust software capabilities may be something you need to put your faith into and it may be the jackpot you just need to hit.

Owning a software that has a bird’s eye view of the entire platform your business works upon is after all a business distinction in itself. Our software’s immaculate capabilities are a thing ‘to die for’, for many businesses who are going to flourish and prosper in a short span of time from now. And it doesn’t cost you a fortune, too.

Owning a software that has a bird’s eye view of the entire platform your business works upon is after all a business distinction in itself. Our software’s immaculate capabilities are a thing ‘to die for’, for many businesses who are going to flourish and prosper in a short span of time from now. And it doesn’t cost you a fortune, too.

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