Founded in 2019 by Ajay Nain and Prateek Chaturvedi, Gully Network empowers mid-sized grocery stores in tier I and tier II cities. The company currently has 60 stores in 4 cities and intends to strengthen its network to 300 stores in 15 cities by December 2022. Its unparalleled operations-light and inventory-free model makes the business highly scalable. It aims to build a network of 20,000 stores across India with a strong presence in every kilometre in the top 200 cities, serving 8 million households.
Gully Network: Empowering Indias Mid-Sized Grocers in Tier I & II Cities
Ajay Nain, Co-founder – Gully Network, said, “A $25 billion untapped market of mid-sized stores has been overlooked in the digitization game as it is sandwiched between large-format modern retail chains and small format Kirana stores. These stores operate in the modern trade format and despite having a high digital affinity, they cannot realize their potential because of their stand-alone nature. We provide them with an opportunity to be part of a modern retail network by transforming these unbranded stand-alone mid-sized stores into omnichannel stores under the brand GULLYMART.”
The company partners with stand-alone mid-sized stores that aspire to increase their income and automate their operations end-to-end. Available tech solutions are fragmented and do not enable complete automation, which is the key ask from the segment. Mid-sized grocers prefer automation over DIY tools because of the lack of bandwidth. Its integrated retail tech solution is tailor-made and seamlessly connects all major touchpoints such as Sales, Purchase, and Operations. The company plans to enable express delivery for hyperlocal consumers within 30 minutes fulfilled by its partner stores with no extra delivery cost.
“We work exclusively with our partner stores and target 90% wallet share, resulting in a very high LTV per store. Our automation ensures ease of doing business and saves retailers from the day-to-day hassles. The partner stores are better off with us than staying stand-alone. We already have our foot in the door and will monetize the network with catchment-specific add-on services to generate new income streams for us and partner stores. The product stickiness has been fantastic so far, which validates our model,” Ajay Nain said.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, the company focuses on making the existing value chain more efficient with end-to-end tech enablement. It operates on Franchisee Owned Franchisee Operated model, which keeps the front-end operations light. On the back-end, its distribution model is well proven and works similar to FMCG company distribution. Being a tech platform, Gully Network is into a high EBITDA business.
The Founders are IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad alumni and had earlier worked in the FMCG industry and the distribution space. The company is backed by investors like Orios Venture Partners, Venture Catalysts and Inflection Point Ventures.
For more information, please visit: www.gullynetwork.com.