In my apartment complex in Mumbai, there's a tiny kirana (mom-and-papa store) that stocks basic grocery supplies. Actually, it would be unfair to call it basic, because I've also seen stuff like tofu and dragon fruit there. The store was a godsend during Covid lockdowns, when stepping out of the complex was not allowed and e-grocers had three-day waiting lists. Even today, I don't even have to step out of my house to get basic groceries. I can just WhatsApp my grocery list to the store and they deliver it within minutes. Yes, it's not quite the same experience as searching for specific items on an app and placing orders, but it's convenient if you know the store has what you want. And the thing with kiranas is that if you request a particular item. I wondered if my kirana would benefit from having a digital storefront. It's something that digital bookkeeping startups like Khatabook and OkCredit have tried to push to kirana owners since Covid. It makes sense as a business on paper—anyone and everyone has been going digital in the last two years, and there are over 12 million kiranas sprinkled across every nook and corner of India. However, Khatabook and OkCredit have both shut their digital storefronts—MyStore and OkShop—over the last six months. And Dukaan, a two-year-old startup whose core business is to set up digital storefronts, is now focusing on small, direct-to-consumer entrepreneurs. It turns out, kirana owners aren't too kicked about listing their products online. To find out why, and what these 'kiranatech' startups are doing instead,
