How ElasticRun Is Transforming India's Rural Retail - Startup Case Study

00:00 Intro
01:16 Understanding the Problem
03:29 How three co-founders met?
04:30 ElasticRun's Business Model
08:01 Move towards Profitability
10:06 Learnings

ElasticRun, a unicorn startup, has emerged as a disruptive force in India's rural B2B commerce market. It addresses the longstanding challenge faced by millions of kirana store owners, who struggle to access products due to a broken rural distribution network. Traditional FMCG distribution systems are ineffective in rural areas due to low demand, high setup costs, and lack of delivery infrastructure.

The founders of ElasticRun—Sandeep, Shitiz, and Saurabh—recognized this opportunity to bridge the gap in rural distribution. Leveraging their understanding of the problem and their experience in logistics, they embarked on a mission to revolutionize last-mile delivery in rural India.

ElasticRun's innovative solution involves leveraging existing resources efficiently through technology. They partner with local retailers to use their space as mini-warehouses, reducing real estate costs. By collaborating with local logistics companies on an on-demand basis, they optimize delivery resources without the burden of maintaining a dedicated fleet. This network of micro-distributors enables ElasticRun to reach over 600,000 kirana stores across 120,000 villages, providing a convenient and economical solution for retailers.

Unlike competitors like Udaan and JioMart, ElasticRun does not seek to replace traditional FMCG-distributor partnerships. Instead, they complement existing supply chains, extending the reach of FMCG companies to underserved areas. While Udaan and JioMart focus on larger cities, ElasticRun penetrates deep into rural markets where infrastructure is lacking.

ElasticRun's sustainable business model is evidenced by its financial performance. Despite operating in challenging rural environments, ElasticRun outperforms competitors in revenue and profitability. Their move towards sustainability includes diversifying services, leveraging data insights, and offering credit to kirana store owners with a zero-credit policy.

The case study of ElasticRun offers valuable insights for future entrepreneurs. By tackling complex problems and building a strong moat around their business, ElasticRun demonstrates the power of innovation and perseverance in creating lasting impact and competitive advantage.

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[kumarrishav]

I am a former employee and i can tell you there is fatal flaw. Fmcg has Distribution as moat which elastic run is unable to break. The numbers are also hyper inflated.

[karthickambur]

This feels like a artificial problem. I'm also from a village background, my relatives own kirana stores as well.Kirana stores are always filled with products and distribution is there in most of the rural India. Startups founders in urban metro are planning by thier perception and not by actual market understanding.

[Dhvlogs]

3 to 4 days shut down😂😂😂bro has became blind in is always a whole seller in 10 to 50 km ...but this guy choose to go 400 km ....bro thinks rural shops have no mini turk supply chain...😂😂😂😂

[krishna]

0:10 I am a person of Rural area and I know hundreds of kirana store owners but none of them shuts down their store for 3-4 days most they just close of half a day or most of them just let another family member like child, brother wife or father for the time of stocking but never closes their kirana store because of they do so they will lose their customers.Even If they have to travel 60 kms they still don't need that much time to stock up for their store. So brother you have taken completely wrong example.

[francisaranha]

Wait… this was a problem? In my region, there is a decentralised system where products list is collected by individual first from Kirana store and then a truck comes and delivers all good one by one.

This has been happening for more then 15 years now.

Damm!! I need to see problems solved in other areas and consider if its solved i. Large scale or not.

[herp_derpingson]

Transport costs more than the product. Thats pretty much the problem with all FMCG in India.

[yomamasohot]

Truly inspiring! I hope to see more founders who were born and brought up in rural India.

[Karthickmasanmasan]

I could never see a kirana store shutdown for procurement in my villages in Tamil Nadu.

[aj-lan]

Great initiative. It is important to save small kirana store businesses from the giant... Kirana stores is a bread butter earner for many people...

[ide_A]

Couple of questions:
1. How is adulteration of products ensured
2. In rural areas, people make connections better, whats stopping people to make their own clientele and ditch ElasticRun
3. Warehouses are important because they are designed to store products in the right way as mentioned by the manufacturers, the local warehouses dont do that

So, Ultimately since theres very less scrutiny in rural areas, I think theres a lot of adultery, a lot of improper storage, and loosing business

[nickjones]

I'm from rural Kerala but here we have strong distributors, no one closes their shops for restocking, daily lot of mini trucks cover these shops on different products. Actually I have seen there is a competition in distributors itself as they ask to stock up from them at a discounted price. Location plays a major role in these startup ideas. This won't work well in Kerala because here there is no distribution issues. This is a very well pitched idea but the execution method made it successful as of now. This is a great case study

[shubhamkothawade]

all the fmcg's have an exceptionally brilliant network in many rural areas. the survey you might have done is limited

[termuxhelp]

I am from West Bengal and we using elasticrun company more than 3 year . But finaltial year 2023 August this company can't sustainable on our coochbehar district. Because the reason is, this company can't hire write persons and they can't provide all type of grossory items .

[rajeshchatterjee]

Thanks for providing such valuable information about Indian Businesses.

[tbljzhi]

This idea is like creating an additional layer in the distribution network

[ShivShankar]

no one shuts kirana store for 3-4 for restocking their items
like you will get out of stock in every week
there are 4 weeks in month and you can't run your business by closing it for 15 days

[teensNparents]

What is more needed to move farm products, perishable food items from rural areas to city consumption area. It can solve farmers problems, avoid wastage

[chetanshende]

Sandip sir town is buldhana also in my case same and i am also entrepreneur but fresher....

[zangoz_]

bring more of this type of business breakdown videos

[subodhdhoke]

iam also a store owner and i didn't shut my store for 4-5 days. My father just give me the list and i travel only 6km to buy it. And in rural or in urban area there are mostly wholesale store which are in 10 to 20km in radius