15 million ‘Covid Safety Essentials’ sold across India on udaan during the second wave of Covid-19

by Suman Gupta

• Over 5X surge in demand for covid safety essentials

• Over 6 million items shipped to Assam, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar

• Over 11 million protective masks, 100,000+ face shields, oximeters, PPE suits & kits, infrared thermometers, and oxygen concentrators among other essential items sold since the beginning of the second wave

Bengaluru,July ,2021: udaan, India’s largest business-to-business (b2b) eCommerce platform, today shared the details of the Covid Safety Essentials sold on the platform during the second wave of the pandemic. Nearly 15 million ‘Covid Safety Essentials’ catering to over 23,000 orders from over 400 sellers across 5,000 pin codes were sold on the platform. The platform witnessed a 5X surge in the demand for items like Protective Masks, Face Shields & PPE suits.

As India grappled with the second wave of Covid-19, udaan supported retailers with regular and uninterrupted supply of covid safety essentials across the country. The second wave saw a huge demand of over 11 million protective masks, making it the largest item sold on the platform. During the period, the platform also shipped 1,00,000+ face shields, oximeters, PPE suits & kits, infrared thermometers, and oxygen concentrators among other essential items across 750+ cities / towns.

From March onwards till the gradual decline of second wave, a total of 6 million covid safety essentials were shipped to the states of Assam, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar. These states accounted for more than 50% of the overall orders for Covid essentials on the udaan platform. Some of the tier 2 & 3 towns like Tezpur, Sivasagar, Dhubri, North Lakhimpur (Assam) and Balurghat, Cooch Behar (West Bengal) witnessed high demand for oximeters and face masks. While most of the orders for face shields on the platform came from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Assam. Highest sales of infrared thermometers were in Andhra Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. States leading the demand for PPE suits & kits were Andhra Pradesh, followed by West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa, respectively.

Uday Bhaskar, Head – Lifestyle, Electronics, General Merchandise (Non-food business), udaan said, “As a result of restrictions imposed during the second wave of Covid-19, the supply-chain and distribution ecosystem of retailers were disrupted. During these challenging times, we ensured regular, uninterrupted, and timely delivery of covid safety essentials at best prices to the buyers on our platform. This ensured that the end customer was continuously served by our retailer partners, while the economic activity also continued which was extremely important to keep the wheels of the economy moving during this period.”

The retailers on the platform benefitted from door-step delivery by placing orders on the udaan app from the convenience of their homes and shops. udaan fulfilled these orders through its strong and reliable supply-chain and logistics network covering 900+ cities and 12,000 pin codes.

udaan is a one stop solution for all business requirements in the b2b space. It enables shopkeepers, kirana, restaurants, street vendors, chemists, offices, small factories, contractors etc. to source from a large selection of high-quality products at the best prices by connecting them to sellers, brands and manufacturers across the country with the convenience of eCommerce. udaan also provides marketing & sales support and facilitates efficient, transparent & convenient transactions. The platform’s SaaS offerings such as the app-based pricing system gives better pricing control; the product listing advertisements and in-app advertisements encourage manufacturers to reach their targeted, specific, and ready-to-purchase retailers on the platform.

udaan connects millions of MSMEs throughout India and helps them grow their business through the adoption of technology. It has built inclusive tech tools for Bharat, specially catering to the needs of brands, retailers & manufacturers providing them a level playing field to conduct and grow their business.

About udaan:Founded in 2016 with a vision to transform the trade ecosystem and empower small businesses by leveraging technology, udaan is India’s largest b2b eCommerce platform. It has operations across categories including lifestyle, electronics, home & kitchen, staples, fruits & vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys and general merchandise. udaan has over 3 million users, 1.7 million retailers and 30,000 sellers on the platform across the country. The platform enables supply chain & logistics operations, focused on b2b trade and built on strong technology, for daily delivery across 900+ cities and 12,000+ pin codes through udaanExpress. udaan enables financial products and services to small businesses, manufacturers, and retailers through udaanCapital to grow their business.

udaan is headquartered in Bangalore with offices in all leading metros and major cities across India.