Marketplace or Distributor Model? KiranaKart’s Choice in Identifying the Right Fit Between the Business Idea and the Business Model

Amit, the founder of Kirana Kart, a startup, was attracted by the opportunity to alleviate the pain points of smaller Kirana stores with smaller order volumes. Small kirana stores were not on the list of key distributors because they had their own issues, such as low order quantities, lack of storage space, limited exposure to a wide variety of products, etc. Frequent stockouts, constraints on the frequency of orders, and delivery delays resulted in the loss of business for these stores. Kirana Kart attempted to provide a solution by establishing a B2B portal via which small kirana retailers could order supplies. In the execution of the B2B platform, Amit and his team faces a critical issue regarding whether the platform should operate in distributor or marketplace mode. Amit and his team faced the dilemma of choosing between the two options.