ApnaKlub’s FMCG Playbook: Digitizing Supply Chains, One Kirana at a Time

India’s top-tier wholesalers and organised retailers are well integrated into supply chains, but the vast majority of small and unorganised kirana stores, estimated to be over 10 million plus, still operate in fragmented and inefficient ecosystems. These inefficiencies stem from fragmentation, reliance on outdated processes, and a heavy dependence on middlemen. Also, their understanding and usage of tech is minimal.

This is by and large the under-represented segment ApnaKlub has been focused on since 2020. ApnaKlub operates on a hybrid model, says the company. It’s a simple, yet powerful approach: make supply chains for small retailers more predictable, data-driven, and cost-effective using technology.

The company says its mission is to enable your ambition to achieve your business goals. “With our Ambition Zindabad motto, we’re here to be your team. Our platform empowers SMEs, retailers, and business owners in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by offering better margins, faster and on-time deliveries, a wide product range, and responsive customer support.”

“We operate as digital facilitators, using demand estimation models to consolidate requirements from our retailer partners and ensure timely delivery of goods,” says Gourav Das, CTO, ApnaKlub. “Our platform connects the dots between sales trends, store health, and evolving demand.”

Tech-Led, People-First

ApnaKlub calls itself a “data-first, people-powered” company. “We’ve enabled our sales and operations teams with smart tools. Around 35% of our customers today require zero physical sales touchpoints. They place orders and engage through mobile apps,” says Gourav Das.

But building tech for this segment wasn’t easy. Internet reliability varies. Retailers are tech-savvy enough to order from Amazon, yet hesitant to do the same for their own inventory. Bridging that trust and usability gap was critical.

“We had to ensure the app works offline or with patchy internet. eCcommerce for kirana stores is different from consumer eCommerce. Businesses are used to being sold to, not buying digitally,” explains Gourav Das.

What makes ApnaKlub unique is its ability to integrate hundreds of FMCG brand schemes and offers, bundling them intelligently for optimal retailer benefit and profitability.

Data Quality, Cost Transparency, and Oracle’s Role

A critical factor in ApnaKlub’s digital transformation journey has been the emphasis on data quality and cost predictability. Their systems rely on clean, accurate data for reliable forecasting and supply planning. To pivot that digital ambition, ApnaKlub has migrated its business applications to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enhancing efficiency and scalability across its operations.

OCI is Oracle’s cloud platform that provides a comprehensive set of cloud services for computing, storage, networking, databases, and more. It’s designed to help businesses build, deploy, and manage applications and workloads in the cloud with high performance, security, and reliability.

OCI supports ApnaKlub with a transparent, predictable pricing model, especially for network and cloud resources. This clarity helps ApnaKlub manage costs tightly, an essential advantage when operating on slim retail margins.

OCI has formed the underlying technology backbone for ApnaKlub, supporting scalability and operational stability. This has enabled the team to prioritise innovation while maintaining cost predictability, a factor that has positioned Oracle more as an enabler than a conventional product vendor.

From Google to Oracle: ApnaKlub’s Cloud Leap

ApnaKlub’s migration from Google Cloud to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure was guided by Oracle, while the execution was handled entirely by ApnaKlub’s in-house engineering team. The transition was completed without relying on external implementation partners, reflecting the team’s technical capability and ownership of the process.

As part of this transition, ApnaKlub moved their microservices-based online business platform to OCI. This shift has improved manageability, performance, and cost efficiency.

Today, their platform runs on OCI-managed services like Redis and Postgres, hosted securely within Oracle’s cloud. The emphasis here is on designing the infrastructure to scale with demand, maintain high levels of security, and deliver consistent performance, all while optimising resource usage.

Another key component of their setup is Oracle Notebooks, a cloud-based workspace that allows data scientists and developers to build intelligent, AI-driven models with ease. These notebooks come pre-equipped with powerful computing resources and popular AI tools, making it simple to develop, test, and deploy solutions such as chatbots or recommendation engines, all from a single environment.

Metrics that Matter

From day one, ApnaKlub has prioritised sustainable growth. Despite growing rapidly, their burn rate has consistently declined. While top FMCG distributors typically have higher sales outstanding per sales rep, ApnaKlub’s sales outstanding is significantly lower than the industry average.

Lean Teams, Scalable Tech

ApnaKlub manages a massive base of partners and retailers. “Our total tech spend, across cloud, platforms, and tooling, is very optimised for larger outcomes,” says Gourav Das. This lean model also applies to ApnaKlub’s warehouse operations, which are designed to be independently profitable. “We think in terms of unit economics. For instance, can a region become profitable in a set timeframe if adoption scales? That’s the lens we apply,” says Gourav Das.

Balancing FMCG’s Razor-Thin Margins

India’s retail ecosystem doesn't allow for extended red zones. “Startups may run at a loss for years, but kirana businesses operate on 10 to 18% margins. If the P&L isn’t green, it’s not working. We’ve adopted that realism,” says Gourav Das.

ApnaKlub is building for the long haul, balancing margin expansion with geographical growth and category expansion. And at the heart of it all is a belief: that technology, in service of small businesses, can unlock massive value without bloating cost, and OCI is acting as the bridge to close the tech divide.