Chai culture in India is an integral part of daily life and is deeply ingrained in the country’s social fabric. It’s more than just a drink – it’s a symbol of hospitality, a warm hug in a cup, and an opportunity to connect with friends, family, and strangers alike. Whether you’re stopping by a chai stall on the side of the road, sipping on a cup at a bustling railway station, or being served a steaming mug at a friend’s home, chai is a ubiquitous part of the Indian experience.
The tea industry in India employs millions of people and produces a variety of tea types, including black, green, and herbal teas. India is the second largest producer of tea globally, with the majority of its tea being grown in the states of Assam, West Bengal, and Kerala. The tea industry in India has a long history, dating back to the 19th century when British tea planters introduced tea cultivation to the country. Today, the industry is modernizing, with the introduction of new technology and techniques aimed at improving efficiency and quality.
The fact that advent of e-commerce has been ground-breaking for businesses of all kinds. Things are no different for the tea industry in India – with sales and services increasingly being made accessible online, tea brands have also started distributing their products in a D2C (direct-to-consumer) fashion.
The recent Covid lockdown has only further enabled such methods of sale to flourish, as more and more consumers gravitate towards the ease and convenience provided by online shopping as opposed to stepping out to a shop.
Brands such as Teabox, Vahdam, Chai Point, Udyan Tea, Chaayos and Tearaja are some prime examples of budding tea sellers who are replacing the in-store experience of the traditional tea market. Such brands have been thriving because of the enhanced customer experience facilitated by an e-commerce platform.
For example, the website of Teabox provides information on the different types of tea available at their company by going into painstaking detail on its taste, fragrance and how it looks. This gives the customer a deep insight into the options available to them and ensures that a well-informed and educated decision can be made by them.
Such a privilege is likely to encourage tea enthusiasts to branch out and explore the “menu”, by testing out new and unique flavours and types of tea, such as organic kinds, or even more premium varieties. India’s love for tea and willingness to spend on it is one thing that hasn’t changed with the fast-paced transformation of technologies and the ever-evolving market. This is why even legacy producers of tea such as Tata Consumer Products have also recently commenced online selling of their Tata Tea products.
Many D2C brands have an ‘online-only’ method of business, which spikes a sense of exclusivity and mysteriousness to these new brands. By being easier to manage consumer experience, and thereby increasing overall revenue, the D2C model is not only growing attractive to both traditional brands and start-ups but has become an unavoidable necessity in today’s digital world. Indian customers are technologically advanced and this business strategy truly appeals to them. They seek a unique customer experience and the D2C business strategy provides just that.
Metropolitan households have found it easier to shift to these brands, while other cities are slowly following. It also depends on the retail availability of the location.
D2C lets the tea manufacturers garner fresh varieties of tea and ensure it passes directly from the estates, to the processing centres and then straight to the customers, without middlemen to delay the process or cause other issues. This diminishing reliance on such aggregators leads to cost-cutting on both ends. The resulting savings on the company’s side have been used to multiply the convenience of online tea sales even further through investment in same-day delivery, better website user experience etc., as well as providing discount codes for the consumers- all the more reason tea lovers are enjoying D2C brands.
Moreover, the websites themselves improve the direct relationship between the brand and the customer by enabling immediate feedback and gauging the demand more accurately. Thus, in many ways, Indian customers are benefitting from this D2C shift in the tea industry, and it looks like the model is here to stay.
