How ApnaKlub is Transforming Small Retail, One Kirana at a Time

As India’s retail landscape evolves, the digitization of its most fragmented layer, the kirana ecosystem remains a critical challenge and opportunity. ApnaKlub, a B2B platform focused on empowering small and medium retailers across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, is tackling this head-on. In this exclusive conversation with Dataquest and CiOL, Gourav Das, CTO at ApnaKlub, explains how the company is building a tech-first, people-centric FMCG supply chain, leveraging Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), lean teams, and data-driven insights to make kirana commerce smarter, faster, and more scalable. Excerpts.

What is the core problem ApnaKlub is addressing, and how is your platform helping kirana stores digitise?

While top-tier wholesalers and organized retailers are well integrated into supply chains, most kirana stores still operate in fragmented, inefficient ecosystems. There’s a heavy reliance on middlemen, outdated processes, and limited understanding or usage of tech. ApnaKlub focuses on digitizing this under-represented segment, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, to make supply chains more predictable, data-driven, and cost-effective.

We operate as digital facilitators, using demand estimation models to consolidate requirements from our retailer partners and ensure timely delivery of goods. Our platform connects the dots between sales trends, store health, and evolving demand. We’ve also enabled our sales and ops teams with smart tools. Around 35% of our customers now require zero physical touchpoints and place orders directly through the app.

What challenges did you face in building tech for small retailers, and how did you address them?

Internet reliability is one issue. Retailers are comfortable ordering from Amazon but hesitant when it comes to digital procurement for their own stores. Bridging that trust and usability gap was crucial. We ensured our app works offline or in low-connectivity areas. eCommerce for kirana stores is different from consumer e-commerce. Businesses are used to being sold to, not buying digitally.

What differentiates ApnaKlub in this crowded B2B retail space?

One key differentiator is how we integrate hundreds of FMCG brand schemes and offers, bundling them intelligently to maximise value for retailers. This level of personalisation and transparency creates meaningful impact at the last mile.

How has your partnership with Oracle helped in scaling the platform?

Data quality and cost predictability were vital for us. OCI is enabling Apnaklub to run and manage our business applications with greater efficiency and scalability.This helps us manage costs tightly, which is essential given the razor-thin margins in FMCG retail. More than just a platform, OCI has become the backbone for our tech stack, enabling us to focus on innovation without worrying about hidden costs.

Oracle supported us with guidance, but the actual implementation was fully handled by our in-house engineering team. We didn’t use external partners. We also moved our microservices-based platform to OCI, which improved manageability, performance, and cost efficiency. Our current setup uses OCI-managed services like Redis and Postgres.

Another key component is Oracle Notebooks, a cloud-based workspace that allows our 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.

How are you approaching growth and profitability, especially with lean teams?

Our tech spend is highly optimized across tools and platforms. Even our warehouses are designed to be independently profitable. We approach every region with a unit economics mindset. Can it turn profitable within a set timeframe if adoption scales? That’s our lens.

From day one, we’ve prioritized sustainable growth. Our burn rate has declined consistently even as we scale. Our sales outstanding per rep is far lower than the industry average, something most large FMCG distributors struggle with.

Finally, what’s the broader vision for ApnaKlub in the kirana ecosystem?

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 your P&L isn’t green, it’s not working. We’ve adopted that realism from day one.