**Title:** CityMall Faces Customer Backlash Over Order Issues
**Meta Description:** CityMall’s recent order cancellations and customer service failures highlight challenges in India’s e-commerce market, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 towns.
**URL Slug:** citymall-customer-issues
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**CityMall Faces Customer Backlash Over Order Issues**
A week after placing her order, Singh discovered that it had been marked as cancelled, allegedly due to her not answering calls from the delivery partner. However, she had not received any calls, and when she attempted to clarify the situation using the phone number provided in the app, no one answered. After submitting a support ticket, she was given the contact information of a senior employee in her area, who candidly informed her that she was not at fault—the delivery partner assigned to her order was not even in the system. “Delays are fine. But cancelling the order with the wrong reason and giving no updates is not acceptable,” Singh expressed.
Although she received a refund a few days later, Singh decided to stop using CityMall. She is not alone in her dissatisfaction. Ruby Kumari, who placed an order in Hajipur, Bihar, was shocked by the company’s response after she complained about receiving an item that was past its expiry date. “I got a refund,” she recounted, “but the customer care executive told me that I should check the order upon delivery and that they wouldn’t refund the money again as per their internal policy. What if I’m ordering for my parents and they can’t read?”
E-commerce in India’s tier-2 and tier-3 towns has long been a challenging market, hindered by low order values, fragmented demand, expensive last-mile logistics, and varying levels of digital literacy among consumers. Many companies, including Dealshare, have previously attempted to penetrate this market but have struggled to gain traction or have ultimately failed. In contrast, Meesho, which primarily targets tier-2 and tier-3 consumers in lifestyle categories, has made a significant impact following a successful initial public offering (IPO), highlighting both the potential and volatility of this market.
Meesho has transformed the fashion and home goods sector by enabling small entrepreneurs, particularly women, to share catalogs and earn margins, thus creating a substantial market for unbranded lifestyle products. CityMall, like Dealshare before it, aims to replicate Meesho’s success. The startup, which derives 80% of its business from groceries and the remainder from lifestyle products, is working to establish a low-cost supply chain tailored to the unique challenges of smaller towns.
Initially, CityMall adopted a social commerce strategy, leveraging community leaders to drive demand and aggregate grocery and daily-need orders. While Dealshare has since abandoned its social commerce model and scaled back operations, CityMall has adjusted its business model over the past few years to generate demand directly.
Social commerce involves buying and selling through social networks, community groups, and informal digital interactions, with community leaders being well-known figures in their neighborhoods. Although CityMall remains a minor player in the market, it aspires to become the go-to grocery delivery app for smaller towns.
**FAQ**
**What challenges does CityMall face in the e-commerce market?**
CityMall faces challenges such as low order values, fragmented demand, high last-mile logistics costs, and varying levels of digital literacy among consumers in tier-2 and tier-3 towns.
