Don’t cry over onions – get them at Rs9, says Groupon

Amid tears over onion prices, online shopping portal Groupon India has come up with a unique promotional offer – onions at Rs9 a kilo, around one-tenth of the price in the market.

The US-based Groupon Inc is known for its online deals and coupon website where shoppers can go for reductions on three-course meals, fashion discounts and cut-price teeth whitening.

Now it is offering onions at knock-down rates in the hope of attracting Indian consumers'

Onion is a staple in most Indian diets, and soaring prices of the pungent vegetable have broken governments in the past.

Groupon will continue the offer for the next seven days or until it has sold 21,000 kg of onion.

By 1.45pm today, 491 people had signed up for the deal.

This is Groupon's first foray into the foodstuff market. Normally the site focuses on beauty product offers, restaurant deals and cheap movie tickets.

''It's no news that the current onion prices are quite a flutter in everyone's life,'' said Ankur Warikoo, chief executive of Groupon India. What the deal site is doing is a fun take on the current situation, he said.

''We thought why don't we do something really exciting and sell onions at nine rupees a kilo ... (a price) that most of us have completely forgotten,'' Warikoo said.

Any customer can go to Groupon India's website and pay Rs9 a kg for onions - and the order will be delivered to the customer's doorstep free of charge across 78 major cities in India, Warikoo said.

"It is a very simple deal. We are a deal site and in current situation where onions prices are skyrocketing we are offering onions at Rs9 per kg. The onions will be home delivered to buyers," he said.

But of course, there's a catch. Each customer will be limited to one kilogram of onions.

Groupon has tied up with one of Delhi's largest onion distributors to procure 3,000 kilograms of fresh onions every day for the next seven days, he added, without giving further details.

"We plan to sell 3,000 kilograms of fresh onions per day. This is so that we can ensure the quality of the products. We have tied up with a large onion distributor in Delhi and will be using multiple logistic partners to deliver the onions to customers," Warikoo said.

The onions would be packaged in special moisture-free wraps and couriered to buyers by companies like Blue Dart, which is a partner of Groupon. Only registered users of the site would be able to avail the deal, with only one deal available per user.