In Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, small retailers struggle to get the right mix of FMCG products.
Not the big brands everyone stocks but the long-tail and seasonal SKUs their customers actually ask for. When kiranas can’t find those products, they lose sales, loyalty, and margin.
Meet Shruti, CEO and co-founder at ApnaKlub, who created ApnaKlub to fix this gap.
“Before there was no good supply of long-tail and seasonally important goods. After Apnaklub, customers are happier, and kiranas earn more.”
What Apnaklub does
Apnaklub supplies kirana stores with higher-margin FMCG products that large distributors usually don’t prioritize, especially long-tail and seasonal items.
This helps neighborhood stores:
- Stock what customers actually want
- Improve margins
- Compete with larger retailers
Quick facts
- Category: Food, Retail, Cleaning (FMCG supply)
- Stage: Scaling
- Primary channel: Own app
- Where they operate: Delhi, UP, Bihar
The origin moment
Apnaklub began with an unexpected insight.
The team originally thought they were serving “resellers.”
What they discovered instead was that these resellers were actually kirana store owners trying to run better shops with poor supply options.
Once that clicked, everything changed.
Apnaklub became a company focused entirely on helping kiranas earn more and serve their communities better.
The business started with ₹60 lakhs and has grown to ₹600 crore+ in scale.
The first “YES” for Apnaklub
One early proof of demand came during Covid.
When Fogg deodorant sold out on Apnaklub, it showed something important:
Kirana owners were willing to trust a new digital supply platform as long as it delivered the right products at the right time.
The move that changed the game
Shruti made a crucial call:
Apnaklub would run on its own app built for kirana resellers.
Instead of relying on fragmented offline distributors, store owners could now:
- Browse inventory
- Place orders
- Restock easily
Today, Apnaklub operates primarily through this app, making supply more predictable and reliable for small retailers.
The hard part for Apnaklub
Not every expansion worked.
Apnaklub had to shut down some centers because the team didn’t yet have enough time and capital to fully understand local needs before expanding into new areas.
The lesson: scale only when the ground is ready.
A win worth celebrating
From a ₹60-lakh start to ₹600+ crore in scale, Apnaklub is now serving kirana stores across some of India’s most underserved markets, helping them stock better, sell more, and stay competitive.
Shruti’s rule
“Live by my calendar.”
Shruti uses strict time-blocking to stay focused while running a fast-growing, complex operation.
How to check out Apnaklub
- Website: https://apnaklub.com
- App: Apnaklub iOS App
Apnaklub is also looking for expert operators in the dry-fruit processing industry.
If you’d like your journey to be featured in our Meet The Mahilas series, write to us at hello@mahila.money.
We’d love to hear your story and share it with women across India.
