Bigbasket to deliver all orders in 2 hours in Tier I cities by September

Online grocery platform Bigbasket is combining its two models - ‘Express’ delivery in 90 minutes and normal (same day or next day delivery) – to introduce a new model, in which all items – regardless of number and size – will be delivered in maximum of three hours after placing the order.

In the Express model, only 2000 SKUs were available, and the delivery was done via small dark stores. These orders were for items like milk, fresh fruits, and vegetables.

For the normal model, all 30,000 SKUs are available, and the delivery is done on the same day or next day. According to Co-founder and CEO, Hari Menon, this model contributes to 85 percent of their total sale value.

Till now, this model had four slots in a day – two each in the morning and evening. In all the 10 Tier I cities, however, the company is launching 23 slots.

Hari elaborated, “With the new model, we can deliver about 90 percent of items within two hours of placing the order, and 100 percent in three hours, from larger dark stores. The size of our dark stores have increased from 3000-4000 square feet to 25,000 square feet. These dark stores will have delivery personnel with both vans and bikes. (The smaller dark stores had only bikes.)”

More slots means lesser travel for delivery; so it reduces cash burn. Hari claims that this new supply chain model speeds up the operational break-even much faster.

Launched as a pilot over a year ago, Bigbasket now delivers in this model in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Chennai, and Hyderabad. By September, Hari says, this service will be rolled out across all Tier I cities. (The 16 Tier II cities did not have the Express model anyway. Bigbasket is currently present in 26 cities across India.)

In the last 18 months, Bigbasket also launched three new businesses: BB Daily, BB Instant, and BB Beauty Store. On BB Daily, one can subscribe for milk, fruits and vegetables, bread, dairy, eggs, breakfast cereals, tender coconut, etc for every day or alternate days. BB Instant is for Bigbasket’s unmanned vending machines that target corporate offices, tech parks, and apartment buildings in Tier I cities. (Both Daily and Instant are available in separate apps.) Beauty Store, which is available on on the Bigbasket main app, goes beyond the usual personal care products that is available in supermarkets.

(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)

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