The Secret behind the spectacular success of Bangalore based e-grocery company Bigbasket

SA TeamJuly 25, 2019

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Key Highlights

The online grocer credits its success to a very simple mantra i.e. the employees don’t look at themselves as techies selling groceries but as Grocery people who have gone online.

The biggest arsenal with Bigbasket is the years of experience its core founding team has in the world of the supermarket business

Despite having the funds to do so, Bigbasket is planning on capping its expansion to a mere 25 cities so as to focus more on improving unit economics and backend execution.

The Bangalore based online grocery shopping website Bigbasket has carved a niche for itself in the highly competitive e-grocery sector in India. Despite having tough competition from giants such as Amazon, which has years of experience behind it and Grofers, which is funded by mammoths such as Softbank and Tiger Global, Bigbasket has remained way ahead of its competitors. So what is it that Bigbasket has done right? Let us take a look.

The grocery delivery app fulfils about 35,000 orders every day. This is a highly commendable achievement especially in a country like India. Customers prefer to shop from online stores like Bigbasket due to the ease of delivery and a large variety of products available on it which are usually not found easily locally. However, there are Indian customers who still prefer to look and feel the products like vegetables before purchasing them and have an inherent mistrust of anything online. Moreover local Kirana stores have a time withstanding relationship with the customers and offer everything from free home delivery to credit. These problems along with the daunting task of managing a perishable inventory, on-time delivery assurance etc have led to many businesses like Ola and Paytm shutting down their grocery delivery business.

However, despite numerous problems, Bigbasket is still going strong. The online grocer credits its success to a very simple mantra i.e. the employees don’t look at themselves as techies selling groceries but as Grocery people who have gone online. Even their CEO Hari Menon knows the variety of rice that the website offers, storage conditions for various lentils and the distribution that is required for certain kinds of foods. Bigbasket claims proudly that in essence, they are grocers.

Also, the biggest arsenal with Bigbasket is the years of experience its core founding team has in the world of the supermarket business. Before founding Bigbasket they had worked in the supermarket industry and forged crucial contacts that helped them leverage their company. On the other hand, its competitors have been set up by technological personnel who while have fancy administrative degrees lack the much-needed experience in the industry. This is what gives the e-grocer an edge over its rivals and has been touted as the reason for the success of Bigbasket by its CEO.

Also, Menon is a huge believer in the old school way of doing business and that shows in the workings of Bigbasket. He knows that his business deals with unattractive products like staples and vegetables. This can quickly get boring for many people. The company ensures that it only hires people who appreciate their jobs. Again stressing on the importance of experience in the industry, the company hires people from its rivals who have worked in the supermarket industry prior to coming on board with Bigbasket for its top management team.

The e-grocer also doesn’t believe in chasing growth. Most companies make the mistake of expanding rapidly initially and then having to scale back in the later days. Despite having the funds to do so, Bigbasket is planning on capping its expansion to a mere 25 cities so as to focus more on improving unit economics and backend execution.

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