Big Basket will soon become a “Quick Basket”

According to PGA Labs, the market intelligence unit of Praxis Global Alliance, the Indian e-Grocery market is estimated to touch USD 22 billion by 2025. The current market size is estimated at USD 3 Billion, around Rs. 22,000 Crores pa. Of this, Big basket, the recently acquired entity by the Tata Group for an estimated valuation of USD 2 Billion holds a market share of 37%, which is almost same as the combined share of Amazon (15%), Grofers (13%), Flipkart (11%) put together (39%). These are market estimates based on GMVs which are tracked by Industry observers. Incumbent Reliance Jio, the last one to enter the race had an approximate market share of 4% while that of Big Bazaar couldn’t be verified.

In a recent interaction with the media, Cofounders of Big Basket Mr. Hari Menon and Vipul Parekh informed that they are moving to a faster delivery model, say 3-4 hours from the current planned delivery schedule which is between 8 – 24 hours, which are usually clubbed route-wise to build efficiencies. This is a model which BB pioneered when they started 9 years back in Bangalore and have stuck to this model for a long time.

BB Daily, a separate division of the parent company, through it’s separate App delivers products to select building communities and societies in each society based on their pin codes. However, BB Daily already has a faster delivery model, which according to the founders could be in the range of 1-2 hours. The company estimates to cross USD 1.70 billion in sales for FY 21-22 with the average transaction value ranging between Rs. 1,200 – Rs. 1,700. With the most recent buyout by the Tatas and a possible integration with the Tata Super App led by Tata Digital, consumers could be able to buy potatoes, spices powder, mobile phones and fashion accessories – all in one go, with a hyperlocal delivery faciliated from the nearest Croma and Westside stores alongside the Big Basket Delivery Centres (DCs).

However, the advantage the Tata Group owned Big Basket now has over other players looks competitive with Amazon leveraging More Retail stores for grocery delivery, Reliance Jio picking goods from their offline stores and Big Bazaar, obviously from their own network. Whereas the likes of Swiggy’s Genie, Dunzo and smaller, regional players face the challenge from the big boys in the party. However, it’s consolidation time and just like how offline retail had just a bunch of large players, e-commerce (grocery and other formats) will still be left only with a hand full in the next couple of years.