Big Success Of BigBasket
Online grocery delivery platform BigBasket is a renowned name in the FMCG sector. Launched by V.S. Sudhakar, Hari Menon, V.S. Ramesh, Vipul Parekh and Abhinay Choudhari, this Bengaluru-based e-commerce venture is a one-stop-solution to meet the requirements of a home.
BigBasket was launched in 2011. It started operations with a seed capital of less than Rs 1 crore by selling fruits and vegetables in Bengaluru. The founders would wake up every day at 3.30 am to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and other items from wholesalers. In February 2012, it raised Rs 61 crore from Ascent Capital in Series A funding. In 2014, BigBasket expanded its operations to Chennai, Pune and Delhi.
The company roped in actor Shahrukh Khan as brand ambassador in August 2015. In 2016, it started the ‘Express Delivery’ service which offered doorstep delivery in just 60 minutes. In July 2016, it set up a B2B food services segment to meet the needs of hotels and restaurants. In FY17, the company crossed the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark and achieved 5 million customers. In October 2018, BigBasket acquired milk delivery startups Raincan & Morning Cart. Later, Raincan was rebranded as BBDaily.
Another milestone in BigBasket’s journey has been entering the coveted unicorn club in March 2019. In June 2020, it hit $1 billion in gross sales. In October 2021, the Tata Group finalise a $200-250 million primary cash infusion into BigBasket to acquire the firm.
Although the timeline looks impressive, achieving them was not quite easy. The founders’ journey began in 1999 when they started Fabmart.com, an online platform to sell books, toys, and groceries. However, it did not take off as they thought because back then digitization was at its nascent stage. They were forced to sell it for a lump sum amount.
The team came together again in 2011 with the idea of BigBasket. By then, the online scenario had changed. The smartphone market was booming. It stood in favour of the venture. But, they had to convince the customers to try their service. The resistance level was high, but BigBasket managed to crack it. Slowly, customers started to put trust in BigBasket. There began the success of the enterprise. Another test BigBasket had to face was when the company was accused of a data breach. To solve the issue, BigBasket issued a statement saying that the company would look into the matter.
In business, BigBasket follows both the ‘inventory model’ and ‘hyper-local’ model. Under the inventory model, it purchases products from prominent suppliers such as P&G, HUL, mills, farmers, etc, and keeps the products in warehouses to supply to customers. Under the ‘hyper-local’ model, BigBasket has tie-up with more than 2000 grocery stores across India. The arrangement ensures product delivery in one hour. Now, BigBasket has opened its physical grocery space ‘Fresho’ to expand its activities.
There is no doubt that the success of BigBasket comes from the expertise of its founders. BigBasket CEO Hari Menon has experience in diverse fields. An alumnus of BITS Pilani, he held top positions in Wipro Infotech and Planetasia. BigBasket Co-founder V.S. Sudhakar was the CEO of Planetasia. V.S. Ramesh, the Head of Logistics & Supply Chain at BigBasket, has more than 21 years of experience in the Indian Navy handling Operations and Logistics. Vipul Parekh, the Head of Finance & Marketing at BigBasket, has worked with a range of companies holding key leadership positions. Abhinay Choudhari, who did a silent exit from the BigBasket in 2021, was the Head of New Initiatives at BigBasket. He was also a Co-founder. Abhinay Choudhari took a silent exit from BigBasket to try a new venture. BigBasket is currently valued at more than $2 billion.
