10-minute delivery to become BigBasket's default option: CEO Hari Menon

This is much higher than Blinkit's 25,000 SKUs and Zepto's 10,000 SKUs. Zepto has stated that it intends to increase SKUs on its platform to 20,000 before the festive season begins

Tata-owned e-grocer BigBasket has shifted its focus to quick commerce, making 10-minute delivery the default option on its platform.

The company has merged its Super Saver (slotted delivery) and BB Now (quick commerce) services into a single interface, offering customers a seamless shopping experience.

Hari Menon, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of BigBasket, said, “We're not eliminating slotted delivery, but making quick commerce the default option. This change reflects our commitment to rapid delivery and customer convenience.”

This shift has a huge significance to the ongoing market share war between quick commerce and traditional e-commerce players.

With this move, BigBasket now brings its over 30,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) to the quick-commerce segment. This is much higher than Blinkit’s 25,000 SKUs, and Zepto’s 10,000.

Zepto has stated that it intends to increase SKU’s on its platform to 20,000 before the festival season begins.

Besides this vast expansion of quick-commerce offering, Bigbasket is also increasing its dark stores.

“We are expanding our dark stores presence too. In the first phase, it will be an addition of 600-700 from the current 400.  We will be adding more eventually,” said Menon.

Considering that the quick commerce average order value (AOV) will be lower than the slotted delivery, Menon said the blended average order will still be higher at BigBasket.

“Our AOV will be a blended average value that will include both quick commerce and the large assortment. Our slotted category AOV is around Rs 1,300-1400 per order and the AOV for quick commerce is running over Rs 500. So, we expect the blended order value above the price range of Rs 1,000,” added Menon.

Menon disagreed when asked if the reason for expanding into quick commerce was the rising competition from players like Blinkit, Instamart, Zepto and Flipkart.

“Quick commerce as a segment is surging and it is growing beyond just grocery. That is what we are seeing. We still have customers who prefer slotted delivery and they tend to only opt for that. This is just a convenient factor for our customers, which we do not want to let go,” he said.

Menon also said that BigBasket has expanded the categories of its products. Other than the usual categories, it also has segments like toys, stationary, electronics and accessories, over-the-counter medicines and more.