Explained: How Covid-19 pandemic has changed shopping on BigBasket

Online grocer BigBasket saw huge expansion on the back of lockdown restrictions but it had to first cope with logistics and back-end services to stay on course

In the first half of 2020, when the entire country was under some form of lockdown, Hari Menon, founder and CEO at online grocery firm BigBasket, knew that while this unprecedented situation increased the challenges for his business, it also presented opportunities. Despite the operational glitches in the early days of the lockdown, the e-grocery firm mobilised its resources so as to be able to deliver essentials to its over 10 million customers across 24 cities. There were even days when the firm sold over 22 kg of onions and potatoes every minute, catering to the massive rise in demand