Bigbasket.com looks for pan-India presence

Online grocery retailer Bigbasket.com today announced the availability of its services in Pune with the opening of a central warehouse.  This is the fourth  city after Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai to have this facility. In the coming months, the company expects to establish its presence in Chennai and the National Capital Region.

"With launch in Pune, we have now begun the process of being a national player. From procurement to warehousing to delivery, a fleet of delivery vans and a team of 500-plus people manage everything in-house. Same day delivery has now become a necessity for today's time-strapped customers and we expect most of our customers to use this service consistently. Groceries can also be ordered on smartphones via BigBasket app available for Apple and Android devices,” says Seshu Kumar, national head, merchandising, BigBasket.com.

Currently, it has a customer base of 3.5 lakh with an order growth rate of 30 per cent every month. With a catalog of over 10,000 products, the brand  offers products in categories such as fruits, vegetables, rice, spices, meat, beverages and  personal care.

It has tied up with local transporters for delivering goods and currently has 12 delivery vans.

The company has targeted sales of $ 1 billion by end of 2018.  It sources most of products  locally and has tied up with local vendors for grocery products. According to Seshu, fruits and vegetables are the most frequently ordered products. Started in December 2011, BigBasket.com runs its own end-to-end logistics.

From procurement to warehousing to delivery, a fleet of their own delivery vans and a team of 500-plus people manage everything in-house. The company has raised $ 32.8 million in funding. This series B round of funding has come in from Helion Venture Partners and Mumbai based Zodious Capital.

The grocery market in India is worth an annual $10 billion and is growing by 7-8 per cent. BigBasket competes with other online Localbanya.com and MyGrahak.com. BigBasket is co-promoted by serial entrepreneur K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh.