All seems to have not been lost for the brick-and-mortar retail grocery stores. bigbasket, one of the earliest e-commerce companies in the country, has said it is betting big on opening physical stores.

After establishing itself as a leading grocery player across all formats, bigbasket is planning to open 400 stores over the next three years. All stores will come up in tier 1 cities. After testing waters in Bengaluru over the last few weeks, the company is now expanding to Hyderabad and Kolkata.

“We are going to open five stores in Kolkata, five more in Bengaluru and four in Hyderabad by end of March 31, 2023,” VS Sudhakar, Co-Founder of bigbasket, now a TATA group company, told businessline.

Huge potential

Sudhakar, who is in the city in connection with the launch of its full-format physical store here, said there was a huge potential in the brick-and-mortar retail space. “There are two segments we can address with physical stores. A section of consumers want to have touch-and-feel experience before purchasing things,” he said.

The company, which employs about 35,000 people, has an annual revenue run rate of ₹11,000 crore this fiscal, and had registered a turnover of ₹9,000 crore last year.

‘Ensure timely payments’

Sudhakar said the company was able to sell at competitive prices or even at lower price points because it procured about 85 per cent of fruits and vegetables directly from farmers. “We ensure timely payments. We directly credit the amount to farmers’ bank accounts a day after the purchase. Also they get 6-7 per cent more in returns,” he said.

Sudhakar said there was an appetite for quick delivery of groceries, particularly among younger consumers. “Seeing a demand there, we began bbnow, which contributes about ₹100 crore a month,” he said.

“The new physical stores will focus on improving customer experience. For one, the Hyderabad store has a self-service facility, allowing customers to bill for themselves,” he said.

comment COMMENT NOW