BigBasket Accelerates Shift to Quick Commerce, Aiming for $1 Billion in Rapid Delivery Sales

Founded in 2011, BigBasket has witnessed various cycles of hyper-funded grocery ventures. Now, with its BB Now service, the company is seeing over 50% of its sales coming from the quick commerce segment. In the coming weeks, BigBasket will fully shift to offering 10–30 minute deliveries, as confirmed by founders Hari Menon and Vipul Parekh. BB Now, operational for about 2.5 years, has intensified its focus on quick commerce, especially over the last year, driven by rising demand and increased investment in competitors like Zomato-owned Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart. With this strategic shift, BigBasket aims to generate $1 billion of its targeted $1.5 billion in sales this fiscal year from BB Now.

Earlier this year, BigBasket introduced a two-hour delivery slot on its Supersaver service, with plans to reduce this to one hour. “This strategy allows us to retain our existing customer base while continuing to attract new users,” Menon said. The company has been testing rapid delivery services in select areas of Bengaluru, with plans to expand nationwide.

BigBasket is planning to operate around 500–600 dark stores while maintaining its large warehouses, which house a wide range of products, including high-value items. The dark stores will focus on fast-moving grocery and non-grocery items, while larger, more expensive products will be stored in warehouses. BigBasket currently operates around 56–60 large warehouses across India.

While quick commerce has mainly been a phenomenon in metro cities, the challenge lies in expanding these services beyond the top 10–12 cities in the country. “Quick grocery delivery is well understood, but broadening the product range will impact overall profitability,” Parekh noted, emphasizing that the lines between e-commerce and quick commerce are blurring rapidly.

The quick commerce sector is seeing a significant influx of capital, with Zepto securing $1 billion in the past two months to expand its user base and market share. Meanwhile, BigBasket has finalized funding plans through debt to invest in BB Now. The company plans to increase its SKU count from 10,000 to 25,000–30,000, with 400–450 dark stores currently in operation.

As competition intensifies, Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart are all expanding their dark store networks. According to UBS, Blinkit currently holds a 40–45% market share, Swiggy Instamart 20–25%, Zepto 15-20%, and BB Now 10-15%. Nomura predicts that the quick commerce market could see 100–100% year-on-year growth in gross order value (GOV) by FY26, driven by aggressive dark store expansions across the sector.