INDIA – Indian online grocery delivery service is eyeing growth in brick and mortar stores and plans to open 200 physical outlets across India by fiscal year 2023.
The Bengaluru-based online grocer which recently opened its first Fresho store aims to increase that number to 800 stores by 2026, its cofounder and CEO Hari Menon said.
“The stores will offer high quality products at extremely competitive prices. With Fresho stores, customers can now handpick fresh fruits and vegetables as well as daily essentials like bread and eggs which are stocked at the store,” Bigbasket said.
Indian farmers are also set to benefit from the opening of the stores as it will offer them a lucrative market for their produce.
“The produce stocked at the stores is backed by our extensive Farmer Connect programme where we partner with over 30,000 farmers across the country to source fruits and vegetables directly,” the company revealed.
To access the company’s entire range of over 50,000 products, customers can place orders online and collect them from the Fresho stores at their convenience.
According to the company, opening a brick-and-mortar store will help the company reach out to as many as 500 million new users over a period of time.
“We want to be everything in grocery (business). This is very strategic in nature as a large portion of customers still want offline shopping for groceries and fresh supplies,” Menon told journalists after the launch of the store.
Diversifying to brick and mortar, however, comes at a cost. According to BigBasket, each Fresho store would be around 2,000 sq ft in size and requires an investment of anywhere between Rs 50-70 lakh (about US$93,260).
The Fresho store launched in Bengaluru has self-billing counters integrated with video AI tools that enable customers to pick items of their choice and weigh them at the counter through automatic computer vision and generate bills accordingly.
Big Basket forays into q-commerce
Meanwhile, the Tata-owned e-grocer has announced plans to launch its express delivery service, BB Now, next month, offering 10-20-minute grocery delivery.
With the launch, Tata will join the quick commerce rush with platforms like Grofers, Swiggy’s Instamart, Dunzo and Zepto.
CEO Menon said that the company will also be bringing all its grocery offerings in its main BigBasket app, which is being referred to internally as the ‘BB Super App’.
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