Grocery e-tailer BigBasket has adopted the acquisition route to fortify its position. It has entered two new segments — micro-delivery, and physical and omni-channel commerce — with its three recent acquisitions.
The online major, earlier this month, acquired a 100 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based Morning Cart and Pune-based RainCan, both of which are a part of Bloomskart Retail Pvt Ltd. It also picked up a controlling stake in Savis Retail, which operates cloud connected, unmanned, smart vending machines under the name Kwik24.
But why would an online retailer need vending machines? Is BigBasket looking to open brick-and-mortar stores, too? No, said Hari Menon, the company’s co-founder and CEO. The idea, he said, was to get closer to customers and to be available 24x7.
Trial run
BigBasket ran a pilot with Kwik24 before the buy. Some apartment buildings in Bengaluru were enrolled for the ‘BB Instant’ service, whereby they could order via the BB Instant app and pick up the products from unmanned Kwik24 vending machines. The pilot drew 90 per cent repeat customers, and BigBasket decided it wanted to work with Kwik24 full-time.
“The stake acquisition in Kwik24 will help us get closer to BigBasketeers through the BB Instant cashless unmanned store,” Menon told BusinessLine. “The best part is that you get fresh products round the clock. The vision behind this is to be able to service customers 24x7.”
With Kwik24, BigBasket has installed 100 smart vending machines across Bengaluru, with plans to expand to other cities.
Non-milk subscriptions
Morning Cart and RainCan currently offer milk subscriptions. With their acquisition, BigBasket hopes to offer subscription-based services across its non-milk range as well, such as fruits and vegetables, staples, bread and eggs. It has already initiated a soft launch of the new subscription service, called BBdaily, in Bengaluru and in Pune, with 20,000 orders per day, and is looking to launch a similar venture in eight other metros.
In February, BigBasket raised $300 million in a round led by China’s Alibaba Group.