Grocery eCommerce heats up in Mumbai with big daddy BigBasket launching
Existing players
Groceries, FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) are moving online in this second wave of internet. During first wave of internet era (1995-2001), there was a WebVan, which closed down within 2 years, not without burning $ 1-2B of investors’ money. Post 2002, eGrocery made recovery in other parts of world and there were successful model like Tesco in UK. 2012 saw a bunch of eGroceries coming to serve us in different parts of India. While ShopVeg closed down 2-3 months back, it has not deterred existing players like LocalBanya, BigBazar and FarmFreshFrenzy to continue to expand coverage area and SKUs. Aaramshop also has presence in South Mumbai. If readers of this blog know about any more such services, please leave a comment or send tip to prasoon DOT kumar AT gmail DOT com. These companies are looking to serve us staple food right at the door, so sales will always be there, recession or not. But, wafer-thin margin on these goods and last mile connectivity problems in India’s urban jungle called Mumbai might end their party.
BigBasket enters
BigBasket boasts of exemplary 2nd time entrepreneur husband-wife duo K.Ganesh and Meena Ganesh at the helm of affairs. This January they announced a big ticket investment $10M [Medianama news] as well from Ascent Capital. Their model of directly procuring fresh vegetables and grains from farmers and put it to our doorstep symbolized a great step forward. So, I was delighted, when I heard their radio ads announcing their advent. They also have special launch offer for 1st 1000 customers – 10% off for first year. I went on to witness them do deliveries in Chandivali. They have 7000 SKUs(Source – signup email)
right now and serve entire Mumbai.
![IMG_0821[1]](http://prasoonk.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/img_08211.jpg "IMG_0821[1]")
Delivery man ![IMG_0823[1]](http://prasoonk.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/img_08231.jpg "IMG_0823[1]")
Delivery man carries a Micromax mobile running Android OS. There is a built-in enterprise program, in which I was able to view my order. Then, I entered PIN number assigned to my account over there to confirm receiving the order. It is really an excellent example of smartphone usage in enterprise space, as I had tried to look at in an earlier post.
Deliver man at my doorstep
Micromax phone, change
Here’s the comparison table of existing players. Let’s see how the new entrant stands.
| eGrocery | Inventory | Area Coverage | SKUs | Time of delivery | Phone order also? Email |
Social Media Presence |
| LocalBanya | Own + marketplace model | Mumbai – South + Suburbs except Thane and Navi Mumbai | 3000 (Will be 20000 in March 2013 | Next day delivery | No. Phone only for reschedule 810-88-44400 | *** (Average) |
| aaramshop (http://www.aaramshop.com/) | Marketplace model 774 shops in Mumbai (Dec 2012) (Zero inventory) | South Mumbai | 10000 | Same day | No | **** (Good) |
| BigBazaar http://www.bigbazaar.com/ | Inventory of 11 shops (as of Dec 2012)+ Warehouse | Mumbai and suburbs | 8000 | 3 days | Yes, 18002002255, (old) 0922-222-1947 sharewithus@fvrl.in, customerservice@futurebazaar.com | ***(Average) |
| FreshFarmFrenzy http://freshfarmfrenzy.com/ | Unknown | Chandivali, Powai, Andheri (E),MIDC, JVLR, Ghatkopar(W), Vikroli(W), Kanjurmarg (W) | Unknown | 1 day | Yes, 8080 2222 44 | **(Poor) |
FFF (FreshFarmFrenzy) serves limited areas
Delivery man
Posted on December 23, 2012, in eCommerce, Economy & Business, mobile, Web and tagged Bigbasket. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Hello Prasoon,
Hope life is good at your end. I still remember our good old days @IITK. Came across your blog. For some reason, the content is getting truncated. Perhaps the comparison table of existing players might be something you didn’t want clipped. Just wanted to let you know.
Good Luck !!!
Regards,
Ritesh Agarwal
Okay. Thanks for the info!!
Reliance Mart (Phoenix Marketcity) accepts grocery order over phone at 022-61801471 between 9am and 8pm. Delivery area is within 5 kms of the store. They deliver same day for orders placed before 4pm. You may try the following numbers for other Reliance outlets – 18001027382, 18002337382, 02240176400 incl Reliance Fresh , Reliance Mart, Reliance Super, Delight, Autozone and Sahakari Bhandar.
Big Bazaar also accepts orders on 0922 2221947, but as I experienced the service was delayed.
I had seen Star Bazaar’s phone number for grocery delivery as well, but don’t have the ad handy. It is
neitheraccessible on web. I finally found number – 022-67080780. Star Bazaar weekly Mumbai offers are available on internet and published in newspapers like HT Cafe. they however deliver only 3 kms around stores – Andheri(W), Dahisar and Thane. On weekdays, you need to order a minimum of Rs.1000 worth items, which will get delivered in 24 hrs. On weekends, minimum order is Rs.1500 and delivery times can be 48 hours.Bigbasket also have a customer service, +91 22 3355 1000. I am not sure, if they take orders over phone or not.
Wahise accepts orders on 76-666-444-22, but serves only limited areas in Western suburbs.
Hi Prasoon,
You should also visit http://www.wahise.com. It serves north western suburbs.
Regards,
Dhaval
Thanks for letting me know about the same!
Cool. Is there any phone service for grocery in Mumbai except the local kirana stores?