BigBasket Taps Micro-Delivery Segment With 3 Acquisitions

Online grocery company BigBasket has reportedly completed three acquisitions in the micro-delivery segment. The company has acquired 100% stake in milk delivery startups RainCan and Morning Cart and a controlling stake in smart vending machines startup Kwik24.

The acquisition of RainCan and Morning Cart was first reported by Entrackr. With this, BigBasket looks to tap the micro-delivery segment which includes milk delivery and omnichannel grocery delivery.

The move came in after the $300 Mn funding round raised by BigBasket from Alibaba and other investors in February this year.

“The micro delivery startup acquisition really helps BigBasket in accelerating our need to bring fresh subscription services to our customers, daily,” said Hari Menon, chief executive of Big Basket. “And Kwik24 acquisition gives us the ability to be closer to the customer by way of the BB Instant smart vending kiosks.”

According to reports, BigBasket has branded the milk delivery service as BB Daily, a subscription service which allows customers to order milk and other daily essentials the previous night and have them delivered the following morning.

Currently piloting in Bengaluru and Pune, the service will soon reach eight metro cities. BigBasket claims to have 20,000 daily subscriptions. Also, this is similar to the current business model of startups such as MilkBasket.

On the other hand, Kwik24 has installed 100 smart vending machines in Bengaluru and plans to expand to others cities as well.

Inc42 had earlier reported that BigBasket plans to tap the offline market through kiosks that will stock fruits, vegetables, FMCG goods, and other daily grocery items. Bengaluru-headquartered online grocery platform has already launched a pilot for its new offline service and has also built a separate app known as BB Instant.

At present, BigBasket owns private labels like Fresho for vegetables and idli and dosa batter; Royal and Popular for staples; Tasties, for snacks etc.

Even though fish and meat are available on Fresho, BigBasket plans to bring out a new category of meat and set up a deeper supply chain to focus exclusively on the business.

BigBasket aims to generate 45% of overall sales from its private label business by April 2019. At present, private labels contribute roughly 34% to its revenues. It is also looking to add a new private label under the new category of beauty products.

[The development was reported by ET.]