Bigbasket sees 84% jump in new customers in July

Online grocery delivery platform Bigbasket on Tuesday said the number of new customers on its platform grew by 84 per cent in July this year as compared to the month of January, an indicator of the strong growth seen by e-commerce platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of new customers has increased by 84 per cent versus pre-Covid-19 levels and the retention rate by 50 per cent, Bigbasket said in a statement.

The total number of times a customer visited the Bigbasket website/app is 55 per cent higher than before and the number of households ordering on the platform has gone up by 44 per cent, it added.

"In terms of consumer behaviour, this means a lot more customers are now shopping for groceries online for the first time; and these customers are shopping for their monthly grocery basket as well as top-ups," it said.

"This shift is also reflected in bbdaily, Bigbasket's milk and daily fresh delivery app, which has seen a growth of 139 per cent driven by customers choosing it as an option to buy milk, fruits and vegetables and other fresh items all in one place," it added.

The company, however, did not disclose the total number of customers on its platform.

Seshu Kumar Tirumala, National Category Head of Bigbasket who also heads the Brand Intelligence function, said there has been a significant change in consumer behaviour since March 2020.

"Given the unmatched convenience and safety that home delivery offers, we have experienced an 84 per cent increase in new customers accompanied by excellent retention rates and basket sizes," he said.

"We work on the principles of trust and customer satisfaction and this growth has reinforced these principles. We will continue to closely understand customer behaviour and make relevant products available with unmatched convenience," he added.

According to Bigbasket, fruits and vegetables category grew 13 per cent, while beverages; snacks and branded foods; and bakery, cakes and dairy grew 14 per cent, 23 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.

"Households added various indulgence options to cart for home consumption with lockdown shutting external options. Fruits and vegetables (were) also added to the same cart to reduce multiple external touchpoints," it noted.

As customers are staying at home much more than before, indulgence categories such as chocolates, cup noodles, namkeens and savoury snacks registered 50 per cent to 140 per cent growth compared to February, it said.

Soda and cocktail mixes became a fast-growing category with a 125 per cent increase in penetration versus February, driven by customers wanting to prepare drinks at home, it added.

Customers have also been buying a lot more products from categories that relate to family time, hobbies and experimentation. For example, colours and crayons category has seen a penetration increase of 354 per cent and gardening tools has seen an increase of 100 per cent, it said.