個案資料

In India, customers were used to the idea of buying groceries in stores. BigBasket.com, India’s first online grocery retailer, was set to break this mindset. Customers were signing up at an aggressive rate based on word-of-mouth. With a commitment to provide a top-quality product assortment at competitive prices, BigBasket successfully provided last-mile delivery to customers across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. While traditional brick and mortar grocery retailers were struggling, BigBasket became the first online grocery retailer to report a breakeven in March 2014 in one of the cities where it operated.<br><br>Brick and mortar grocery retailers had started focusing on a hybrid model and analysts believed that hybrid models had more profit potential than pure online grocery retailers. Despite this, BigBasket had arranged funding from venture capitalists, receiving the highest-ever amount of Series A funding among the online retail industry in India. BigBasket leveraged innovative, customer-centric policies that not only boosted customer confidence but also enhanced overall profit margins. Could it permanently change the shopping habits of consumers? Was the breakeven a short-term phenomenon for BigBasket or would it achieve similar performance in other cities? Would online grocery retailing be profitable in the long run?

This case demonstrates how BigBasket, by virtue of revamping the value chain of grocery retailing and leveraging technology, not only enhanced efficiency but also improved profit margins. This is a general and strategic management case that incorporates elements of consumer behaviour and is primarily intended for MBA students. The case:<ul><li>Examines different types of competitors operating in the grocery retail industry in India and introduces the concepts of strategic groups and mobility barriers.</li><li>Examines customer segmentation strategies and what values customers look for in online grocery retailing.</li><li>Focuses on the concept of a value chain and how firms can raise margins by managing their value chains.</li><li>Discusses the dynamic capabilities of BigBasket, which have resulted in its timely breakeven.</ul></li>

• Strategic groups
• value chain
• dynamic capabilities
• consumer segmentation