Bengaluru-based BigBasket is looking at setting up offline kiosks across India, founder and CEO Hari Menon told Times of India. This move follows a $300 million funding from Alibaba last month.
The offline kiosks will stock daily groceries, fast-moving consumer goods, fruits and vegetables, according to the report. They will be installed in apartments and office complexes.
The e-grocer has already started a pilot with the a new app called BB Instant, the report said.
"The pilot is under way at select apartments and office premises. We have kept it as a separate app and are looking to scale this up as it will solve a genuine user problem for items they need quickly. Based on the initial feedback, we are looking to sell certain stock keeping units (SKUs) in these kiosks which can be instantly bought by a shopper after firing the app," Menon told the newspaper.
The company is also mulling a subscription based model for essential items such as milk, bread and eggs.
"Unlike global markets, Indians like fresh items as far as fruits and vegetables are concerned. Items like milk would work on subscription. So, we would start with that and perhaps add a few more essentials to go with that which a user can add on top," Menon said.
BigBasket's market share in online groceries is about 35 percent, according to a Mint report.
The online groceries space is becoming increasingly competitve. Amazon last month opened its first food-only retail store in India in Pune. Grofers too, is looking at a fresh round of funding, according to a Mint report.
Media reports have hinted at a potential deal between Walmart and Flipkart.
