Pandemic: BigBasket records 84% jump in new customers

The online grocer’s subscription based service Bbdaily that delivers milk and fresh items has seen a growth of 139% during the January-July period, BigBasket claimed.

BigBasket signed up new customers during the pandemic as people banked on e-grocers to shop for essentials and restricted movements were imposed. In a survey released on Tuesday, the company said the number of new customers has increased by as much as 84% compared to the pre-Covid levels while the retention rate grew by 50% against the earlier 30%-45%.

The new consumers are using the platform for their monthly grocery purchases as well as top-ups. The total number of times a customer visited the BigBasket website or app is 55% higher than before and the number of households ordering on the platform has also gone up by 44%. “In terms of consumer behaviour, this means a lot more customers are now shopping for groceries online for the first time,” BigBasket said. The firm believes the shift to e-grocery is “here to stay.”

The online grocer’s subscription based service Bbdaily that delivers milk and fresh items has seen a growth of 139% during the January-July period, BigBasket claimed. Indulgence categories added more households—items such as chocolates, cup noodles, namkeens and savoury snacks registered a 50% to 140% growth in household penetration during the pandemic compared to February as work from home boosted in-home consumption. More households stocked up on soda and cocktail mixes with the category registering a 125% increase in penetration against February, the company said.

Products related to experimentation and hobbies have also seen an increase in purchases. For BigBasket, colours and crayons have seen a penetration increase of 354% while gardening tools have seen a rise of 100%.

The company claims to be recording about 20 million orders per month. Recently, BigBasket said that it reached $1 billion run-rate in annual revenues.