'It seemed absurd': BigBasket co-founder on early doubts about quick-commerce
What's the story
BigBasket co-founder Hari Menon has admitted that he was initially skeptical about the concept of quick commerce. In a recent LinkedIn post, Menon reflected on the company's 14-year journey and how it had to adapt its business model after consumers quickly embraced 10-minute grocery delivery services. "If you'd asked 100 people back then whether they wanted groceries in 10 minutes... most of them would've said no," he wrote.
Founding principles
Menon on how BigBasket started
Menon, who recently stepped down as CEO of BigBasket, recalled the company's early days and its four operating principles: high order fill rates, on-time deliveries, product availability over 95%, and customer satisfaction. He said these were the things they had to get right before anything else mattered. By 2014, BigBasket was already operating in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad before expanding nationwide.
Market shift
Pivoting to quick commerce
Menon also talked about how BigBasket had to pivot aggressively to 10-minute deliveries after competitors like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto disrupted India's grocery market. Today, the company runs over 900 dark stores across more than 60 cities. Menon said this transformation has made BigBasket "unrecognizable from where we started." He expressed confidence in his successor, Amit Nanda's leadership for this next phase of growth.
Future plans
Menon's continued role at BigBasket
Even though Menon is stepping away from day-to-day operations, he will continue to be closely associated with the company. "We're not going far. We'll be around, mentoring, cheering... and occasionally being the annoying founders with very many suggestions," he said. Founded in 2011, BigBasket was a pioneer of online grocery delivery in India before reinventing itself for the quick commerce era.