Bigbasket is charting next phase of growth by juggling offline, online play

The company is eyeing to fill the white spaces as it were and expand its offering as an omni-channel operation

Almost a decade after online grocers rushed to serve customers at the click of a mouse, the Indian consumer has yet to fully embrace online grocery shopping. A humble 4 per cent of the country’s grocery spending occurs online today, whereas other retail categories have witnessed much deeper e-commerce penetration — from 25 per cent for footwear and apparels to upwards of 50 per cent for mobile phones and books. The grocery category remains one of the rare exceptions in the sense it is still playing catch-up even as penetration reaches 15-20 per cent in countries such as the UK