India’s largest online grocer, BigBasket, has made a bold and dramatic shift by abandoning its traditional e-commerce model in favor of ultra-fast deliveries. Starting next month, BigBasket will no longer offer planned deliveries or time slots; instead, all orders will be delivered within 10 to 30 minutes.

This pivot was inevitable. BigBasket’s revenue growth has slowed dramatically, with only a 6.27% increase in FY24, while quick-commerce rivals surged ahead. Despite its size, BigBasket Now holds just a 10% share of the quick-commerce market. Meanwhile, competitors like Blinkit saw a 145% jump in revenue during the same period, and Zepto raised $665 million, becoming the face of India’s quick commerce boom.

Consumer preferences are shifting rapidly, with quick commerce growing 77% last year compared to 13% growth in traditional e-commerce. BigBasket built its reputation over more than a decade on scheduled deliveries, but changing consumer behavior demanded a new approach.

To catch up, BigBasket is investing $1 billion in this new model. Key highlights of this transformation include:

• Expanding dark stores from 400 to 700
• Targeting $1 billion in quick-commerce revenue
• Fully abandoning their original scheduled delivery model within months

This move signals the rise of the convenience economy – consumers want faster service, and BigBasket is betting big on delivering it.

For quick-commerce leaders Zepto and Blinkit, this means stiff competition from a well-funded and experienced player. For consumers, it promises better prices and faster deliveries as the race for quick commerce intensifies.