BigBasket, India’s largest online grocer, expands its on-demand delivery service

India's largest online grocer BigBasket, which is based in Bengaluru, is opening new warehouses in five major cities and in smaller towns in a move to expand its logistics network so as to counter the threat from hyperlocal startups offering speedy deliveries.

BigBasket will launch 10 new warehouses each in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Delhi. The company will also launch one warehouse each in the targeted 50 towns.

The company is investing in its own warehouses, deiciding against the usual route of partnering with hyperlocal stores, which generally connects to neighborhood store for swift delivery of products. The company could have gone with the low investment route by entering into partnership with hyperlocal stores, but it chose to invest in its own warehouses in favor of total control and the convenience of bringing together a wider range of products under one roof.

The company's investment in setting up its own warehouses across cities and towns will help it compete with rapidly-expanding hyperlocal stores like Sequoia-backed Grofers and PepperTap, which offers deliveries in less than 2 hours. At present, BigBasket offers 4 slots for deliveries in a day, and each delivery takes an hour and a half each. The company has a same-day delivery service, which is available when orders are placed before noon.

BigBasket is a full-service online grocer that delivers large volumes and it also provides one-hour express delivery for top-ups through the month. Express deliveries will be done in it partner kiranas and warehouses or dark stores.

The first dark store will open in Gurgaon on Saturday, which according to Menon will be of around 5,000 square feet each (in the cities). In every city, these dark stores will be fed with 1,500 products from the central delivery centers. While dark stores in towns will be of about 10,000 square feet each.

BigBasket acquired hyperlocal startup Delyver last week. BigBasket is keeping the operations of both companies separate, but the parent company will be using Delyver's logistics, which guarantees deliveries within an hour in roughly 40 Bengaluru neighborhoods

The company is in expansion mode and it wants to enter smaller towns with its dark stores, where it plans to give shoppers the freedom to receive purchases overnight. Speaking about cities, the company is entering Mysore, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, and Vizag starting next week.

The company ships about 11,500 orders a day across the country.

BigBasket has raised $35.8 million in funding so far, according to Techcrunch.