BigBasket has officially entered the quick commerce space — and it’s done it with a bang.
BigBasket has told users in select cities that they can order the iPhone 16 on its platform, and get it delivered in 10 minutes. “Exciting times ahead! Get your iPhone delivered in 10 minutes only on BigBasket. Open for orders at 8 am tomorrow!” the email said. Big Basket is reportedly delivering the phones in Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai.
“We are thrilled to bring the iPhone 16 to our platform, marking the beginning of our foray into the electronics space,” Big Basket CEO Hari Menon said. “This is just the start—very soon, we will be launching a wide range of top-tier electronics, all available with our lightning-fast delivery service,” he added.
Big Basket hasn’t made an official announcement of its quick-commerce pivot, but it has been reported that it plans to move away from its slotted deliveries, and move to a quick commerce model that delivers in 10-20 minutes. This pivot follows the success that companies like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart have seen in the quick-commerce space. It’s prompted many incumbents, like Big Basket, Flipkart and even Amazon, to look to enter the 10-minute delivery space.
And an announcement about delivering iPhones in 10 minutes appears to be BigBasket’s official quick commerce launch. It isn’t the first company to deliver iPhones in 10 minutes — Blinkit had delivered the iPhone 15 in September last year. But BigBasket will have an advantage as it does an encore a year later — BigBasket is owned by the Tata Group, and it’s tied up with Tata’s Croma to deliver the phones. Having a dedicated electronics store partner like Croma will help BigBasket deliver not only iPhones but also phones, laptops and other electronics, and can potentially help the company save costs in the acquisitions of these items.
But the Tata Group’s foray into the tech space has been a mixed bag so far. It had launched Tata Neu with much fanfare during the IPL last year, butapp hasn’t found much traction among users. Also, BigBasket will have to play catch up — most urban Indian customers are already used to using one of Blinkit, Zepto or Swiggy Instamart as their preferred quick commerce provider, so BigBasket will need to stand out, either through discounts or its product selection, to grab some market share. But with the company now clearly going all-in on quick commerce by delivering iPhones in 10 minutes, it’s signaled its intent to make its mark — albeit a little late — in India’s booming quick commerce space.