The unit also registered a turnover of Rs 2,261.3 crore for the fiscal year. In FY22, the unit’s losses stood at Rs 177.9 crore, while its operating revenue was Rs 1,707.2 crore. BigBasket’s parent entity Tata Digital is a part of Tata Sons.
Meanwhile, Tata Sons saw its profit rise 29% to Rs 22,132 crore for the fiscal year, while its revenue jumped 45% to Rs 35,058 crore, boosted by dividends from group companies.
In June, ET had reported that BigBasket’s B2C arm, Innovative Retail Concepts, expected its net loss to widen 89% to Rs 1,535.2 crore for fiscal year 2023, while it earned Rs 7,434.4 crore in operating revenue, a 5% bump from a year earlier.
“E-grocery has been one of the fastest-growing segments in the consumer e-commerce space and its growth is propelled by India’s rising consumption and digital penetration. The acquisition of SGS (Supermarket Grocery Supplies) improves the Group’s capacity to deliver exceptional customer experience”, the annual report added.
The continued losses for the nearly 13-year-old firm come as it faces intense competition in both grocery delivery as well as relatively new verticals such as quick commerce. BigBasket competes with the likes of Reliance JioMart, Walmart-owned Flipkart, and Amazon India in the broader grocery segment, while in the quick commerce segment it competes with the likes of Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto.
Discover the stories of your interest
Tata Digital acquired a majority stake of 64% in BigBasket in 2021, buying out the entire holding of its then-largest shareholder Alibaba in a deal valuing the company at $1.5-2 billion.The Tatas had invested in BigBasket’s parent entity Supermarket Grocery Supplies. Soon after, Innovative Retail Concepts, which runs the B2C arm of BigBasket, was made a separate subsidiary. The Bengaluru-based firm raised a further $200 million in new funding from Tata Digital and a few others in December 2022, at a heightened valuation of $3.2 billion, as reported by ET.
Since the acquisition, BigBasket has become an important part of Tata Group’s online retail play, which also includes the likes of e-pharmacy app 1MG, online apparel retailer Tata Cliq, and the group’s super app Tata Neu.
However, in that time, it has had to solidify its position in the quick commerce fight through its BB Now offering and has often been roped in to help with the tech stacks of other Tata Digital entities, including 1MG and Tata Cliq. In February, ET reported that rival Reliance JioMart had quietly closed down its quick-commerce entity, JioMart Express.
