Tata Digital’s BigBasket is making a significant strategic shift by focusing solely on the growing quick commerce sector, aiming for $1.5 billion (around Rs 12,400 crore) in total sales for the fiscal year 2025 (FY25). While the full impact of this pivot will be seen after FY25, BigBasket already surpassed the Rs 10,000 crore revenue mark in FY24 and reduced its losses by over 20%.
In FY24, BigBasket’s revenue from operations increased by 6.27%, reaching Rs 10,061.9 crore compared to Rs 9,468.5 crore in FY23, according to its consolidated financial statements. The primary entity, Supermarket Grocery Supplies Private Limited, which includes the business-to-consumer (B2C) unit, Innovative Retail Concepts Private Limited, and other acquisitions, contributed to these figures. The company generated 97% of its revenue through grocery sales, with the remaining income coming from ancillary services and other activities. Including interest and gains on financial assets, BigBasket’s total revenue for FY24 was Rs 10,099.8 crore.
BigBasket is consolidating its services by merging its BBdaily subscription service into its main app, aligning with a 10-15 minute delivery model. This move positions the company to compete more aggressively with established players in the quick commerce market, such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Flipkart Minutes.
Regarding expenses, the cost of goods sold (COGS) accounted for 71.3% of total expenses, increasing by 3.4% to Rs 8,209.6 crore in FY24. Employee benefits expenses decreased by 11.7% to Rs 936.6 crore, including employee stock options (ESOP) expenses amounting to Rs 98.5 crore. Other significant expenses included transportation, distribution, advertising, promotions, technical services, and administrative costs. Overall, BigBasket’s total expenses rose marginally by 2% to Rs 11,515 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 11,284.7 crore in FY23.
BigBasket’s efforts to control expenses resulted in a notable reduction in losses, which decreased by 20.73% to Rs 1,415 crore in FY24. The company also improved its operating cash outflows by 18.5%, bringing them down to Rs 1,103 crore for the year. As of FY24, BigBasket’s cumulative losses stood at Rs 7,619.85 crore. The firm’s EBITDA margin improved by 463 basis points to -9.39% in FY24. On a per-unit basis, BigBasket spent Rs 1.14 to generate a rupee of operating revenue in the last fiscal year.
Comparatively, in FY24, Zomato’s Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart achieved gross revenues of Rs 2,301 crore and Rs 1,100 crore, respectively. Meanwhile, Zepto reported a five-fold increase in revenue, exceeding Rs 10,000 crore in FY24, although its audited financials are yet to be released.