Kishore Biyani Launches BigBazaarDirect.com

Big Bazaar Direct is a direct selling platform that will enable customers to place orders with the company’s franchisees, after which they will receive their orders in three-seven days.

Kishore Biyani, chief executive officer of Future Group, the company that owns the offline retail chain Big Bazaar, has launched a new venture called Big Bazaar Direct. Leveraging a tablet based e-commerce backend, Big Bazaar Direct is basically a direct selling platform that will enable customers to place orders with the company’s franchisees, post which they will receive their orders in three-seven days.

Wannabe entrepreneurs can sign up by filling a franchisee application form on BigBazaarDirect.com, after which they will need to send their Know Your Customer (KYC) documents and an application fee of Rs 1,000. For sealing the deal, an investment of Rs 3 lakh will be have to be made by the franchisees that includes Rs 1 lakh each as non-interest bearing refundable security deposit; initial advance that is to be used for placing orders; and set up charges for Big Bazaar Direct tablet, initial branding, one year training, and launch material, etc.

Franchisees need to simply take orders from the customer on the tablet provided by the company, post which customers will receive a confirmation SMS and will need to make the payment to the franchisee. Customers will also be offered over 1,000 deals by Big Bazaar. In addition, franchisees don’t need to stock and deliver goods; Big Bazaar will handle the same. The company will also provide a dedicated team for franchisee and customer support; in case of any product related issue, Big Bazaar Direct will arrange for the return pick up. Franchisees will get a cut of every order placed via their tablets.

Big Bazaar is aiming to have 100,000 franchisees in two years. This roughly translates into Rs 3,010 crore in direct earning (in addition to the sales of products) for the company, considering the amount it is charging for setting up a single franchisee.

While all of this does look good on paper, we don’t really understand the point of it all. Why would customers bother to place orders on tablets and wait for three-seven days for delivery of their products, when they can simply go to the nearest kirana store and purchase them. And if the argument is the ‘convenience of ordering from home’, online grocery sites like AaramShop, LocalBanya, Ekstop, BigBasket, ZopNow and MyGrahak already offer the same. While their reach may not be as extensive, the delivery time is much less which is a key feature for any consumer.

Via: TechCircle