Big Bazaar’s home delivery biz gains traction in non-metros

New Delhi: A month after rolling out its two-hour delivery service, hypermarket chain Big Bazaar said nearly half of its delivery business is now coming from tier-II cities where consumers are sending orders to local store managers using WhatsApp or logging onto its delivery app or website.

Cities such as Bhopal, Mangalore, Lucknow, Ranchi, Kanpur, Ghaziabad and Varanasi have seen orders climb over the past week.

Ongoing restrictions in several states—with shops being directed to open only for a few hours and curbs on opening of non-essential stores in some cities—has spurred demand for home deliveries. Meanwhile, footfalls in large modern trade stores have fallen at least 50-60%, said industry executives, as fresh covid-19-led restrictions prompt shoppers to avoid large stores and instead shop online or at local neighbourhood stores.