BigBasket, the online supermarket with presence in eight Indian cities, has launched its operations in Coimbatore city today. The company was launched in 2011 by the founders of Fabmall-Trinethra.

Big Basket has also offers its customers their free mobile app available on the Android and Apple platforms. This inventory model online supermarket sells more than 14,000 products from over 1000 brands.

Available on sale are products including fresh fruits, vegetables, grocery, staples, beverages, bread, diary, egg products, branded foods, meat, personal care, and household products. The company also sells organic and exotic fruits and vegetables sourced from abroad. “Along with regular brands, we also sell our in-house brands of fruits, vegetables and staples like royal, popular, organic, fresho and fresho signature.” Meera Iyer, head of Marketing at Big Basket, said.

The products sold by Big Basket are sourced directly from the manufactures and are checked for quality by the in-house quality control team. In regions where Big Basket has its presence, the company has tied up with local farmers and regular stock of fruits and vegetables are procured directly from them. Big Basket has a collection centre in Palacode, about 25 kilometres from Dharmapuri district. If the company is unable to source fruits and vegetables from this region, it has alternative plans to procure them from Karnataka.

Products like rice and pulses are purchased directly from the manufactures. Big Basket has tied up with diary product manufacturers in order to purchase diary products. The company has its own 22,000 square feet distribution centre in Thondamuthur, where products are stored before they are delivered to the customers in Coimbatore.

The online store is open 24×7. Currently, Big Basket offers its customers with the option to have the products that they shopped for delivered on the same day, the next day or the following week. Various payment options like cash-on-delivery and online card payment are also available. All products are sold at prices lower than their MRPs. However, not more than 25 pieces of any product can be purchased by a single customer on one bill. Hoe delivery is free for bill amount of over Rs.1,000. For others, a delivery charge of Rs.20 is collected, regardless of the area of delivery. Customers can also choose a particular time slot (from the various time slot options) to have their products delivered.

Products are delivered in crates that the company collects and reuses. In case the product is not delivered at the promised time, Big Basket pays the customer 10 percent of the bill value. If the customer reports any dissatisfaction in the products that are purchased from Big Basket, the company pays back the customer 50 percent of the bill value.

“We currently have 1.5 million registered customers, including bachelors, working couples, young mothers, the middle-aged couples, and the senior citizens. In Coimbatore city, considering the good internet penetration rates, we are expecting to have at least 25,000 registered users in the first one month.” Meera said.

The registration process is simple and free. As an introductory offer, Big Basket will offer a 10 percent discount to the first 1000 customer orders in Coimbatore