Resilience, doing more with less helped us during Covid-19: BigBasket CEO
05 November 2024
Resilience and 'doing more with less' were two key tenets followed by BigBasket during the COVID-19-induced lockdown that helped the online grocery retailer sail through and grow, a top company official said on Friday.
BigBasket co-founder and CEO Hari Menon said the company hired over 12,000 persons in 16 days to meet the surge in demand as a large number of people started turning to digital platforms to shop for grocery items amid the lockdown.
Recounting his experience at the 'Isha Insight: The DNA of Success' event, Menon said the company lost 80 per cent of its workforce within two days, just as the nationwide lockdown was announced in March.
"Stores were shut, people scared to get out and orders were pouring in (for BigBasket). There was a surge in business, and we had 20 per cent workforce. We realised that we can't give this up...(realised) how important this quality is...resilient organisations are winners," he added.
He said the company hired 12,300 people in 16 days, which demonstrated the power of resilience.
E-commerce companies had initially struggled to deliver orders after the 21-day lockdown, imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus, came into effect from March 25. Even though the government had allowed delivery of essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment through e-commerce platforms, players complained that their delivery staff was being hassled by police.
Resilience and 'doing more with less' were two key tenets followed by BigBasket during the COVID-19-induced lockdown that helped the online grocery retailer sail through and grow, a top company official said on Friday. BigBasket co-founder and CEO Hari Menon said the company hired over 12,000 persons in 16 days to meet the surge in demand as a large number of people started turning to digital platforms to shop for grocery items amid the lockdown. Recounting his experience at the 'Isha Insight: The DNA of Success' event, Menon said the company lost 80 per cent of its workforce within two days, just as the nationwide lockdown was announced in March. "Stores were shut, people scared to get out and orders were pouring in (for BigBasket). There was a surge in business, and we had 20 per cent workforce. We realised that we can't give this up...(realised) how important this quality is...resilient organisations are winners," he added. He said the company hired 12,300 people in 16 days, which demonstrated the power of resilience. E-commerce companies had initially struggled to deliver orders after the 21-day lockdown, imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus, came into effect from March 25. Even though the government had allowed delivery of essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment through e-commerce platforms, players complained that their delivery staff was being hassled by police.
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