Big Bazaar Direct (BBD), the virtual franchisee concept of Future Group-owned Big Bazaar, the largest hypermarket chain in India, is betting big on franchising business model. It has set an ambitious target to have 10,000 franchisees by the end of 2015 or 50,000 franchisees in three to four years. Currently, the company is focussing on markets such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Gujarat and by March it expects to make 1,000 agents.
BBD’s hybrid model is based on e-commerce and physical retail. The company has already completed a pilot project for the retail chain in Nagpur and has 150 agents in the city. Now, it is looking at building franchisees or agents on pan India basis. Under this model, the Rs 9,000-crore Big Bazaar chain plans to appoint kiranawalas (mom-and-pop stores), individual businessmen, and even housewives as its agents. As per the business model, these franchisees will take orders from customers and send it to the Big Bazaar who in turn will deliver the goods at the doorsteps. Importantly, the franchisee or the agent will not require tohave an inventory. Moreover, the company expects that in the future every Big Bazaar Direct franchisee or agent would be able to generate a business of Rs 4 to 5 lakh business every month.
Presently, Big Bazaar operates 240 stores across the country. With its virtual franchisee model, it has set it eyes on Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Pune, and Indore to achieve the targeted numbers of agents.
