BigBasket founder-CEO hands over to an Amazon veteran to finish its quick-commerce pivot
Hari Menon stepped down after 15 years as BigBasket fully pivoted to quick commerce; FY25 turnover fell 3% and losses widened to Rs 1,851 crore.
What was changed
In June 2026 BigBasket founder Hari Menon stepped down as chief executive, nearly 15 years after launching India's pioneering online grocer, with Amazon India veteran Amit Nanda appointed CEO. Menon, who stays on the board, had begun succession planning after Tata Group acquired a majority stake in 2021 — buying out largest shareholder Alibaba at a valuation between $1.5 and $2 billion — and Nanda was charged with leading the 'next phase of growth, strengthening its position in quick commerce'.
The succession capped a strategic reversal. BigBasket, known for slotted deliveries, was initially reluctant to embrace quick commerce over its cash-intensive economics; then Eternal-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto accelerated 10-minute delivery across urban India and the country's largest online grocer rapidly lost share. In August 2024 it fully pivoted. Fiscal 2025 told the cost of the delay: B2C turnover fell 3% to Rs 7,673 crore, B2B fell 7% to Rs 2,227 crore, and B2C losses widened to Rs 1,851 crore from Rs 1,267 crore.
The pivot now has scale and early wins: around 700 dark stores, 500,000–600,000 orders a day through the BB Now rapid service, and Tata Digital CEO Sajith Sivanandan citing early share recovery — 'every fifth (app) download is a BigBasket download' — with differentiation pitched on private-label quality (Fresho, BB Royal) rather than speed alone.
Why it worked
The founder who was 'initially reluctant to embrace quick commerce' handing over the CEO role marks the pivot as permanent policy, not an experiment.
Nanda's decade-plus at Amazon India adds marketplace-scale operating muscle that the slotted-delivery original never needed.
Menon and cofounder Vipul Parekh stay on the board and mentor the leadership — continuity of relationships while the operating model changes.
The change fits a wider Tata Digital reset that has installed new CFO, growth and product-technology leadership through 2025–26.
What can be applied
Founders who resisted a disruptive model may be the wrong owners of the pivot; handing to an operator from the rival playbook signals the strategy is no longer negotiable.
Aftermath
The leadership rebuild continued around Nanda: Manish Bajoria (Vini Cosmetics, HUL, Amazon) as CFO in July 2025, Arpit Jaiswal (15 years at Google India, Google Pay growth head) as chief growth officer in April 2026, and Keshav Kumar elevated to chief product and technology officer. Menon said Nanda is 'uniquely positioned' for the journey ahead.