Expert Talk on the system of Online shopping

Purpose of Expert Talk:

Understand the different systems inside Big Basket

Understand how the different systems in Big Basket are connected to each other.

Understand the form, function, needs, and challenges of the Big Basket as a system and also the changes that the system has gone through ever since its inception in 2011 to fulfill the needs of its customers.

Understand how these changes in the system happen to cater to the needs of the community.

Expert Talk:

The expert talk was conducted by Mr. Abinay Chaudhari, the Co-founder of Big Basket, he gave the children an insight into the backend planning and work that goes into commercial companies and how roles and responsibilities help organize work.

Mr. Abhinay gave a short presentation about how Big Basket is just not about an app on the phone but a complete system in itself with several big or small subsystems working with each other to achieve a common goal of helping people get their groceries delivered to their homes easily. With over 20,000 products and 3000 for express delivery, Big Basket is functioning in 25 cities

He spoke about the various systems like-  Financial Management system, communication systems, Human Resource, Warehouse  Management system etc.  that take care of all the back-end jobs.

As the customer orders a product the requirement goes to the nearby hub. The items get picked up as per the order and they are packed and checked by a Customer Experience Executive (CEE). Routes are then decided with the help of Google maps and a proper planning of the route is done so as to avoid any traffic or delay. The driver is given the route details and order details and trucks are loaded and taken for delivery.

 The major challenges that big basket encounters are traffic delays, because of which there are delays in the delivery. Another challenge is products running out of stock, weather conditions can also become a challenge as sometimes when it's too hot the products that need to be kept in cold may get damaged, Maintenance of delivery vehicles also become one of their biggest challenges.

 Some changes that big basket has gone through from past few years are that first they had cash on delivery and there was no app system,  the customers used to book the items on the website. Later they shifted on from cash on delivery to the card on delivery. They have also installed Big Basket vending machines for instant orders. The app has made ordering more convenient.

How is Big Basket interrelated with other systems? Big Basket outsourcers many of the products directly from the farmers, from the manufacturers of the products- for example, stationery, plastic goods etc. They also source products directly from the FMCG companies which are Colgate, Dettol, Nestle, Britannia etc

 They also depend a lot on transport systems and Google Maps which help them plan their routes without any delay and reaching to the customers without any inconvenience.

Children were good listeners and had some interesting questions to ask the expert

They felt it is a very helpful system as people who are busy may not have time to go grocery shopping

They also posed questions related to the future needs like- Big Basket instant is not functioning everywhere so if there is an urgency,  90 minutes for express delivery may be too late.

It was good to see students thinking about how systems can be made or improved every day to meet the needs of people.

Mr. Abhinay Big Basket