Future Group’s ecommerce venture Big Bazaar Direct will shut down after almost 3 years since launch in September 2013, reports Business Standard. “I have attempted e-commerce four times in my life. We opened and shut Future Bazaar (the group’s first e-commerce venture). We will close Big Bazaar Direct within a week,” Kishore Biyani CEO of Future Group was quoted as saying. However, the website seems to up and running active, without any message or notification about the shutdown as Biyani noted; it even accepts orders. A Future Group source told MediaNama that the shut-down had already been initiated, and the company intends to officially announce this on their website soon. It will continue to accept orders until the shut-down is announced. In its recently released FY16 annual report (pdf) the company had said that: "We are specifically focusing to achieve a larger share of consumption spending in our existing markets. We intend to increase our share in the consumer spending in India by launching new formats or by adding categories to our existing product range to cater to consumers across Indian society in various consumption spaces. Pursuant to the same, we have launched Big Bazaar Direct to reach out to the consumers that are not catered by physical stores and book orders on customized tablets." At launch in 2013, Big Bazaar Direct service operated via franchisee model and targeted 50,000 franchisees within a year’s time; users could request for franchises to visit their homes through a phone call or by making a…
