BigBasket experiences surge in demand; restricts access only to existing customers

Website and mobile app of online grocery seller BigBasket on Monday faced breakdown due to surge in demand amid the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a PTI report: Following the load, the company restricted access of service only for existing customers.
“We are currently experiencing unprecedented demand. In light of this, we are restricting access to our website to existing customers only. Please try again in a few hours,” it said.
Social media firm LocalCircles in a survey claimed that around 35 percent of consumers have said they are not getting essential goods from retail stores as well as e-commerce companies at the time of lockdown.
When contacted, a BigBasket spokesperson said both application and website of the company are facing problem due to a surge in demand.
“Over the past few days, we have faced an unprecedented surge in orders and traffic, which has put a corresponding load on our tech systems. As a result of this, our website and app have been intermittently failing to load for some customers. Our teams are working hard to fix this so that our customers are able to place orders as usual,” the company told PTI.
The state governments have locked down over 75 districts across the country and some states have even imposed curfew to prevent spread of coronavirus.
Unicommerce, which provides software support to e-commerce companies, said that due to the lockdown, grocery websites have seen a major surge in traffic.
“The previous two weeks saw a massive 70-80 percent increase in the number of orders with order size increasing substantially by 15-20 percent. FMCG and staples are some of the most popular products ordered online,” Unicommerce told PTI.