Zomato to re-evaluate 10-minute delivery programme: Report

Online food delivery platform Zomato is going to re-evaluate its 10-minute delivery platform called Zomato Instant as it has not been able to meet its target time during its pilot in Gurgaon.

The company is also putting the expansion of the programme into Bengaluru on hold due to a CCI inquiry into the company and its peers over platform neutrality and data masking, according to a report by The Economic Times, citing industry executives.

“Shortage of delivery fleet and intense heat wave in the North, which has also led to limited delivery workforce, are causing delivery delays of 15-20 minutes, unlike the 10-minute commitment offered by Zomato Instant,” an executive told the publication, adding that Instant does not have a separate delivery team yet.

Zomato's 10-minute delivery was meant to get the ball rolling on ultra-fast food delivery, the report said. However, the company may settle for a longer time frame eventually.

The Instant plan was also opposed by several restaurant chains, the report said.

“It has to be closer to 10-20 minutes of preparation and delivery each... that is minimum. It is impossible to do the whole process in 10 minutes. It will settle down to a number that is sustainable in terms of cooking, payout to the delivery boys, and probably charging a premium for ultra-fast delivery,” an executive said. Restaurant partners are also weary of delivering food within 10 minutes.

However, the company remains bullish on its programme. “The 10-minute delivery pilot in limited locations of Gurgaon is on track. The pilot was intended to identify a consumer demand for quick-commerce, and we've been successful at that,” a Zomato spokesperson said. “The future course for the pilot is to deepen our penetration in Gurgaon before we scale this up to other cities and fine-tune a model that would work best for our restaurant and delivery partners.”