Disruptive 10-minute deliveries spread to India’s food business

By Satviki Sanjay

Food delivery apps in India are promising to bring biryani to hot beverages at customers’ doorsteps in under 10 minutes, as competition for impatient consumers intensifies among digital platforms.

At least five companies, including Zomato Ltd. and its recently-listed rival Swiggy Ltd., have unveiled or announced plans to offer quick food delivery in the last few weeks.

But how they do it varies: Zomato unit Blinkit’s food delivery app Bistro and Zepto Cafe are relying on in-house kitchens to swiftly cook and assemble eatables, while Swiggy is partnering with restaurants from Starbucks Corp. to McDonald’s Corp.

While doorstep delivery has existed in India for decades with mom-and-pop stores employing runners, the last few years have seen a disruptive transformation. Technology helped spawn startups offering ultra-fast deliveries and these were lapped up by an affluent, smartphone-savvy, urban population keen on instant gratification.

The result was apps like Zepto and Blinkit, which deliver eggs to earphones — even iPhones — at a breakneck pace while similar services typically take a few hours elsewhere in the world.

‘Impulsive Buyers’

“Quick commerce has changed consumers who have become more impulsive buyers,” said Karan Taurani, senior vice president at Elara Securities India Pvt. These platforms have now rolled out rapid food deliveries to satisfy these impulses and “enhance user experience.”

Swiggy and Zomato’s blistering success has not just upended the Indian retail sector, it has cast them as stock market darlings. Swiggy shares have surged 50 per cent since listing last month while Zomato has jumped 133 per cent this year.

As India’s 10-minute mania enters the food delivery segment, brokerages see a new growth avenue while some consumers worry about the quality of food cooked in such a dash.