How Zomato's 10-minute delivery actually works

Zomato is preparing itself for a future where 30-min deliveries are going to be obsolete

Zomato announced ‘Zomato Instant’ service which promises delivery within 3-6 minutes for select food items, an announcement that sparked outrage on social media. Taking to Twitter, in a series of posts, founder Deepinder Goyal reassured various stakeholders and explained that this would work only for select food items and specific customer locations.

Here's a look at how this model will work.

What is 10-minute delivery?

Zomato is preparing itself for a future where 30-minute deliveries will be obsolete and innovation is the only way forward. For this, the company will launch Zomato Instant in Gurugram next month with an aim to deliver select food items based on specific customer locations in 3-6 minutes.

Also Read | Zomato to soon start instant 10-minute food delivery

In a blog post announcing the new service, Zomato also clarified why a 10-minute delivery service is needed. Customers want quick answers to their needs and sorting restaurants by their delivery time is one of the most-used features on their app, the company stated.

How will Zomato make this service possible?

Goyal clarified that the 10-minute delivery service will only be available on items that are “popular, standardised, and can therefore be dispatched within 2 minutes”.

Zomato’s quick delivery platform relies on a dense finishing stations' network located in close proximity to high-demand neighbourhoods. The finishing stations will have best-seller items from various partner restaurants, based on predictability. Following this 10-minute model, the prices of items will be reduced. The company will leverage the dish-level demand prediction algorithms and in-station robotics, which is already depends on, to ensure food is sterile, fresh and hot when it is picked up by a delivery partner.

Also Read | Zomato faces heat for plans to deliver food in 10 minutes

What are the items included in ‘Zomato Instant’?

Less than 24 hours after the announcement of Zomato Instant, Goyal issued a detailed clarification on how Zomato Instant will work following in the footsteps of grocery delivery companies like Dunzo, Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart. Stressing that the new plan is as safe as the 30-minute delivery plan for delivery partners, he added that quality, hygiene, packaging and safety of the delivery partners will not be compromised.

Also Read | Critics question Zomato’s 10-minute delivery service

Responding to questions from social media users, Goyal listed a few dishes that Zomato thinks can be delivered as part of the 10-minute plan. "Bread Omelette, Poha, Coffee, Chai, Biryani, Momos, etc," are some examples of food items that customers can expect in 10 minutes. He also added that Maggi would be served via the food stations.

How will this impact food delivery partners?

From the outset, Goyal had stated that there will be no pressure on delivery partners, adding that delivery partners are not informed of the promised delivery time and no pressure is put on them to deliver faster. Fast deliveries are not incentivised and late deliveries aren't penalised, Goyal said.

In the instant delivery service, Zomato said kitchen preparation time will be between 2 to 4 minutes, the average distance travelled will be between 1 to 2 kilometres. The average time travel will therefore be between 3 to 6 minutes.

The company will begin the pilot project in Gurugram by setting up four such stations.

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