Rivalry in food delivery biz is now sizzling hot

As at least four players roll out hard-to-beat deals, it’s a sweet time for customers

Competition in the city’s food delivery business, dominated by Swiggy, just got hotter.

Uber Eats, Zomato and now Foodpanda are vying for its business, offering combo deals to customers and big salaries and incentives to delivery boys.

Doing the rounds is a text from Foodpanda offering monthly salaries of Rs 50,000 to delivery boys. They now make about Rs 20,000, and when the going in particularly good, Rs 30,000.

Executives signing up for Foodpanda are being offered Rs 45,000 a month. They are getting a joining bonus of Rs 5,000, and an incentive of Rs 3,000 every week if they complete 120 orders.

Not all delivery boys are biting into it, given the rumours about how, in the fierce marketplace battle, only one or two players will survive.

Uber Eats is gearing up by offering hard-to-beat combo packages. It is bundling the offers with free delivery. For example, a package from Sri Udupi Park comes for Rs 115. It would cost you Rs 150 if you dined in, or ordered items separately. Some deals are even more mouth-watering. Foodpanda was offering desserts for Re 1 till Tuesday.

Swiggy, which charges Rs 40 per delivery, is cruising along with an efficient app and staff network. It is now promoting The Bowl Company, a chain it has set up to serve continental food.

The company is aware of the clamour to dislodge it, and is working out its own strategies. One of its initiatives is to provide assured business to restaurants that agree to work only with Swiggy and keep the other apps out.

“Competition among them is good for our business. Chain restaurants like us don’t have to invest in a fleet and staff,” says the owner of a cafe in the CBD area.

Restaurateurs can be dismissive of the less efficient players when things don’t work out as expected.

“We stopped two of three services after trying them out for six months, One was not accountable, and the other was not promoting us well,” a restaurant owner says.

Swiggy is doing its best to consolidate its position. It has identified popular restaurants and is offering them loans for expansion, with an eye on firming up its relationships with them.

Delivery boys, now in huge demand, are aware the good times may not last forever. They cite the cab business and the dwindling earnings for drivers to explain their scepticism.

“I have been making close to Rs 30,000 a month,” says a Zomato delivery executive. “I won’t change jobs in haste.”

Active in 24 countries, Zomato began as a restaurant review site and expanded into food delivery. Like the other contenders in the business, it is eyeing a share of Swiggy’s pie.

Swiggy, with its headquarters in Bengaluru, has achieved a clear lead over its global competitors in the city.

For now, as far as customers and delivery boys are concerned, the taste of this competition is sweet.

What’s the pay like?

Typically, executives deliver 20 orders a day. Swiggy pays them Rs 40 a delivery, making it about Rs 1,000 a day and Rs 26,000 a month (factoring in a day off each week). They get additional incentives if they complete their targets, and their earnings hover around Rs 30,000 a month.

Foodpanda is asking its executives to be logged in for 12 hours a day. If an executive completes 120 orders a week, he gets an incentive of Rs 3,000. In monthly terms, his potential earning is Rs 57,000, with a salary of Rs 45,000 and incentives of Rs 12,000 if he manages to complete 120 orders every week.

Cautious optimism among executives

Not all delivery boys are scrambling to switch, given the volatility in the business. Many would rather wait and watch. But some are giving it a shot, saying the terms are attractive at the moment.

Cautious optimism among executives

Not all delivery boys are scrambling to switch, given the volatility in the business. Many would rather wait and watch. But some are giving it a shot, saying the terms are attractive at the moment.