Flipkart Enters Food-Delivery Market with ‘Eat In’
Walmart-supported Flipkart has begun trialing its food delivery service Eat In among its staff in Bengaluru as the e-commerce giant prepares to venture into a market dominated by Zomato and Swiggy.
Reports indicate that the service is set to be available to all Flipkart employees around September 15 before being launched for consumers in Bengaluru.
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Flipkart's arrival occurs amid growing competition in the food delivery sector, where firms are trying out innovative business models, reduced pricing, and different platforms to draw in budget-conscious consumers.
Rapido’s food delivery service, Ownly, operating on a zero-commission basis, has gained popularity in Bengaluru, surpassing 50,000 orders each day. This accounts for approximately 10 percent of the city's projected daily food delivery amounts.
In the meantime, Swiggy has introduced Toing, a distinct app targeting price-conscious consumers. The platform is said to have experienced significant user uptake, with brokerage CLSA estimating its weekly active users at around 33 million, nearly matching Zomato’s approximate 35 million.
Eternal, the parent company of Zomato, has taken a different route by providing cheaper alternatives within its current platform while creating Bistro, an independent project aimed at a new operational model for budget-friendly food delivery.
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Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group, suggested in July that the company would first evaluate food delivery on a small scale before contemplating a wider launch. He mentioned that the platform would emphasize not just pricing but also on choice, service excellence, dependability, and customer satisfaction.
Eat In is being created in collaboration with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Flipkart is also aiming to establish a reduced commission model for restaurants, which may draw in more partners. The employee testing stage will enable Flipkart to assess the platform’s functionality and operational framework prior to its launch for consumers.
Earlier, Flipkart has introduced a separate app for its quick-commerce service, Flipkart Minutes, in India. The application guarantees to provide groceries, everyday necessities, electronics, and additional items in 10 minutes. The app is presently available exclusively on the Google Play Store for Android gadgets. The shift occurs as the online retail behemoth intensifies its efforts in the rapid commerce sector, having recently increased its presence to over 1,000 dark stores in 120-130 cities.
The Flipkart Minutes app is now launched as an independent app on the Google Play Store. The listing, revised on September 8, characterizes the service as a platform for obtaining “everything you desire & require in merely 10 minutes.” Its download size is approximately 20MB, varying by device.
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According to the app description, Flipkart Minutes provides items in various categories, such as fresh produce, groceries, dairy and breakfast foods, snacks and drinks, household and cleaning items, celebration and party necessities, gifts, and electronic devices.
The service emphasizes last-minute purchases as one of its applications. Flipkart states that customers can purchase items including flowers, chocolates, electronics, headphones, Bluetooth earbuds, smartwatches, and LED lights, along with regular household goods. They will also have access to offers and discounts on a diverse array of products throughout the catalogue.