Swiggy Launches A Dunzo-Bigbasket Hybrid For Hyperlocal Delivery

Foodtech unicorn Swiggy has forayed into the delivery of an on-demand hyperlocal category, from flowers and vegetables to health and supplements, with the launch of ‘Swiggy Stores’ integrated within the app.

“Today’s announcement takes Swiggy to categories beyond food, where we hope to deliver the same level of delightful experiences to consumers for their everyday needs,” Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety said in a statement.

The service is currently available in Gurugram with Swiggy claiming to be collaborating with more than 3,500 stores in the national capital region, including merchant-partners like Ferns and Petals, Le Marche, Needs Supermarket, Licious, Zappfresh, MomsCo, Apollo and Guardian Pharmacy — while also helping them drive their order volumes through the platform.

According to sources familiar with the development, Swiggy maintains that their recent foray isn’t similar to grocery delivery platforms such as BigBasket and their likes. “Swiggy Stores is more of an on-demand hyperlocal service. BigBasket and their likes have an inventory. They have a warehouse where they store all of their offerings, and they will deliver to you in a scheduled manner,” the source quoted above said.

Swiggy Stores users can basically order anything from any stores listed on their platform. It works similar as to how the startup has listed its restaurant partners with their menu, etc., allowing to order anything that they cater through Swiggy.

“This will give Swiggy’s delivery partners access to an additional avenue for income. All delivery partners engage with Swiggy on a principle-to-principle basis and receive life insurance, medical and accident coverage,” Swiggy said.

Meanwhile, the launch has already started making noise on social media platforms. An artificial intelligence (AI)-driven hyperlocal concierge app Dunzo, @DunzoIt, tweets —

Just yesterday, Inc42 reported that Dunzo has raised $3.1 Mn (INR 22.49 Cr) in a Series C funding round, as the company plans on investing on brand marketing along with setting up of infrastructure and for routine operations.

Further, Naspers-backed Swiggy plans on availing its hyperlocal service in a phased roll-out manner to other cities. Its food delivery is already present in more than 80 cities across India, with 60K restaurants and 1.25 lakh active delivery partners.

The foodtech platform Swiggy closed 2018 with a whopping $1Bn (INR 6,995 Cr) Series H funding led by South Africa-based Naspers, taking its market valuation to $3.3 Bn. Although the startup maintains that its newly launched Swiggy Store has been receiving a warm response from its consumers, however, how the startup will scale its hyperlocal category, amid competition, would be an interesting watch.