Swiggy Eyes On Diversifying Beyond Food & Grocery With A Discovery Platform ‘Minis’ For Sellers

Online food and grocery delivery startup Swiggy is developing a discovery platform for sellers where they can list their products. With this platform, the sellers will be able to display their product catalouges in the app.

From a buyers’ point of view, they will be able to discover the products and make their entire purchase journey on the Swiggy app itself till adding the product to the cart. However, Swiggy will not deliver the products, rather the sellers will take care of the delivery part, sources told Inc42.

For the new discovery platform, Swiggy is currently working with a few brands in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space, sources added. Further, Swiggy is reportedly working with clothing and accessories D2C brands. 

“We are continuously experimenting with ways in which we can delight our customers and enable our brand partners to succeed. We’re currently piloting a platform named Minis on Swiggy that enables D2C brands, small businesses and individual entrepreneurs to showcase their offerings directly to lakhs of customers,” a Swiggy spokesperson said.

This is the first time in Swiggy’s business when it is going beyond food or grocery related products. While the SoftBank-backed startup has taken many initiatives including acquisitions to diversify its products, the latest seller platform takes the game one step further.

Swiggy in its acquisition related developments, recently has signed definitive agreements with Times Internet to acquire Dineout to take on Zomato’s dine-in business. Dineout, a dining and online restaurant table booking service platform, will continue to operate as an independent app. 

In FY21, Swiggy narrowed its loss to INR 1,616.9 Cr,  a significant 58.7% drop from INR 3,920.4 Cr in FY20. However, its revenue from operations dropped to INR 2,546.9 Cr in FY21 from INR 3,468.1 Cr in FY20.

Earlier this year, the foodtech startup entered the coveted decacorn club after raising $700 Mn in a fresh round of funding led by Invesco. Since then, the startup has ramped up efforts for its quick commerce business Instamart that competes against the likes of Dunzo, Zepto, Ola Dash and BB Now.

Further, Swiggy temporarily shut down its pickup and dropoff service in three major cities earlier this month to prioritise food marketplace and Instamart service due to surge in demand and crunch in gig-workers.