After Zomato, Swiggy scales down its grocery marketplace operations – leaving more space for JioMart, BigBasket, Amazon and others

• Indian foodtech unicorn Swiggy is reportedly scaling down its grocery and fresh produce deliveries.
• However, the $3.6 billion startup said that it will continue to focus on meat, seafood, gourmet and its instant grocery delivery service — Instamart.
• Even though Swiggy operates food delivery services in 500 cities, its grocery delivery service will now be restricted to 20 cities.

Indian foodtech unicorn Swiggy is reportedly scaling down its grocery and fresh produce deliveries.

“We expanded our services across the country during the lockdown as consumers turned to Swiggy not just for food but also other essentials. Given that movement restrictions have been eased, we are rolling back grocery delivery and focusing on offerings like Swiggy Genie where consumers can shop from any store in the city including groceries & essentials or pick-up and drop-off packages,” said a Swiggy spokesperson.

However, not everything will be toned down. The $3.6 billion startup said that it will continue to focus on meat, seafood, petcare gourmet and its essential delivery service Instamart, which delivers products like groceries, fresh fruits & vegetables, personal care items among other things. “With a delivery promise of 30 to 45 minutes, Instamart is rapidly becoming a favourite among consumers (in Bangalore and Gurgaon) while unlocking a new dimension of convenience retailing in India,” said the spokesperson.

Even though Swiggy operates food delivery services in 500 cities, it has said that it will restrict grocery to about 20 cities. “Pre-COVID, 80% of Swiggy’s business was food delivery, and the remaining came from other segments. The company expects this ratio to change to 50-50 in the next 2 to 3 years, with increased contribution from grocery, cloud kitchen, etc,” said a Goldman Sachs report from November, 2020.

Interestingly, Swiggy’s rival Zomato, which had also forayed into grocery delivery with the Zomato Markets feature had earlier said that it was scaling down the service. Both the unicorns had ramped up their offerings in grocery retail during the coronavirus lockdown when the segment saw a massive boom.

This leaves the market with players like JioMart, Amazon, Flipkart, Grofers and BigBasket, which is reportedly in talks with the Tata Group for an investment.

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