Swiggy rides the green wave, delivers 1.5 million orders on cycles; electric vehicles are next

• Swiggy delivered 1.5 million food orders in March only on cycles.
• The maximum delivery partners in cycles were in Bangalore followed by Mumbai.
• Swiggy is also piloting delivery through EVs.

Indian delivery startups have been taking a turn towards “green” delivery by switching to electric vehicles and cycles. Foodtech unicorn Swiggy introduced food delivery on cycles in 2017, and it seems to have finally taken off now.

Swiggy reported that in March it delivered 1.5 million food orders on cycles. In tier 2 and 3 cities like Surat, Belgaum, Guwahati and Lucknow over 20% of Swiggy’s delivery partners use cycles for delivery. In India, 10,000 delivery partners use cycles, with maximum cyclists in Bangalore followed by Mumbai.

“A couple of years back, we initiated concerted efforts to make millions of our deliveries more sustainable for the environment. With close to 10,000 delivery partners on cycles each day, we have found that in some of our cities, the average travel time for a delivery partner on cycles is even lesser than bikes or scooters,” said Srivats TS, VP, Marketing, Swiggy.

Swiggy’s competitor Zomato too had introduced delivery through bicycles in February 2019. According to reports, Zomato had partnered with startups like Mobycy, Yulu, Zoomcar’s PEDL among others to start the delivery service.

The next mile of delivery

For delivery startups, fast innovation is defining their stand in the industry. Swiggy is piloting the use of Electric Vehicles for its deliveries in 10 cities. Last year, Swiggy’s delivery partners in cities like Delhi and Lucknow carried out deliveries on e-rickshaws.

The company’s official statement said that the adoption of EVs will reduce the running cost by 40%.

Going one step ahead, Zomato had earlier acquired drone startup TechEagle innovations. With this, the startup is reportedly testing delivery via drones.

Meanwhile, logistics startup DOT which offers last mile delivery through e-vehicles has been ramping up its business and is also looking at a revenue of ₹360 crore by 2020.

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