Today, India-based delivery service Swiggy took a few steps beyond the food world by launching Swiggy Go, an instant pickup and drop-off service that will deliver everything from laundry to house keys.
Swiggy Go is similar to another service, Swiggy Stores, which the company launched in February of 2019 for delivering household items like groceries and medicine within a one-hour timeframe. It’s also another example of a food delivery company branching out from restaurant food in an effort to become a kind of delivery superpower that can get any item to any person in major cities.
In India, Swiggy competes most closely with another food delivery service, Zomato, but adding non-food items to its delivery capabilities means it will also now be competing with Google-backed concierge service Dunzo, who operates in a handful of cities in India.
Food tech investment in India in general is heating up. In August, ecommerce startup FreshToHome raised a $20 million Series B round. Amazon said in July it is planning to launch a restaurant-delivery service in the country later this year, and Zomato successfully tested a drone pilot this past summer.
It’s possible Swiggy’s sudden move into non-food items is an effort to stand above the rising competition levels in India and become the go-to service in India not just for restaurant meals but for anything a person could want conveniently dropped at the front door. That may be necessary as heavyweights like Amazon — a name basically synonymous with conveniences — plans its moves in the country.
We’re seeing a similar trend start to take shape here in the States: last week, DoorDash announced it is working with Mercato to delivery groceries in 22 different states. It could be only a matter of time before Dashers start dropping non-perishables at your door, too. The next big question is, Will other third-party delivery services do the same?
Swiggy Go is currently available in Bengaluru. The company said it plans to expand the service to over 300 cities. Meanwhile, Swiggy stores will be available in all major metro areas by 2020.
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