Zomato to launch online grocery delivery service

Online food ordering and delivery app Zomato is getting into grocery delivery service, timing it perhaps with a surge in demand for such services due to social distancing norms being enforced over the coronavirus pandemic.

According to an ET report, Zomato is all set to launch its grocery delivery service Zomato Market by next week.

The Gurugram-based food tech major is also talking to online grocery retailers Grofers and Bigbasket for a partnership to sell grocery essential products on its platform and the pilot service will be launched in Delhi-NCR, said the report.

Zomato, Grofers and Bisbasket have not responded to our queries yet. We will update the post as and when they do.

Zomato's foray into the grocery segment comes at a time when online grocers are witnessing high volume growth in orders largely due to panic buying taking place post stay at home orders issued by the authorities.

According to a report, Bigbasket and Grofers saw over 80% spike in their orders.

At the same time, people are getting a bit apprehensive to order cooked food. This has led to a decline in online food ordering by almost 20%.

Deepinder Goyal-led Zomato has been contemplating for the past few months over getting into the grocery segment, especially after its rival Swiggy started grocery delivery early last year and has been ramping up its diversified delivery services.

In February last year, Swiggy launched Swiggy Store which allows small and medium-size Kirana and supermarkets to list their products including Fruits, Vegetables and medicines.

While Swiggy surely will have early mover advantage in the segment, Zomato, which has been increasingly expanded its food business in recent past, would make all efforts to create space for itself in the segment, which has been witnessing an upsurge.

In India, the online grocery is expected to grow to $8.7 billion in 2022, as per the consulting firm RedSeer Management report.

For its frequent purchase pattern, Grocery is termed as the next big battle segment for e-comm and food delivery firms. Apart from food delivery majors, e-comm giants, Flipkart and Amazon are also betting big on grocery play.