Swiggy launches 45-min grocery and essentials delivery service via Instamart

Foodtech major Swiggy has launched Instamart, a quick delivery service at doorsteps within 45 minutes for groceries and daily essentials. The procurement and delivery will happen via dark stores and Gurugram is the first city where consumers can access the ‘Instamart’ within the Swiggy app.

“We are currently testing Swiggy Instamart Instamart to see how it augments our consumer promise of enabling unparalleled convenience by making grocery delivery more instant and delightful,” said a Swiggy spokesperson.

These dark stores are traditional retail stores that have been converted to local fulfillment centers where the products are sourced from third parties.

“Through Instamart, we want to introduce the convenience grocery category in India. With the fastest deliveries in the segment (30-45 minutes), day and night serviceability (7 am-12 midnight), a wide assortment across categories such as instant meals, snacks, ice creams, beverages, fruits & vegetables, Instamart will address the unmet grocery needs of the time-pressed, convenience-seeking urban consumer,” the spokesperson added.

ET reported the development first.

It’s worth noting that Swiggy had already piloted quick hyperlocal delivery via virtual stores called Urban Kirana. The feature was available in select areas of Gurugram and Bengaluru. Sources say the company might have rebranded Urban Kirana as Instamart. 

Introducing express delivery service will be an added advantage for Swiggy which delivers grocery and household items through Swiggy Stores. The move also comes at a time when the demand of near instant delivery of grocery and daily essentials has gone up. Flipkart and BigBasket have already launched their quick delivery feature while Amazon, Dunzo and JioMart are likely to join the race soon. 

Fulfilling on-demand delivery via dark stores has been tried and tested by Bigbasket and Grofers. It would be interesting to see how Swiggy takes up the challenge and makes it a viable business model.

Meanwhile, JioMart has emerged as the largest e-grocer in terms of daily orders. Last month, the Reliance Retail-owned company had claimed that it crossed 4 lakh orders per day. In comparison Bigbasket with its micro delivery platform BBDaily delivers around 3 lakhs orders a day while Grofers and Amazon Pantry serve a little over 1 lakhs orders daily.