Exclusive: Swiggy shuts down homestyle food ordering app Swiggy Daily

Swiggy’s experiment with subscription-based daily home-cooked food via a separate app has come to an end. The company had pulled the plug on Swiggy Daily that it had launched in May last year, said two sources aware of the development.

“Swiggy Daily had ceased operations a couple of months ago in the wake of weak demand,” said one of the sources on condition of anonymity. “The app never got decent traction and its demand further plummeted because of the closure of offices and educational institutions.”

Swiggy Daily was largely targeted at users who look for healthy home-cooked food at an affordable price point. It allowed users to choose three days to a month-long subscription. The app got encouraging traction when it launched in Gurugram and Bengaluru. Swiggy Daily used to come with the option to swap, skip and pause it at any point of time.

Entrackr couldn’t find Swiggy Daily application on Google Play Store.

This is the first rollback by the Naspers-backed company this year. It also withdrew Swiggy Super that waives off delivery and other convenience fees for a two month period (May and June). In July, Swiggy Super subscription was resumed, but with an option of a monthly subscription only.

It’s worth noting that the company had downscaled its cloud-kitchen vertical and laid off 1,100 staff to cut cost and extend the runway. Swiggy’s chief executive Sriharsha Majety also mentioned that the company will reduce or relook on initiatives that will have lower activity because of Covid. 

"At Swiggy, we are constantly experimenting with innovative ways to meet changing consumer needs, and Daily was one such initiative. We back burned it given the pandemic and other strategic priorities, but it continues to remain on our radar,” said a Swiggy Spokesperson in a response Entrackr queries.

“The withdrawal of Swiggy Daily is because people are still avoiding consuming outside meals. The company may relaunch it within the native app when time is right for them,” added the second source. The person also wished not to be named.

The shutdown of Swiggy Daily appears to be a logical move since there is not a significant demand for such a product. Its rival Zomato has been scaling down its grocery delivery service Zomato Market to focus on its core business proposition.