Non-grocers turn to delivering groceries to ease lockdown stress

To meet the surge in demand, brands like Swiggy, Zomato, Domino's Pizza have re-purposed their offering to deliver grocery and household essentials.

As the country moves into another phase of the lockdown, the online grocery segment has seen some changes. Existing online grocery delivery platforms like Grofers and Big Basket, have, understandably, clogged pipelines, but the segment has seen a burst of ‘new’ entrants, including brands like Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato, Rapido, Domino's Pizza, Scootsy, NoBroker, Snapdeal, Shopclues, and Paytm Mall, players that previously delivered items that weren’t classified as groceries.

While Swiggy has already started delivering groceries to few cities and towns, the restaurant discovery and food delivery player has now extended this service to over 125 cities. Through the 'Grocery' tab on the app, consumers can view grocery stores near them and place orders. For this, Swiggy has also partnered with retailers such as HUL, ITC, P&G, Godrej, Dabur, Marico, Vishal Mega Mart, Adani Wilmar, Cipla, as well as with other city-specific stores. Additionally, it has revamped the 'Swiggy Go' offering by launching Genie, a hyperlocal delivery service that offers a pick-up and drop facility; it is currently active in 15 cities.

Similarly, Zomato has launched Zomato Market. It currently caters to 80 cities and has partnered with Vishal Mega Mart and other FMCG outlets to meet the increasing demand for groceries. Just like its food discovery and delivery service, Zomato Market also gives users the option of contact-less delivery. Reports suggest that though the brand delivers in an hour, there is a cap of 12kgs for the same.

Flipkart, an e-comm brand that, like many others in the segment, has had to put the brakes on its usual business, has revived its grocery vertical Supermart. Currently, it is operational in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi NCR. The team has recently joined hands with Spencer retail for hyperlocal delivery.

Under the ‘daily essentials’ tab on its app, Domino's Pizza is delivering combo packs with atta, milk, packaged spices, burger buns and more. Presently, the options are limited and the service is available in select cities only.

We’re sure many more brands will join this growing list of e-grocers in the days ahead.