Zomato Updates Its Delivery Strategy with Food Delivery Services

Food tech leader Zomato has recently removed its 15-minute food delivery option, Quick, from its primary application just four months after it was introduced, suggesting a strategic adjustment in its strategy for ultra-fast meal deliveries. Moneycontrol was the first to break this news.

The Quick feature, also part of Zomato Everyday, was prominently displayed on the main app’s landing page but is now inaccessible in various cities including Bengaluru, Gurugram, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. It remains a possibility that the company might relaunch a different version of the feature in the future.

Details on Zomato Quick Service

The service initially provided ready-to-eat meals from selected restaurants within a two-kilometre distance. Nevertheless, this option has now been removed from the app. In March, Zomato Quick contributed to nearly 8% of the app’s total order volume.

Previous Attempts at Quick Delivery

This marked Zomato’s second endeavour in the quick food delivery market within its main application. The previous initiative, Zomato Instant, launched in 2022, promised deliveries in 10 minutes across Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR but was discontinued by January 2023. This service was later succeeded by Zomato Everyday, which offers home-style meals with comparable delivery timelines.

New Initiatives: Bistro by Blinkit

Despite the absence of a quick food delivery option on its main platform, Zomato has unveiled Bistro by Blinkit, a distinct service that provides fast-moving ready-to-eat dishes made in Blinkit’s network of dark stores. This new application focuses on snacks, light meals, and bakery goods that can be dispatched quickly, combining Blinkit’s rapid commerce capabilities with Zomato’s expertise in food delivery.

Strategic Shift in Delivery Services

Zomato seems to be realigning its quick-food offerings away from its core application, concentrating instead on leveraging Blinkit’s dark store network. The firm may be aiming to differentiate rapid snacking options from comprehensive restaurant orders.

This shift occurs amidst a rapidly growing 15-minute food delivery sector featuring new competitors like Zepto, which initiated the category with Zepto Café in 2022 and now processes over 100,000 daily orders via its standalone app, leading to an annualised Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of $100 million.