Swiggy's challenge is to cost-effectively retain customers and delivery partners and attract new ones. Can Swiggy pull it off?
Picture this: You wake up in the morning in a ropy roadhouse in the city boondocks with just the clothes on you and your phone (let’s not get into the how-did-you-get-there-in-the-first-place bit). What do you do?
For starters, you order toothpaste, a toothbrush and soap; they arrive in 10 minutes. You switch to another app that allows you to order in a king’s breakfast of eggs, toast, sausages and an espresso. It arrives in 15. You need a fresh set of clothes, a towel and a deo, so you navigate to the fashion quick commerce app; they are at your doorstep in a jiffy (well, almost).
It’s now time to think ahead—an evening meeting beckons in the city’s financial hub. You use the same app you broke bread with to make a restaurant reservation. Till then, you’re in the mood to read a book, but you remember that you left your copy of Nicholas Sparks’ Counting Miracles at a friend’s pad on the other side of town. No problem: You revisit the app and type in instructions for pick-up and delivery; the book is with you by noon. And, hey, while you are still at it, might as well snag two tickets for The Rolling Stones concert next month—yes, on the same app.
The Stones concert may be just a flight of fancy, but not much else in the previous paras is. And that’s courtesy of a clutch of hyperlocal convenience platforms that offers everything from food delivery to event bookings, via apps that allow you to order and pay.
On the cover of Forbes India this fortnight is Sriharsha Majety, managing director and group CEO of one such platform that can be considered a pioneer in food delivery and quick commerce. One of the first hyperlocal commerce models, Swiggy launched the former in 2014 and Instamart six years later. The endeavour clearly is to become synonymous with these categories.
(This story appears in the 24 January, 2025 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)