Amazon may launch food delivery biz through Prime Now; Suvidhaa to foray into ecommerce

Ecommerce giant Amazon might use Prime Now to deliver groceries.  Shapoorji Pallonji-backed fintech platform Suvidhaa is planning an ecommerce foray.

Amazon to launch food delivery biz through Prime Now

Ecommerce giant Amazon is likely to use its two-hour delivery app Prime Now as the primary vehicle for its food delivery business launch in India, The Economic Times reported.

Seattle-headquartered Amazon is also believed to have held preliminary talks with Ola-owned Foodpanda for a partnership that could culminate in an acquisition, the report said. Additionally, the ecommerce giant has also held talks with Uber Eats.

Amazon is likely to have arrived at the decision due to the lukewarm response to its consumer grocery delivery business as well as Amazon Pantry, its wholesale business-to-business grocery and food products vertical, the report said.

Email queries sent to Amazon, Ola and Uber seeking more information in this regard did not elicit a response at the time of filing this report.

The latest development comes after Reuters reported last month that Amazon has kickstarted the process to launch the delivery operation by partnering with local partner Catamaran Ventures, founded by Infosys founder Narayana Murthy.

Business Standard had reported that Amazon was holding talks to acquire the Indian arm of food delivery platform Uber Eats. However, the report added that discussions are moving more towards a partnership.

Fintech platform Suvidhaa makes ecommerce foray

Mumbai-based fintech platform Suvidhaa Infoserve has forayed into ecommerce with the launch of an omnichannel e-commerce marketplace, the company said in a statement.

The platform, christened suvideals.ooo, will enable users to avail deals on various products and services, the statement added, without elaborating further.

The twelve-year-old company launched the platform through the acquisition of the entity that operated Infibeam’s marketplace. In December last year, it announced that it had acquired a 5% stake for Rs 25 crore. The acquisition also gave it access to Infibeam’s customer base.

“Suvidhaa will leverage its existing offline capabilities to scale the product business of Infibeam Avenues and focus on niche product verticals with margins. Infibeam will leverage the physical retail location of Suvidhaa to offer last-mile logistics across the country,” the statement said.

The company was founded by Paresh Rajde in 2007 with angel funding from Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

Suvidhaa offers an array of financial services under a single roof that includes distribution of personal and business loans, provides mutual fund, insurance and banking services, and sells prepaid cards. It also offers utility bill payments and travel ticketing services.

Investors like Norwest Venture Partners, Reliance Venture Asset Management and International Finance Corporation have also backed the company.