Swiggy doubles down on grocery delivery service

Naspers-backed Bundl technologies, which owns and operates food delivery platform Swiggy, has expanded grocery delivery to 125 cities.

Swiggy piloted grocery delivery in Gurugram in February 2019 and subsequently scaled the service under the ‘Stores’ tab on its app to other cities such as Bengaluru in September last year.

The Bengaluru-based company has now tied up with various national brands and retailers including HUL, Godrej and Marico to supply branded essential products and food items.

The service is being fulfilled through neighbourhood stores and distribution centres of large brands, the statement added.

Ecommerce companies have ramped up grocery delivery services to cope with the surge in consumer demand during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, which has now been extended until May 3. 

“While the grocery and essentials category has always been a part of our long-term strategy of delivering hyperlocal convenience, we have enabled faster ramp up for the benefit of our consumers,” Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy said.

The company has also revamped its offering Swiggy Go by launching a hyperlocal delivery service Genie in over 15 cities.

The platform provides pickup and drop services to help customers send packages across the city or purchase essentials from a particular store, the company said. However, this service is limited to delivering essentials, including over-the-counter medicines during the lockdown period.

The company also said it is working on educating its restaurant and delivery partners on World Health Organisation's hygiene best practices and has introduced the ‘no-contact’ delivery feature to help both customers and delivery partners maintain a safe distance, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

To support the welfare of delivery partners and their families, Swiggy has introduced ‘Swiggy hunger saviour Covid relief fund’ with contributions from Swiggy leaders, employees and investors. The company also launched another initiative to feed underprivileged, daily wagers and stranded migrant labourers during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The company on Monday announced the expansion of its employee stock option plan (ESOP) by 14,500 shares to a total of 67,289 equity shares.