Foodtech Jumps on the Quick Commerce Train to Meet Instant Meals' Demand

Delivery in ten minutes has become the new obsession for Indians. The quick commerce market in India has a current market size of $2.8 billion, as per Redseer Strategy Consultants. Amid the quick commerce boom, another aspect that has been gaining momentum is the ten-minute food delivery service. Swiggy is the latest platform that came up with 10-minute food delivery called Bolt. 

The 10-minute food delivery service will now be open in select areas, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Pune. So now, the challenge for consumers is to select meals quicker than the time it takes to deliver them, said Swiggy CEO Rohit Kapoor in a social media post.

Taking to LinkedIn, Kapoor wrote on October 5, “Iconic food brands have been built on the axis of time, taste and convenience. And today a few cities will enjoy the first trial of a unique (and hopefully iconic) marketplace within Swiggy Food.”

This is coming at a time when Swiggy also filed for its draft IPO papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Through the IPO, the company plans to raise $1.4 billion and the fresh issue size of the company is Rs 5,000 crore. Read: What Swiggy's IPO Filing Reveals About its Bid to Take on Zomato

Is 10 Minute Food Delivery the New Normal? 

Modern technology has made speed an epitome of life. “The instant food delivery model has  become a  cornerstone of  modern consumer behavior,  influenced by rapid technological advancements and  evolving lifestyle patterns,” says a research paper titled Consumer’s Perception Regarding Instant Food Delivery Model: A Case of Zomato published in July this year by Library Progress International. 

Research indicates that consumer satisfaction is directly proportional to lesser delivery time. This is how the quick commerce model was based in India and became a success. “Q-commerce has been able to sustain the COVID-led momentum it received between 2019 and 2022 by registering 77 percent growth in its GMV last year,” as per Redseer. 

In terms of 10-minute food delivery, Swiggy isn’t the first company that is exploring the option. Zomato also tried the same in 2022 but closed it in 2023. Similarly, there are other start-ups, such as Bengaluru-based Swish, that are trying to utilise this trend. 

Zomato's 10-Minute Delivery Dream: What Went Wrong?

Food delivery platform Zomato decided to come up with its 10-minute food delivery service ‘Zomato Instant’ in February 2022. At the time of the launch, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal wrote in a blog post that “after becoming a frequent customer of Blinkit (one of Zomato’s investments in the quick commerce space), I started feeling that the 30-minute average delivery time by Zomato is too slow and will soon have to become obsolete. If we don’t make it obsolete, someone else will.” Read: Should Gig Work Be Treated as Employment? Ola’s Case in Karnataka HC Reignites the Debate

The model, which was focused on hyperlocal delivery, intended to have bestseller items from different restaurants based on demand predictability and hyperlocal preferences. 

However, in 2023, Zomato announced that it would close Zomato Instant as it was not getting the daily volumes. Speaking to the Economic Times, a source said, “It didn’t look like it would turn profitable. The company was not getting the daily volume required to even pay the fixed costs. It wasn't scaling up to that level.” 

The company, however, highlighted in 2023 that Instant is not shutting down but just rebranding itself. In a statement, the company said, “We are working on a new menu with our partners and rebranding the business. All finishing stations remain intact and no people are impacted by this decision.” 

Another start-up that has been focusing on 10-minute food delivery and also gaining popularity is Bengaluru-based Swish. Co-founder of the start-up Ujjwal Sukheja wrote on X, “In HSR, you can get anything quickly—a dosa from a darshini in minutes.. But when it comes to online food delivery, the wait can be painfully long.” Thus, to solve this problem, the company came up with this platform. 

The co-founders who stay in HSR are focusing on a dark kitchen hybrid model. As per The Arc, the company also recently raised $2 million from Accel. This is just a few months after its launch. While all this sounds interesting, this 10-minute model faced lots of criticism. 

Is 10-Minute Delivery Sustainable? Industry Experts Weigh In

For starters, time and again people have raised objections towards this model as they have argued that this will lead to exploitation of delivery partners.

“This move may lead to labor exploitation, which has more pressure on delivery boys to deliver on tight deadlines and penalties,” says Somdutta Singh, founder and CEO, Assiduus. 

Taking to LinkedIn, Kishlai Kumar, Senior Product Manager, Pine Labs, commented, “The pressure on delivery partners to meet the 10-minute deadline will definitely increase traffic violations, posing safety risks. Once customers expect such fast deliveries, any delay (ex., traffic signal) could lead to frustration, damaging the overall experience.” 

Thus, when Zomato launched its 10-minute delivery system, Goyal wrote in a blog post that they don’t penalise gig workers for delay in delivery. He further highlighted that the gig workers are not given any pressure to deliver food faster. 

He wrote, “The delivery partners are not informed of the promised time of delivery. Time optimization does not happen on the road and does not put any lives at risk.” 

A study by the People’s Association in Grassroots Action and Movements and the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers, with technical support from the University of Pennsylvania and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India, reportedly reveals that nearly one-third of app-based cab drivers work more than 14 hours a day. 

The study also highlights that due to the introduction of "10-minute delivery at the doorstep" by certain platforms, the delivery partners are more prone to road accidents and they are more exhausted. 

Another criticism that has been raised about 10-minute food delivery is that the food quality might be hampered. The research paper titled Consumer’s Perception Regarding Instant Food Delivery Model: A Case of Zomato highlights, “Given customer skepticism about fast, fresh and sanitary food delivery, Zomato must invest in technology and procedures that maintain food quality regardless of delivery speed.” While the paper took reference to Zomato, it is applicable to any food delivery platform. 

In terms of the logistics challenges that these companies will face, Singh says, “These companies might face logistics challenges like making sure products are always available. They also need to have a dark store/cloud kitchen to serve customers within 10 minutes. Another issue could be having enough delivery workers ready to meet the demand.” With the rise of quick delivery platforms throughout India, it will be interesting to see how consumers react to this trend and how the companies maintain a fine balance of quality and fast delivery at the same time.