Walmart-owned ecommerce major plans a phased rollout through a dedicated app and the Flipkart platform as competition in India’s online food delivery market heats up
Walmart-owned Flipkart is set to enter India’s online food delivery market within the next few weeks, intensifying competition in a segment currently dominated by Eternal-owned Zomato and Swiggy. According to media reports, Flipkart Group Chief Executive Officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy said the company would initially launch the service on a limited scale, test its value proposition with customers, gather feedback and refine the offering before expanding operations across the country.
The rollout will mirror the company’s strategy for Flipkart Minutes, beginning with a small-scale launch before a wider expansion.
Krishnamurthy also indicated that the food delivery service would be available through both a standalone application and the main Flipkart app, although he did not disclose the branding or the launch city, media reports said. According to media reports, Flipkart is expected to integrate its food delivery offering with the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Competition Heats Up
Flipkart’s entry comes as several companies experiment with different business models to gain a foothold in India’s rapidly evolving food delivery market.
Ride-hailing platform Rapido recently introduced its food delivery platform, Ownly, positioning it around lower prices, zero commissions for restaurants and its existing logistics network. Media reports earlier said the company aims to bring new consumers into the food delivery ecosystem rather than compete solely for existing users, while arguing that the prevailing Zomato-Swiggy model has become expensive for both restaurants and customers.
Swiggy has also rolled out Toing, a value-focused food delivery offering targeted at price-conscious consumers.
Meanwhile, Eternal, the parent company of Zomato, has downplayed the competitive threat from newer platforms such as Ownly and Toing, maintaining that their initial traction has been driven largely by discounts rather than a fundamentally different consumer proposition. The company has instead maintained that the next phase of innovation in food delivery will come from supply-side improvements through Bistro, its in-house quick food delivery business.
Focus On Customer Experience
Krishnamurthy said Flipkart enters new categories only when it believes it can introduce meaningful innovation and offer customers a differentiated value proposition, according to media reports.
He added that customer value is not limited to pricing but also includes factors such as product selection, service quality, reliability and the overall user experience. He said Flipkart would focus on improving all these aspects before scaling the service across India.
Krishnamurthy further said the company intends to gradually build a comprehensive restaurant catalogue, adding that users accessing food delivery through the Flipkart app would expect to find most restaurants available on the platform, and that Flipkart would work towards expanding its catalogue over time.
