BENGALURU: Venture capitalists (VCs), gig workers’ association and National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) are questioning the future of the 10-minute delivery offering. At present, if you order food, irrespective of delivery platforms, it takes at least 30-45 minutes to arrive at your doorsteps.
Food delivery company Zomato recently announced Zomato Instant, which promises food delivery in 10-minutes. With Zomato Instant, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal promises only 3-6 minutes of travel time. This 10-minute delivery time is not new to the quick commerce segment. Both Zepto and Blinkit (backed by Zomato) offer 10-minute grocery delivery service. Even Swiggy through Instamart has entered into the grocery delivery space, and it promises delivery in 15 minutes.
“The 10-minute delivery model has not yet become successful in the grocery category itself. It comes with many challenges on the ground which are beyond the control of a platform provider such as Zomato,” said Mohamad Faraz, Founding Partner, Upsparks, a micro VC firm.
He added that the food category, which has quality very closely linked to customer experience, is going to be practically difficult to scale as a business model. Quick commerce companies have been experimenting with this concept but it does not seem to be sustainable.
Zomato should understand the pressure and stress it creates with these new services, said Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary of Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT). Zomato’s delivery partners said they work for 12 hours, and they deliver food in 30 minutes. For every food delivery, they receive `30, and they deliver at least 30-50 orders a day.
There are more pressing challenges that tech and tech start-ups can solve, instead of 10-minutes food delivery. Zomato Instant is a forced habit being developed that is bordering on risks or hazards for the ghost-kitchen/restaurant and the delivery person, said Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Founder and CEO, Startup Reseau.
He added In India, under 10% internet users order food online and the market size is roughly $8 billion, compared to a $51 billion market like China where nearly 53% internet users order food online.