I Installed Swiggy, did not Order Food, Instead…

In January, 2020 I wrote a blog on why I would never order food from Zomato or Swiggy citing 7 reasons.

I had uninstalled both the apps and ensured that I cook every meal at home, while making rare visits to the nearby eateries and restaurants for get-togethers.

This continued till the mid of March, when coronavirus shook India. A lock down was announced by the government which confined me within the four walls of my apartment.

I continued to cook every meal – lunch and dinner. And I grew tired of cooking two meals a day, while still ensuring that office work gets done.

Ecommerce Platforms Failed

I tried to order the essentials through major ecommerce platforms like Amazon, and hyperlocal delivery apps present in Bhubaneswar like VeggieKart, Grozip, Emeat, etc.

While Amazon and Emeat and several other hyperlocal grocery delivery startups stopped delivery in Bhubaneswar, Grozip saw a huge spike in orders and their site went down. Grozip stopped taking orders and whenever it opened up the slots, orders flooded in hundreds.

When I last enquired, Grozip informed that they received 850+ orders in a span of couple of days.

For a startup, handling that rush and emergency was not feasible.

I would walk to the nearest store with a mask on and buy essentials like grocery, vegetables and rarely meat.

Thankfully, another startup Veggiekart was up for the challenge and did an excellent job with orders. They maintained a next-day delivery policy.

Ever since my colleague informed me, I have already ordered my vegetables twice on Veggiekart and the experience was pretty smooth. I hope to write about it another day.

Swiggy & Zomato Changes Its Business Model

With vegetables taken care of, the next big requirement was getting groceries home delivered.

I was on an office call when I heard miking outside.

Aided by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Vishal Mega Mart (that is what I heard) did a lane-by-lane announcement mentioning that they have come with combo packs of ₹700 and ₹1000. Any body who needs can step out and get

I could not move out, because I was in an important call. Sometime later, while browsing the news on my mobile I read about Swiggy and Zomato delivering groceries.

From delivering cooked meals from restaurants, to delivering groceries, I figured that they have changed their business model.

It’s actually a good thought because most restaurants were shut and cooked meal orders were down by more than 50%.

Two new-age startups still had to maintain a fleet of delivery personnel and what better than helping people get their deliveries home. Good business strategy!

God sent, I thought!

I installed both their apps and started to browse through what they have got to offer.

Groceries Home Delivered!

I had a list of groceries that I urgently needed.

I did a quick scan of both the apps trying to figure out which store has everything I needed.

Zomato

A neat interface that does it quick.

Zomato attempts a quick delivery within 120 minutes, which is pretty impressive given the circumstances.

Swiggy

Swiggy has a similar interface making it simpler for the customer to order groceries.

However, it goes one step further to beat Zomato. Take a look at the pictures below and see if you can figure it out.

If you still could not figure out what beats Zomato, check out the “Genie” label. A feature that will earn give Swiggy a lot of traction.

The platform does the job of an ‘errand boy’ getting stuffs from one place to another, and it need not be just food. Wow!

Well, I needed to get my groceries. I proceed to order them via Swiggy.

Around 15 minutes later, I get a call from the delivery personnel mentioning that one of the listed items had a bigger pack available and asked if he can get it.

I agreed and my order was delivered in less than 40 minutes. I paid him the extra amount by cash (e-payment option was also available).

I was relieved!

Ending Notes

I still have a few groceries left to order. I am banking on Grozip to open the slots.

Coronavirus has impacted people’s lives and have thrown businesses off their gear. To survive a post lock-down period, businesses will have to evolve to keep their revenue stream normal while funding takes a hit.

Swiggy and Zomato has shown the mettle to adapt to changing needs of the consumers.

However, I still wonder if people would order grocery through Swiggy and Zomato once things get back to normal. I am sure they have done their math.

Can they do a dabbawala is what remains to be seen.