When someone asks if you want food delivered in 10 minutes, the first thing that crosses your mind is: how long ago was the food actually prepared? This isn’t just idle curiosity; it’s a pressing question as India’s quick commerce platforms dive headfirst into the 10-minute food delivery space.
In October 2024, Swiggy surprised everyone by announcing the launch of its Bolt feature, offering food delivery in just 10 minutes. Within a month, the service expanded to over 400 cities and towns nationwide, marking an aggressive push into the quick food delivery market. It is worth noting that the curated menu strategically includes items like burgers, snacks, baked goods, beverages, sweets, ice creams, breakfast dishes, and biryani. These items require minimum preparation time or are ready to pack, ensuring speed without compromising quality.
Swiggy’s move is part of a broader trend, with players like Zomato and Zepto having piloted similar initiatives in the past, albeit failed.
Zomato introduced its quick-delivery vertical, Zomato Instant, in 2022, piloting 10-minute food deliveries in Gurugram. Similarly, Zepto briefly tested Zepto Cafe in Mumbai the same year with plans to expand to Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad by mid-2024. Despite initial buzz, both efforts failed to scale significantly, largely due to logistical and cost challenges.
Meanwhile, a newer entrant, Swish, joined the fray, currently offering 10-minute food deliveries in Bengaluru.
As Swiggy strives to turn the dream of 10-minute food delivery into reality, much like it did in the grocery delivery segment, and Swish has set eyes on a sizeable chunk of the growing Q-commerce market in India, it raises a few important questions:
- Is there a real demand for food delivered this quickly?
- What are the operational challenges?
- And, most importantly, can they sustain the model without compromising safety, quality, or profitability?
After all, as past efforts by larger players have shown, speed alone doesn’t guarantee success.
Rise of Quick Commerce: Meeting the Growing Demand for Convenience!
When Swiggy’s Instamart (launched in August 2020), Zepto (April 2021), Zomato’s Blinkit (December 2021), and BigBasket’s BB Now (December 2021) introduced grocery deliveries within 20 minutes, industry analysts were quick to criticise them. Many argued these platforms wouldn’t survive once the COVID-19 pandemic ended, citing Indians’ deep-rooted attachment to offline shopping and the assured freshness of veggies and other groceries from local Kirana stores.
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