Delivery from store in 10 minutes. The Indian government has put a roadblock on the project
Walmart-owned delivery company Flipkart, as well as Swiggy and Zepto, which plans to go public soon, have stopped advertising their grocery stores as “10-minute” delivery services. It's all because of the government's position, reports Reuters.
This is about the government of India, a country where almost 1.5 billion people live and which has already overtaken China in terms of population. It turned out that such short delivery time causes many problems on the roads. The government issued an appeal to entrepreneurs and they complied.
$11.5 billion market value
This move is a blow to India's retail sector, which has grown to $11.5 billion in five years. values and has changed the way Indians shop. Apps that deliver groceries and electronics within minutes have become commonplace.
However, the result was reckless driving by the drivers. That prompted the Ministry of Labor to ask companies in a private meeting on Saturday to stop using the name “10 Minutes.” It was unclear whether there were any penalties for failing to follow these rules. But the government is no joke.
Eternal's Blinkit changed its ads on Tuesday, and Zepto, Swiggy and Walmart-owned Flipkart followed suit by dropping their fast delivery promotions. This information was revealed on Wednesday by their applications.
Not 10 minutes, but… eight minutes
Eternal said there have been no changes to the business model of its Blinkit fast trading platform. Zepto declined to comment, and Flipkart and Swiggy did not respond to Reuters' questions.
Indian fast selling companies deliver products from over 2,000 local warehouses.
Despite government requests, businesses can still offer popular fast delivery services. In at least one district of Delhi the Blinkit app showed eight-minute delivery on Wednesday.
“The decision to abandon the 10-minute delivery window is based on aesthetic considerations rather than changing the nature of the business,” Karan Taurani, executive vice president of brokerage Elara Capital, told Reuters.
In December, Swiggy raised $1.11 billion. from institutional investors including BlackRock, Temasek and Fidelity, previously saying the proceeds would boost cash reserves and fund “new experiments” in high-speed trading and food delivery.
Swiggy and Eternal also run thriving food delivery businesses, but they don't rely on promises of fast delivery.
