Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart is gearing up to enter the food delivery market, starting with an initial launch in Bengaluru. According to a report by Moneycontrol, the Walmart-owned company has already begun onboarding restaurants across the city and is set to debut its service as early as 15 August, around India’s Independence Day weekend.
Restaurant partners mentioned in the report have revealed that Flipkart is offering a competitive commission rate of 10%, significantly lower than the 16% to 30% charged by existing food delivery platforms. This move is aimed at attracting more restaurant partners to join forces with Flipkart.
The new food delivery service by Flipkart will be built on the government-backed open network for digital commerce (ONDC). By leveraging ONDC, Flipkart plans to utilize the open network infrastructure rather than creating its own closed marketplace.
It has been reported that Flipkart will initially test the food delivery offering in a pilot phase before expanding it nationwide. Ashish Vijayvergiya, who previously served as the chief of staff to Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, will lead the food delivery initiative.
This strategic move by Flipkart comes on the heels of Rapido’s Ownly service rapidly gaining traction in Bengaluru, with over 40,000 daily orders from nearly 25,000 restaurants. Ownly has captured a significant market share of 7%–10% in the city’s food delivery segment within a short span of time.
Flipkart seems to be adopting a similar low-cost approach by positioning itself as a cost-effective option for restaurants, although it will still charge a commission. The rollout of Flipkart’s food delivery service is expected to be limited to Bengaluru initially, with plans to expand to other cities in the future. The service will be accessible through Flipkart’s main app as well as a dedicated food delivery application.
“Flipkart to enter Indian food delivery space – report” was originally published by Verdict Food Service, a brand owned by GlobalData.
