Lockdown to Innovation Zomato/Swiggy

Digest

Lockdown in India hit the nation on 21st March 2020. Zero movement. People were buying anything and everything. Nevertheless, the world witnessed a lot of panic buying. We all were locked in homes and there was so much haze related to the guidelines.

After 3 weeks of being locked down, my groceries started to diminish and I had to restock. I kept on dialing those Big Bazaar numbers which were advertised in Newspapers and forwarded on Whatsapp, tried connecting to the local supermarts, majority of them were not delivering at home.

I started checking the online apps which delivered groceries. The first few names which came to my mind were.

1. Grofers
2. Big Basket

Some other names which I researched and tried using in vain were(Mykirana, supr store, et al)

A message appeared on the screen “No slots for delivery are available, slots will be available in the morning” (Grofers and Big Basket), which in the morning was obviously never available. Or even if a slot was open, the items used to be out of stock. One had to wait for evening slots and a week’s time for the delivery of the products ordered.

1. Grofers
2. Big Basket

Some other names which I researched and tried using in vain were(Mykirana, supr store, et al)

A message appeared on the screen “No slots for delivery are available, slots will be available in the morning” (Grofers and Big Basket), and in the morning most of the items used to be out of stock. One has to wait for evening slots and a week’s time for the delivery of the products ordered.

Discovery

My search led me to Zomato and Swiggy. As soon as I came to know they were delivering groceries, Voila! My problem was solved. How?

To answer How, we need to answer What did Zomato and Swiggy do up until lockdown?

- Zomato and Swiggy deliver us food that we order from restaurants.

Now, during lockdown the restaurants were closed, there was no food delivery. The basic modus operandi of Zomato and Swiggy was out of the picture.

So, these guys tied up with local food stores and started delivering the staple, groceries.

Within no time they tied with every small and big store delivering a plethora of the products which were also available on Grofers and Big Basket.

Difference

1. Zomato and Swiggy were delivering Staples first and increased the items gradually
2. Also, delivering dairy and meat items
3. Delivering fast in a couple of hours(Swiggy) fastest being Zomato in an hour
4. No waiting time. No more waiting + frustrating over slots and out of stock items
5. Absorbing such a segment giving the user, the best UI/UX in food delivery
6. Delivering fast and fresh
7. Live tracking

Applications like Licious, Zappfresh, and Freshtohome might be working on quality and set benchmarks of direct farm to home but what if I am buying it from a well-renowned store listed on Zomato/Swiggy which is equally good or maybe better.

Why would I wait if I am getting it fast and from reliable sources with live tracking?

Creating new business opportunities at the time of crisis is what defines the business.

(…Read that again)

The feat which both Swiggy and Zomato were able to achieve creating a sustainable supply chain is stupendous.

More Players

There is another wave of competition coming to Zomato and Swiggy with JioMart and Amazon jumping in.

But, as of now, it seems that Zomato and Swiggy have an early mover advantage due to market penetration and logistics in place. Having said that, Amazon is known for its incredible service and JioMart beta has a lot of user data to turn things around. It would be interesting to see which way the tide turns.

My Take

Supply chain is the first step in establishing your presence as a service provider but the real game lies in the value chain which we know is very tough to form amid such a competition coming up in the market.

For any suggestions or feedback reach out to me @ hi.singhgaurav@gmail.com

Thanks