10-min food delivery frenzy continues, Zomato to launch 'Zomato Instant' soon

Online food aggregator Zomato on Monday said it will soon launch 'Zomato Instant' for delivery of food within 10 minutes. The company will pilot Zomato Instant with four stations in Gurugram from next month onwards.

In a blog, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said customers are increasingly demanding "quicker answers to their needs", and that sorting restaurants by fastest delivery time is one of the most used features on the Zomato app.

The announcement by the company comes at a time when 10-minutes grocery delivery is getting popular in the country.

"...after becoming a frequent customer of Blinkit (one of Zomato's investments in the quick commerce space), I started feeling that the 30-minute average delivery time by Zomato is too slow, and will soon have to become obsolete. If we don't make it obsolete, someone else will," Goyal said.

Innovating and leading from the front is the only way to survive and thrive in the tech industry, he added.

How will 10-minute delivery work?

Goyal said each of Zomato's finishing stations will house bestseller items (about 20-30 dishes) from various restaurants based on demand predictability and hyperlocal preferences.

"Due to demand predictability at a hyperlocal level, we expect that the price for the customer will get significantly reduced, while the absolute rupee margin/income for our restaurant partners as well as our delivery partners, will remain the same.

"If Zomato Instant works as envisioned, it will create significant impact on affordability (at least 50 per cent reduction in cost to the end customer), accessibility (reduction of delivery time from 30 minutes average to under 10 minutes), and quality (with influence over the supply chain, we will be able to ensure highest grade ingredients and hygiene practices across the supply chain)," Goyal said.