Ecommerce marketplace Flipkart, which entered the fast-growing 10-minute grocery delivery space in late 2024, is evaluating venturing into another highly competitive sector — online food delivery, people in the know said.
The Walmart-owned company is targeting a pilot programme in Bengaluru around May-June, with a full-scale launch likely by the end of this year or early next year, these people said.
“Flipkart is evaluating the food delivery market while trying to identify a differentiated positioning in the space,” one of the people said.
Two years ago, Flipkart, like its consumer internet peers Ola and Paytm, outlined plans to enter food delivery through the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). That proposal, however, did not progress beyond the drawing board.
India’s food delivery market, estimated at about $9 billion in fiscal 2025, is projected to expand to $25 billion by FY30, according to brokerage firm Jefferies. The segment is currently dominated by Eternal-owned Zomato and Swiggy, with Rapido’s Ownly and smaller ONDC-based players attempting to capture share.
A second person said Flipkart is weighing whether to launch a standalone platform or roll out a buyer-side application on the ONDC, with both options under active consideration. The company has already begun building out a team for the initiative.
Flipkart did not respond to ET’s queries.
Flipkart’s move comes at a time when competition in food delivery is intensifying, with 10-minute cafe-style delivery formats emerging even as overall growth moderates.
After at the lower end of the guided 18-22 per cent medium-term growth range for several quarters, food delivery leaders Zomato and Swiggy signalled improved demand in the October-December quarter. Gross order value in the quarter rose 21.3 per cent from a year earlier for Zomato and 20.5 per cent for Swiggy.
New initiatives
Flipkart, which is preparing for a public listing this year, has also stepped up investments in its quick commerce vertical, Minutes.
According to people familiar with the matter, Minutes now operates more than 800 dark stores and has plans to aggressively expand the number of these micro warehouses in the coming months.
On January 26, ET reported that ecommerce majors including Flipkart had increased discounting in quick commerce to challenge market leaders Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy’s Instamart amid intensifying competition.
Flipkart’s push into new initiatives comes even as the broader ecommerce sector is showing early signs of recovery after a prolonged slowdown. The Flipkart group, led by chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy, narrowed losses across most entities in FY25 by cutting expenses, though revenue growth remained muted.
Its core marketplace business posted a 14 per cent increase in revenue to ₹20,493 crore in FY25.
Many forms of food delivery
Flipkart’s potential entry would add a new contender to a market that once hosted over a dozen players but has since consolidated into two dominant platforms, as capital gravitated toward category leaders.
Urban mobility startup Rapido piloted its Ownly food delivery service in Bengaluru around August last year and completed a city-wide rollout earlier this month. The platform is built to address restaurant concerns over high commissions and transparency on larger platforms.
“Ownly is now live across Bengaluru and will intensify customer acquisition efforts. Over the next two to three months, it plans to expand to additional cities including Pune, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR,” a person familiar with its plans said.
The sector has seen multiple exits. In 2020, Uber shut down Uber Eats, selling it to Zomato for $350 million in an all-stock deal after burning an estimated $20 million a month. Ola’s earlier attempts including Ola Cafes (2015) and its acquisition of Foodpanda from Delivery Hero for ₹200.7 crore in 2017 were eventually wound down. Ola Dash’s 10-minute food delivery experiment also shut in early 2022.
Amazon, too, made an attempt in 2019.
Brokerages note that outside India and China where food delivery has evolved into two-player markets, most large economies have consolidated into three or four operators with one dominant player.
After strong post-Covid growth, food delivery players have faced a moderation amid weaker consumption trends. Jefferies said the category is transitioning from an indulgence-led service to an everyday consumption channel, supported by improvements in affordability, delivery speed and reliability.
“Annual transacting users are projected to rise from around 100 million in FY25 to over 150 million by FY30, although frequency levels still lag those of more mature markets, implying a large headroom for future growth,” Jefferies said.
Beyond mainstream delivery, several sub-segments have emerged. These include 10-minute formats such as Swiggy’s Bolt and Snacc, Blinkit’s Bistro, Zepto Cafe, and standalone players like Swish, which is raising a $30-35 million round led by Bain Capital Ventures and Accel, as reported by ET on February 9.
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