Flipkart to Enter Food Delivery to Challenge Zomato, Swiggy

Flipkart will enter India's food delivery market with a pilot launch, leveraging ONDC integration to compete with Zomato, Swiggy, and Rapido while expanding its digital ecosystem and strengthening customer engagement.

Flipkart is gearing up to enter the Indian market for online food delivery service, which is a major step forward from just being an e-commerce platform and a quick commerce platform. The firm, owned by Walmart, is set to begin testing a food delivery service in the next few weeks in a bid to compete with companies like Zomato, Swiggy, and Rapido. The move is in line with the strategy that the company uses to expand its consumer ecosystem with high-frequency services.

According to Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group, the company plans to launch the service first as a pilot project, after which it will decide whether to scale up the service across India. This pilot launch is scheduled to take place in Bangalore, so the company can study how customers receive the service, its effectiveness, and efficiency. According to Krishnamurthy, the phased launch will enable the company to fine-tune the offer and create a viable business model from the customer’s standpoint.

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Another distinguishing factor of Flipkart’s food delivery service is the potential collaboration between the platform and the ONDC, which is an open network for digital commerce. Flipkart will utilize the technology from ONDC to help onboard the restaurants and manage the orders efficiently. Some reports suggest that the food delivery service will be available via the Flipkart app, along with the trial run for its separate food delivery app.

The announcement has come amidst growing rivalry in India’s food delivery industry. Whereas Zomato and Swiggy have maintained their leadership in the industry, newer firms are trying out new approaches to doing business. The delivery service provider Rapido has recently launched a platform for food delivery which has zero commission for restaurants. The online food delivery platform from the ONDC network is also making headway. The Indian online food delivery industry, estimated to be worth US$9 billion in FY25, may reach nearly US$25 billion in FY30.

The food delivery business by Flipkart augments its existing strategy of venturing into new consumer segments. It has entered into the domain of fashion by way of Myntra, into travel by way of Cleartrip, into fintech by way of super. Money,  and into quick commerce via Flipkart Minutes. With this venture into food delivery, Flipkart intends to foster customer engagement through a highly frequent category of offerings.

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According to Krishnamurthy, being late in the market would not affect the growth potential of Flipkart. He says that firms which have a good value proposition, execution and customer orientation are able to succeed even in mature markets. Instead of competing on price, Flipkart wants to compete by providing reliable services, good restaurant options, better customer experience and innovation in the digital space. If the pilot project succeeds, then Flipkart will gradually roll out its food delivery services throughout the country, thus increasing the competition in the rapidly growing segment of the digital business.