Blinkit to deliver samosas and chai in 10 minutes, expand quick commerce play

The feature could be rolled out in pilot mode in select cities as early as this month, one of the two people cited above said. Blinkit will start with fast-moving and quick snacks such as samosas and sandwiches and then move on to items that require preparation time like pasta and noodles, depending on the response from users, the person said on the condition of anonymity.

Blinkit declined to comment onMint's emailed queries about the cafe offering plan.

The offering will compete directly with Zepto Cafe, introduced by the Aadit Palicha-led hyperlocal company in 2022. Rival Swiggy recently launched a similar offering in select parts of Bengaluru.

Zepto hasn't put out any figures or details of its cafe venture. The company didn't immediately respond to Mint's emailed query seeking more information about Zepto Cafe.

In August last year, Palicha said Zepto Cafe, despite being a small category, would help boost average order values as users were likely to order tea, coffee and snacks along with groceries. It also offers 3x higher margins than FMCG products, which is expected to help Zepto inch closer to its profitability ambition ahead of its listing plans.

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Zepto raised $665 million in June and said it would use the money to expand dark stores as well as fuel new initiatives including Zepto Cafe, Palicha toldMint.

Food and beverage sales can help drive better margins and expand order volumes, according to Satish Meena, an advisor at Datum Intelligence. It will also give users the option of ordering groceries and food from one place, while allowing companies to make better use of their delivery personnel.

Blinkit’s average order value was ₹625 in the June quarter, with 7.6 million average monthly transacting customers.

Newer categories

The move is also expected to help Zomato double down on 10-minute food deliveries, a strategy in which rival Swiggy also seems to be interested. Last week, Swiggy rolled out ‘Bolt’ in six cities to facilitate quick deliveries within a 2 km radius.

“We will see more pilots in the 10-minute food category going forward as customers are willing to give this a try," Datum Intelligence’s Meena noted.

In the shareholders’ letter for the June quarter, CEO Albinder Dhindsa said Blinkit will invest in opportunities in newer categories.

“Over the last six quarters, we have launched and scaled products in electronics, beauty & make-up, pet care, and toys and games and we will continue to invest behind opportunities in newer categories as well," he added.

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Blinkit has also grown in smaller cities and the plan is to widen its footprint gradually, Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal said at the FY24 annual general meeting in August. The quick commerce company aims to expand its dark store count to 1,000 by the end of FY25 and 2,000 by FY26.

It had 639 dark stores-small warehouses that are not open to the public-at the end of the June quarter.

Blinkit reported revenue of ₹942 crore in the June quarter, more than doubling from ₹384 crore a year earlier. In June, Zomato invested ₹300 crore in Blinkit. The company’s cafe feature will be a separate service to optimise its delivery fleets comprising over 100,000 riders who already deliver groceries and other goods within minutes, according to the first person.

Another venture

The cafe offering is the latest for Blinkit’s parent company Zomato, which has run multiple pilot projects in the past.

It introduced Zomato Everyday (previously Zomato Instant) last year to offer meals by home chefs in select cities. Instant started in 2022 to cater to customers who wanted quicker fulfilment of their needs.

Sorting restaurants by fastest delivery time is one of the most used features on the Zomato app, the company said in a blog post. In addition, there was a sense that the 30-minute average delivery time by Zomato was too slow and would soon have to become obsolete.

“If we don’t make it obsolete, someone else will," the company said in the blog post in March 2022. However, a year later, it resorted to rebranding the Instant service to Zomato Everyday to cater to working professionals who live away from home and look for affordable home-cooked meals.

Also Read | Mint Primer: Can Blinkit & co take on Amazon in electronics?

In August, Zomato closed down Legends, its intercity food delivery service, after two years of trying to find product-market fit.

In a recent interview withMoneycontrol, Zomato chief executive officer Deepinder Goyal said 10-minute food delivery can change the game if done right. With consumer expectations shifting, canteen-type snacks like samosas, patties, chai and coffee being delivered in 10 minutes could be the next big growth engine for restaurants, the executive noted.

This is canteen-type food but in an organized fashion, he said. It will be a whole new market and additional demand being created, Goyal noted.

Sales in India's quick commerce sector have surged by more than 280% over the past two years, according to financial services firm Chryseum. The sector's gross merchandise value soared to $3.3 billion in FY24 from $500 million in FY22, it said in a report.