Zomato announces 10-minute delivery: Check how fresh food may get delivered in 10 minutes

Zomato food delivery times may soon get super quick. The company has heavily invested in 10-minute grocery delivery company Blinkit. Now, it is bringing a similar delivery model to its food delivery service in Zomato. The company has launched a new service called Zomato Instant- a 10-minute food delivery system.

The announcement was made by Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO of Zomato. Goyal described the reason why the company planned to provide this service to customers. He claimed that after he became a frequent customer of Blinkit for 10-minute grocery deliveries, he thought Zomato’s current delivery times were too slow. He claims the 30-minute delivery window will soon become obsolete. The new Zomato Instant service will pilot with four stations in Gurugram from next month onwards.

In a blog Goyal said, “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.”

He further said, “Innovating and leading from the front is the only way to survive (and therefore thrive) in the tech industry. And here we are… with our 10-minute food delivery offering – Zomato Instant.”

How will the new service work for freshly cooked food?

10-minute grocery delivery services have the advantage of storing and sorting products in an orderly fashion. These products usually have a decent shelf-life. Even dairy products can survive for a day. However, storing freshly cooked food for instant delivery can be tricky.

Here’s how Deepinder Goyal explained the new service:

“Each of our finishing stations will house bestseller items (~20-30 dishes) from various restaurants based on demand predictability and hyperlocal preferences. Luckily, the experience of having delivered 1.35 billion orders across India over the years makes our job a little easier.”

Effect on pricing

Goyal claims that the benefit of quick deliveries will be passed on to customers, not only in terms of time but also money. The service will use something called demand predictability at a hyperlocal level, a model similar to how 10-minute grocery deliveries happen. Zomato claims that the price for the customer will get significantly reduced. At the same time, the margin and income for restaurant partners and delivery partners will remain the same.

Risks of Quick Delivery

One of the biggest criticisms the instant delivery service has been facing is the risks associated with the 10-minute delivery promise. Delivery partners are often on the frontline taking the heat of quick turnaround time. However, Goyal explained that this is not the case with Zomato Instant. Goyal said, “ to fulfil our quick delivery promise, we do not put any pressure on delivery partners to deliver food faster. Nor do we penalise delivery partners for late deliveries. The delivery partners are not informed of the promised time of delivery. Time optimisation does not happen on the road, and does not put any lives at risk.”

Goyal claims that the fulfilment of quick delivery promise relies on a dense finishing stations’ network, which is located in close proximity to high-demand customer neighbourhoods. Prediction algorithms and in-station robotics are being used to quicken the delivery time.

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