Zomato announces 10-minute delivery feature, “Instant”

Deepinder Goyal, the founder of the instant food delivery app, Zomato, announced a new 10-minute feature for the app. “10-minute food delivery is coming soon on Zomato,” read his Twitter post. The 10-Minute Delivery service, first introduced by Zepto, has become a standard model for quick commerce players in the grocery space.

Experts believe that this decision by the company was in response to the increasing competition brought on by the entry of players like Zepto and some new features like Instamart by Swiggy. Though both of these are for groceries, the company does not want to be left behind in the consumer aware market.

The new feature to be rolled out will be called “Instant” and initially launched in Gurugram. Netizens are curious to know how the company will pull off the service in cities like Mumbai and Bangalore, known for their traffic. Zomato believes the new model will lower prices for consumers by around 50 per cent while retaining the same level of income for its restaurant partners and delivery drivers.

In another tweet, Goyal explained how the goal to deliver in 10 minutes will be achieved. The company has come up with the concept of “Instant Station”. In every instant station, one will find a selection of the best food from different restaurants, based on demand predictability and hyperlocal preferences.

On an average, kitchen preparation time will be 3 to 4 minutes for the 10-minute delivery system, as opposed to 15 to 20 minutes for the traditional 30-minute delivery service. There will be only a few, fast-selling menus. Delivery executives will then travel 1-2 km rather than the 5-7 km in the case of a standard delivery.

“We do not put any pressure on delivery partners to deliver food faster. Nor do we penalize delivery partners for late deliveries. The delivery partners are not informed of the promised time of delivery. Time optimization does not happen on the road and does not put any lives at risk,” said Goyal.

Incidentally, Zomato recently invested $150 million in Blinkit, earlier known as Grofers, to increase its footprint in the delivery sector.

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