Swiggy is in the process of making the transition from a food-ordering and delivery company to a digital convenience platform and is ready to take its drone-led delivery ambitions to the next level.
It has invited proposals from bidders for drones as a service, to help it execute drone delivery for groceries and essential items in several major cities for a period of six months. While last year, it ran test flights with airspace company ANRA Technologies in a controlled environment, the current exercise will see the food-tech company run test flights in real life scenarios.
Consumers, though, may have to wait a bit longer before a drone delivers pizzas and biryanis to their doorsteps, as Swiggy will be piloting the service as a strictly business-to-business (B2B) model.
A drone, for instance, can be used to fly goods from one Instamart dark store to another if either one runs out of stock for certain items. Swiggy’s quick commerce initiative relies on a network of warehouses (dark stores) to deliver groceries within an hour.
While B2C drone delivery in a landscape like India will pose challenges such as regulations and congested terrace spacing in the last mile, companies can implement inter-nodal delivery from their regional hubs to forward centres, where lead times and shelf life are crucial, “said Arjun Aggarwal, MD & CEO at Aerodyne India.
Complementary technologies such as drone parachute recovery systems and advanced collision avoidance tools are features we are focusing on to offer a safe and comprehensive solution. In addition, a drone can also be used to cut down on time for Swiggy, as even food from faraway restaurants can be flown to an open location from where a delivery executive can do the last mile run.