Mar 21, 2020
Zomato is entering the grocery market as the category sees a major uptick amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The food delivery company is in talks to partner with e-grocers, Grofers and BigBasket, to sell food products and essentials on its platform by facilitating their deliveries.
When most businesses are registering a slowdown, Zomato has taken a major step towards diversification. Online food ordering has taken a hit in the past week with order numbers falling by as much as 20%.
Zomato Market, as it is being tentatively called, is expected to go live by next week, said a person familiar with the matter.
Offline stores which work with Grofers will be listed on Zomato’s app. Consumers can then place an order on Zomato and deliveries will be fulfilled by them. They will start the pilot in Delhi NCR to begin with.
Grofers, BigBasket and mom-and-pop stores have seen demand surge over the past week on the back of panic buying. Swiggy has a presence in the grocery segment and has been ramping up efforts to go beyond food delivery for a while now.
For Zomato, however, the effort around grocery will be a first, as the company has taken a more focussed approach to build its entire business around the food delivery and restaurant ecosystem.
Grofers collaborates with mom and-stores and other physical stores to procure products. Zomato’s talks with BigBasket are still to be firmed up, sources indicated.