Not just food! Swiggy may soon start delivery of medicines, smartphones, groceries

Online food delivery app Swiggy is looking to expand their focus from food delivery to hyperlocal delivery in their next phase. The online food delivery app is planning to start delivery for categories like medicines and groceries in their diversification strategy. According to a report in The Economic Times, the "concierge-like service" would enable buying and delivery of products from any store in the city including grocery, pharmacies, groceries, flower and gift shops. As per the report, the service would also include a customer-to-customer pick-up and drop service.

A similar service is run by the popular Dunzo that is based in Bengaluru and is backed by Google and Quikr. Swiggy's hyperlocal delivery service is likely to be rolled out by October-November across NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

The online food delivery service fulfills around 14 million orders every month and is planning to grow their business vertical to almost 15-20% of their revenues in the next two years, as mentioned in the daily.

"At Swiggy, enabling convenience for our consumers is at the core of how we operate. We're constantly experimenting with ways in which we can do that better while providing them with a delightful experience," a spokesperson of the company said.

Newly armed with the latest round of funding, Swiggy has been expanding its delivery network as well. It now boasts a 55,000-executives strong delivery fleet from 30,000 at the beginning of the year and is aiming to almost double their fleet in six to nine months.

According to a report, Swiggy, along with competitors Zomato and UberEats have almost doubled the salaries of their delivery executives. In some cases the raise has been more than double. Delivery executives are also being given better incentives for deliveries during peak hours and rains. Food delivery platforms are offering upto Rs 40,000/Rs 50,000 per month, a significant jump from their earlier Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 to bring in more delivery executives under their payroll.

The company recently bagged $210 million in funding by backers DST Global, Naspers, Meituan-Dianping and Coatue Management that took their valuation to $1.3 billion. The new strategy adopted by Swiggy is similar to its investor Meituan-Dianping's China business model that offers services such as payments, cab-hailing, salon, delivery services and more.

(Edited by Anwesha Madhukalya)