Lockdown due to Coronavirus has halted several businesses in India. Amid this indefinite lockdown, the online food delivery companies Swiggy, Zomato are facing a tough time. The online food delivery orders have got reduced by up to 80 to 90% as people are avoiding products from outside. Earlier, both Zomato and Swiggy used to get more than two million orders every day.
Despite lockdown, Zomato recently secured funding of $5 million via investment trust “Pacific Horizon.” After this funding, the total valuation of Zomato stands $3.25 billion. On the other hand, Swiggy secured a funding of $43 million in its Series I round funding. This funding has raised the total valuation of Swiggy to $3.6 billion. The total estimate of Zomato and Swiggy are much closer now. These fresh fundings would allow both the food delivery firms to expand their business and bear the losses at the time of lockdown.
Zomato has announced that it has started delivering groceries to more than 80 cities across India so that people continue to receive essential items during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. This delivery of essentials is done through their new segment called “Zomato market.” Swiggy has also started delivering grocery to its customers.through the Swiggy stores available across different cities of India.
Even after getting permission for delivery of essential goods and items from the government, many delivery partners of both Zomato & Swiggy are not able to fulfil the orders. The delivery boys of these companies have either refused not to work or are not able to achieve the targets. According to them, the local police and administration are preventing them from delivering even essential items such as groceries. Similar is the case with Big Basket, who in the early days in the country was unable to fulfil the order for groceries during the lockdown. At the same time, all these companies are allowed to deliver essential items in the government circular.
