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1. Overview
1.1. Catalyst
Swiggy, an online food ordering and delivery start-up, has recently claimed a coveted place among the top food aggregators
in India. Despite fierce competition, and a challenging market scenario, Swiggy has made a mark through its operational
excellence and highly customer-focused approach.
1.2. Summary
Swiggy has become one of the leading food aggregators in India, and a "unicorn" in a competitive and challenging market.
Swiggy has achieved strong value and volume growth, with a network of 55,000 restaurant partners across 60 Indian cities.
Despite rising operating costs, revenues have grown exponentially and the company has garnered around $1.5bn in funding,
making it one of the highest-funded food tech start-ups in the country.
Swiggy has identified and fulfilled an underserved need for convenience and variety among urban Indian foodies. The
company differentiates itself from its competitors through its data-driven and customer-centric approach. Additionally,
through its technological expertise, timely order execution, and strong customer service, Swiggy has managed to gain a
strong following within the country.
In order to emulate the success of Swiggy, potential players must tap into the demand for hyperlocal services that provide
convenience and time savings to consumers, whilst also ensuring that a high quality of service is provided, aiming to use this
to convey a sense of good value for money to customers. Utilizing cutting-edge technologies to improve service delivery and
adopting a cost-optimized business model that focuses on customer retention is also an effective way of standing out within
the competitive market.
Table of Contents
1. OVERVIEW 1
1.1. Catalyst 1
1.2. Summary 1
2. SWIGGY HAS EMERGED AS ONE OF THE TOP ONLINE FOOD DELIVERY SERVICES IN INDIA 1
2.2. Swiggy stood out in the crowded food-tech space with its customer-centric service 2
2.3. Since its inception, Swiggy has raised over $1.45bn through multiple rounds of investment
funding 3
3.1. Urbanization and lifestyle changes drive demand for more convenience and novelty 4
3.2. Indian consumers are willing to pay for hyperlocal services that save them time and effort
4
3.3. Rising demand for take-away food and a growing ecosystem of connected devices foster a
fertile environment for online delivery apps 5
3.4. Swiggy controls the end-to-end customer experience, right from order placement to delivery
6
4.1. Service providers need to ensure that the quality of their core service remains consistent 9
4.3. Business model needs to shift from discounts to cost-effective customer acquisition and
servicing 10
5. APPENDIX 11
5.1. Sources 11
7. ABOUT MARKETLINE 12
List of Figures
Figure 2: India: orders per month by top four online food delivery start-ups (millions), June and
September 2018 2
Figure 3: Swiggy’s #OneHourMore campaign 5
© MarketLine
Source: www.swiggy.com
2.2. Swiggy stood out in the crowded food-tech space with its
customer-centric service
When Swiggy entered the market in 2014, Indian e-commerce was booming and investors were pouring capital into food-
tech firms such as Zomato, TinyOwl, and Foodpanda. As is the case with most start-ups, these companies overlooked
profitability in the initial years to focus on gaining more consumers. While most start-ups merely connected customers to
eateries, and utilized the restaurant's delivery fleet or third-party logistics providers for deliveries, Swiggy created a
dedicated delivery fleet to maintain control over the entire customer delivery experience. When investment funding waned
in 2016, start-ups such as Dazo, SpoonJoy, and Yumist, which had bled cash by heavily discounting restaurant partners and
customers, either shut shop or were acquired by larger rivals. Bigger companies such as Zomato chose to streamline costs
through massive layoffs.
Swiggy weathered the storm by boosting the cost-efficiency of its delivery network and diversifying revenue streams. In
addition to the 15–25% commission collected from restaurant partners for generating leads and providing delivery services,
Swiggy began charging 4–7% for prioritizing specific restaurants on its app. The company also introduced a flat delivery fee
from customers for low-value orders and a surcharge for peak demand periods, including festive occasions.
Swiggy's order volumes surged on the back of the user-friendly app and highly customer-centric service. Revenues grew over
600% in FY2017, against a 50% increase in net losses, and tripled in FY2018 against a twofold increase in net losses.
Subsequently, Swiggy has emerged as one of the top on-demand food delivery services in India, with a presence in more than
60 cities across the country, a network of 55,000 restaurant partners, and a fleet of over 120,000 delivery drivers. Despite
fierce price competition from the likes of Zomato, UberEATS, and Foodpanda, Swiggy has earned a place for itself through
high customer satisfaction and retention.
Figure 2: India: orders per month by top four online food delivery start-ups (millions), June and September
2018
21.0
20.0
14.0
10.5
4.0
© MarketLine
Source: Economic Times, June 2018, Economic Times, October 2018
2.3. Since its inception, Swiggy has raised over $1.45bn through
multiple rounds of investment funding
Since its inception, Swiggy has raised multiple rounds of funding to finance its app development, the expansion of its delivery
fleet and restaurant-partner network, and innovative ventures including Swiggy Pop, Swiggy Access, and Swiggy Schedule.
The funding rounds also bankrolled strategic acquisitions such as that of gourmet food start-up 48East in 2017, and on-
demand delivery firm Scootsy in 2018. In December 2018, the company raised $1bn in its series H funding round led by
existing investor Naspers. This marked the single largest funding round for the Indian food-tech sector, reflecting the
confidence that Swiggy's business model inspires among investors.
With the series H funding, Swiggy's valuation surged fivefold to $3.3bn, catapulting it into the exclusive club of "unicorns",
which refers to privately held start-ups with a valuation of over $1bn, and making it the fifth most valuable start-up in India.
Notably, Swiggy's top rival, Zomato is the only other "unicorn" in the food-tech sector. Swiggy is employing the series H
funding to develop its app further, incorporating it with machine learning capabilities. Subsequently, the company acquired
artificial intelligence start-up Kint.io in 2019.
© MarketLine
Source: www.swiggy.com
© MarketLine
Source: Swiggy Twitter
© MarketLine
Source: bytes.swiggy.com
4.1. Service providers need to ensure that the quality of their core
service remains consistent
While being quite price-sensitive, Indians consumers are demanding more quality and value for their money from service
providers. For on-demand service providers the challenge lies in delivering a high quality of service repeatedly for every time
and for every customer, and thereby making the client habituated to choosing the same provider each time the need arises.
For food aggregators such as Swiggy, the challenge lies in ensuring the quality of its restaurant partners and its own delivery
team. Recent media reports of substandard food quality from restaurants and food tampering by delivery drivers prompted
the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in December 2018 to issue guidelines to ensure greater
transparency, safety, and quality of food delivery start-ups. The regulator stipulated that food aggregators can source food
only from FSSAI-licensed establishments, which forced food-tech firms to delist thousands of restaurants.
Swiggy's success in the challenging market is attributed to a great extent to its strong execution, ensuring prompt deliveries
by leveraging its technological expertise and maintaining tight control over its logistics. The ability to track delivery
concurrently can aid consumers in feeling more empowered and thereby more patient with the delivery. However, in the
event of delays or issues with the delivery, the app allows customers to contact the delivery driver or customer service.
Swiggy's efforts to swiftly respond to customer complaints on online and offline channels establish the brand in the minds of
urban consumers and encourage them to turn to the app when hunger calls.
Hyperlocal delivery is thereby quickly becoming a value-added service that retailers and service vendors can no longer ignore
in developed and emerging markets with high smartphone usage and strong internet connectivity. Given the complexities of
developing a hyperlocal delivery model with accurate location mapping and route optimization technologies, and a sizable
trained delivery fleet, vendors can partner with service providers. Leading hyperlocal businesses are adopting machine
learning, big data analytics, the Internet of Things, and other advanced technologies to continually streamline the time and
cost of deliveries. Owing to the rising wage costs and infrastructure challenges, robots and drones are expected to replace
human delivery drivers in the long run.
5. Appendix
5.1. Sources
ET Rise (2018) "Swiggy scores a 232% surge in revenue in FY18 at Rs 442 crore, inches closer to Zomato's FY18 revenue ,"
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/swiggy-scores-a-232-surge-in-revenue-in-fy18-at-rs-
442-crore-inchescloser-to-zomatos-fy18-revenue/articleshow/66406476.cms, October 2018
Live Mint (2018) "Swiggy revenue trebles, but loss doubles too in 2017-18,"
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/cjK3T36vZl1easaVBMXVNN/ Swiggy-revenue-trebles-but-loss-doubles-too-in-
201718.html, October 2018
Money Control (2018) "Swiggy FY18 net loss widens to Rs 397 crore; revenues triple,"
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/ swiggy-parent-bundl-techs-fy18-net-loss-widens-to-rs-397-crore-
revenues-triple-3100311.html, October 2018
Office Chai (2017) "Swiggy's Revenues Rise 6.5 Times In 2017, Losses up Only 1.5 Times,"
https://officechai.com/startups/swiggys-revenue-loss2017/, November 2017
Times of India (2018) "Swiggy FY18 losses double as Zomato, Uber, Ola boost operations,"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/
66410285.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst, October 2018
Tofler (2016) "Swiggy FY 14-15 Revenue at INR 11.6 Lacs, Losses at INR 2.1 Crores," https://www.tofler.in/blog/indian-start-
up-financialsreports-revenue-loss/swiggy-fy-14-15-revenue-at-inr-11-6-lacs-losses-at-inr-2-1-crores-tofler-curiosityisgood/,
January 2016
Economic Times (2017) "Swiggy acquihires 48East team, adds to senior leadership,"
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/smallbiz/startups/newsbuzz/swiggy-acquihires-48east-team-adds-to-senior-
leadership/articleshow/62050029.cms, December 2017
Economic Times (2018) "Swiggy raises mega $1 billion round, valuation swells to $3.3 billion,"
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/smallbiz/startups/newsbuzz/swiggy-raises-mega-1-billion-round-valuation-swells-to-
3-3-billion/articleshow/67175947.cms, December 2018
Economic Times (2018) "Zomato claims to have hit market leadership with 21 million monthly order run
rate,"https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/zomato-claims-to-have-hit-market-leadership-
with-21-million-monthlyorder-run-rate/articleshow/66090080.cms, October 2018
Economic Times (2018) "Zomato doubles monthly online order volume to 10.5 million in 3 months, Swiggy scales 14
million,"https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/zomato-doubles-monthly-online-order-
volume-to-10-5-million-in-3-months-swiggy-scales-14-million/articleshow/64738254.cms, June 2018
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