Is Swiggy giving up on its differentiated quick commerce strategy?

Quick commerce has come a long way from its origins around the turn of the decade. Where platforms like Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit once offered an extremely limited range of groceries to facilitate 10-minute deliveries, they now offer everything from apparel and gifts to cosmetics and utensils. 

This expansion is in line with their evolving ambitions—they are no longer content with rivalling the neighbourhood kirana store. Instead, they want to take on full-fledged e-commerce platforms like Amazon or Flipkart. Their success has been significant enough to force Flipkart to finally wade into the quick commerce game and forced Tata-owned Bigbasket to trade in its next-day delivery model for a quick commerce approach.

For Zepto and Blinkit, this expansion has been straightforward. The two platforms are deepening their links with brands to expand their catalogue of products. Swiggy, on the other hand, has taken the road less travelled.

The second biggest quick commerce player after Blinkit, Swiggy hasn’t simply expanded the range of products on its quick commerce platform Instamart. Instead, Swiggy has piloted separate verticals such as premium grocery platform InsanelyGood, hyperlocal marketplace Minis, and a broader e-commerce marketplace Malls as it sought to avoid diluting its core quick commerce offering.