Swiggy moves out from grocery and fresh produce marketplace

Swiggy has moved away from delivering grocery, fruits, vegetables and other essential deliveries in about 100 cities.  Two years ago, the service was bundled with Swiggy Stores and had started operating from Gurugram. The move signals a departure from a marketplace to the dark store model. Swiggy would continue to operate dark stores under the brand name Instamart.

According to an email sent by Swiggy to users, grocery and the fresh farm produce services will no longer be listed on its native app. Team Entrackr has also found that hyperlocal stores selling grocery and fresh produce are no longer listed on its app. Interestingly, even Zomato has been reducing its grocery offering Zomato Market since June.

While Swiggy Stores is no longer operational, users can still order grocery and other items through Swiggy Genie. Users can also send packages and documents from one point to another via Swiggy Genie. 

“We expanded our services across the country during the lockdown as consumers turned to Swiggy not just for food but also other essentials. Given that movement restrictions have been eased, we are rolling back grocery delivery and focusing on offerings like Swiggy Genie,” said a Swiggy spokesperson.

According to the spokesperson, specialiszed stores such as meat, seafood, pet care and gourmet will continue to function. 

In April 2020, Swiggy rolled out dark stores under the brand name Urban Kirana which was later rebranded as Instamart. It is being said that the company would be ramping up the dark store model as it offers a good margin as compared to that of the marketplace. Dark stores also enable faster deliveries.