Amazon Launches Food Delivery in India; Stiff Competition for Swiggy and Zomato?

Guwahati:

Multinational giant 'Amazon' has now launched its 'Food' service in India, which is likely to shake up the current duopoly of homegrown industry leaders Swiggy and Zomato. Beginning the service in Bengaluru, the e-commerce company has announced that is is "adhering to the highest standards of safety", as food delivery services have taken a hit due to the coronavirus scare.

Releasing a statement, a company spokesperson said that "customer feedback" has urged the e-commerce behemoth to start its own food delivery service in India. The new service is also aimed to help local businesses, especially restaurants that are facing hardships due to the national lockdown that has restricted restaurants from serving food at their locations.

The statement dashed off the Gadgets360 read: "We are launching Amazon Food in select Bengaluru pin codes allowing customers to order from handpicked local restaurants and cloud kitchens that pass our high hygiene certification bar. We are adhering to the highest standards of safety to ensure our customers remain safe while having a delightful experience."

The service, in its infant stages, is now delivering to locations in Bengaluru with the following pincodes — 560048, 560037, 560066, and 560103. The experience, very much in line with what Swiggy and Zomato is providing, requires customers to get the dedicated Amazon Food store on their existing Amazon app to order food online.

What this means for Zomato and Swiggy:

This development is bound to cause further worries to Indian biggies Zomato and Swiggy, which have already laid off employees amid the nationwide lockdown which placed bans and restrictions on such services in its initial phases. With the services being resumed once again, most consumers seem reluctant to order food online, with people preferring the safety of home-cooked meals amid the virus scare.