Ola Consumer, the hyperlocal delivery arm led by Bhavish Aggarwal, has started piloting quick food delivery services in select areas of Bengaluru. The service is being offered through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed initiative.
Under the food delivery section on the Ola Cabs app, Ola claims to deliver food items from various restaurants within 10 minutes.
Ola currently offers F&B services via ONDC but only in limited cities. Apart from food delivery, it also offers last-mile logistics services for grocery shopping and pharmaceuticals via ONDC.
Inc42 reported the development first.
Ola will join the likes of half a dozen companies which have initiated or on the verge of launching their instant food delivery services.
On Tuesday, offline discovery and rewards platform Magicpin also announced its quick delivery service MagicNOW, a 15-minute food delivery offering piloted across major Indian cities. The instant food delivery market is growing with quick commerce players like Zepto, Swiggy, and Blinkit leading the segment, while new players such as Swish and Zing gain traction.
Ola ventured into the food delivery space in 2017 with the acquisition of Foodpanda for mere Rs 28 crore. The company aimed to challenge Swiggy and Zomato by leveraging its vast driver network. In 2018, Ola further acquired home chef marketplace Holachef to strengthen its position. However, the vertical failed to gain traction.
By mid-2019, Ola scaled down Foodpanda’s operations, focusing on in-house food brands, and by early 2020, it officially shut down the segment, citing a strategic shift to its core mobility biz. Ola’s current foray into 10-minute food delivery seems trend-driven but faces significant challenges, especially with its mobility business struggling.
Source: Entrackr : Latest Posts