Flipkart is testing food delivery with more than 8,000 employees in Bengaluru, TechCrunch reported, as the Walmart-owned retailer considers a broader launch that would put it in competition with Zomato and Swiggy.
National Restaurant Association of India President Sagar Daryani told TechCrunch that Flipkart had proposed a base commission of about 10% to restaurants. He put the commissions they typically pay Zomato and Swiggy at 20% to 25% and said promotional costs add to their burden. Lower fees could let restaurants keep more of each order’s value, he said.
TechCrunch attributed the latest employee count to two unnamed people. It reported that the trial began with a few hundred staff. Moneycontrol reported in September that Flipkart had started testing the service with employees in Bengaluru.
A Google Play listing names Flipkart Internet Private Limited as the developer of the Flipkart Eat-In Delivery app. Branded Eat-In by Minutes, it is an app for delivery partners. The listing shows it was updated Sept. 24.
In a July interview with Moneycontrol, Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy described a limited start, with customer feedback guiding refinements before any expansion. He said the plan was to offer food delivery through both a separate app and Flipkart’s main shopping app.
Flipkart already operates online shopping and its Minutes quick-commerce service. TechCrunch described those operations as a possible advantage, while noting that Amazon, Google and Uber had made unsuccessful food-delivery attempts in India.
Daryani said Flipkart had told restaurants it expected to launch the service publicly by the end of October. Krishnamurthy said the company would assess feedback from the limited rollout before expanding it.
