Get Ready for Festival Season With Swiggy Instamart and Its 24-hour Free Delivery in Delhi, NCR

Instamart, the rapid commerce division of IPO-bound online food delivery business Swiggy, has introduced free 24-hour delivery for all Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) clients to capitalize on the expected spike in demand over the festival season.

According to the company, the quick commerce platform aims to satisfy the increasing demand by providing thousands of products across Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida with quick delivery within 10 to 15 minutes, every day of the week.

Particularly during the hectic holiday season full of last-minute preparations, the company claims to have noticed that once the shutters go down in the late hours, the demand for necessities not only persists but also rises.

Spike in Late-Night Orders

Customers place orders all night long, according to Swiggy, during the holiday season, particularly around festive occasions like the celebrations of Diwali.

According to Swiggy Instamart's order data, orders for late-night snacks like chips, bhujia, and ice cream, as well as products for sexual wellness and other pan corner necessities, are still placed between 11 PM and 6 AM. As the night draws in, breakfast staples like milk and eggs become more and more popular in the orders.

At the same time, Swiggy is putting all of its resources into growing its rapid commerce division. In anticipation of an initial public offering (IPO) valued at around INR 10,000 crore, the business has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Through a new issuance, the corporation hopes to raise INR 3,750 crore.

Company’s Plan for Expansion

With its subsidiary Scootsy, the food delivery giant intends to use up to INR 982 crore, or around 27% of the IPO proceeds, to grow Instamart's dark shop network after the IPO. The company has 581 dark stores open as of June 30. These stores ranged in size from 1,400 to 10,000 square feet.

First quarter (Q1) of fiscal year 2025 (FY25) saw a 56% year-over-year (Y-o-Y) increase in Instamart's gross order value (GOV) to INR 2,724 crore. On the other hand, its GOV for food delivery increased by 14% year over year to INR 6,808 crore. Even though the rapid commerce vertical was introduced six years later, its GOV already accounts for 40% of the food delivery GOV.

With the goal of making the service available to as many customers as possible nationwide, Instamart will assess expanding to additional large cities after Delhi-NCR.

Instamart, which was founded in 2020 and is presently active in 43 cities, is a competitor in the fast or expedited delivery market alongside Blinkit, Zepto, and Bigbasket.

Swiggy Filed an Updated DRHP With SEBI for Its INR 3,750 crore IPO

The draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) was submitted to SEBI, the markets regulator, by food aggregation and grocery delivery platform Swiggy on 26 September 2024.

StartupTalkyNitin Konde