Swiggy’s Crew App Launches in Top Metro Cities, Strengthening Travel and Lifestyle Offerings

Swiggy has now made its travel and lifestyle concierge service app Crew available to users in three major cities: Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi, following a trial test. It coincides with the online grocery and meal delivery platform's aggressive expansion outside its primary functions of expedited commerce and food delivery. A few months prior, the business had begun pilot testing the new app. At that time, the software was accessible exclusively by invitation, even though it was published on the Apple Store and Google Play Store. Users can now use its services, though, after paying a three-month subscription cost of INR 999.

Key Offerings for the Users

Users can use the app to book restaurants, create trip plans, plan birthday parties, find gifts, update papers like Aadhaar, and book taxis, according to the app's information. Swiggy co-founder Phani Kishan Addepalli described Crew as the company's most daring move to date in its quest to become the "operating system" of contemporary life in a social media post.

According to him, users have been using the app to arrange vacations, look at potential presents, have their timepieces fixed, or even set up kid-friendly transfers when travelling abroad. According to Rohit Kapoor, Swiggy's chief executive officer for food delivery, consumers are using the app more and more to streamline both high-end experiences and daily tasks. Notably, the business had already introduced a comparable programme, Rare Life, aimed at premium users, last year. The service is currently closed, though.

Zepto Giving Tough Run to Blinkit and Instamart

Weeks after concluding a $450 million investment round, the quick commerce platform Zepto has lowered the minimum order amount to INR 99 for free delivery and eliminated the handling fee and surge charge that are assessed to its customers for each order. The company is promoting "zero handling fee", "zero delivery fee (for orders over INR 99)", and "zero rain and surge charge" on its app under the banner of its "All new Zepto experience".

When it came to handling the products in customers' orders at their locations, Zepto used to charge a handling fee. In a similar vein, extra charges—like a rain fee—are used to reward delivery partners. Each order from rival Blinkit incurs a handling cost of INR 11 and a delivery fee of INR 30 for orders under INR 199. For orders under INR 199, Instamart charges a handling fee of INR 9.8 and a delivery fee of INR 30.

This is in addition to other fees and charges that are applied to each order during busy hours, like the surge and rain fees. The Bengaluru-based business has now established itself as the lowest-priced fast commerce platform. Zepto's $450 million round, which included both main and secondary transactions, increased its cash reserves to $900 million, according to an October 16 ET story. Analysts predict that as platforms concentrate on growing and cutting prices, this will heighten competitiveness and the industry's capital burn.