Zomato had disabled the opportunity to make orders on its application through the 10-minute service (named Zomato Instant) at the start of this year as the company struggled to find methods to expand the service.

Zomato stops offering its 10-minute delivery option

According to persons familiar with the situation, the food tech platform is transitioning its 10-minute meal delivery service, which was launched in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru last year, to a new product that may be introduced later this month.

“It was an excellent deal for several NCR and Bengaluru districts with substantial office-going or student populations. There were no growth vectors, although… It was not possible to identify a large number of these regions or to increase the menu, stated a knowledgeable individual.

“It may have also been harmed by a public response after the announcement of the service. “It was difficult to convey to clients that 10-minute deliveries would not be made by delivery partners riding quickly, but by covering lesser distances,” they noted.

When the pilot programme began a year ago, the company’s goal was to predict the 20 to 30 most frequently ordered food items in a given area, then have specific restaurants send pre-mixed versions of those orders to Zomato finishing stations, where the food could be heated or cooked and delivered within 10 minutes.

Participating restaurants included Biryani Blues, Dana Choga, Caterspoint, and Chaayos, among others. According to a source, it was evident from the pilot that the most popular goods for the 10-minute service were momos, poha, maggi, and other similar things.

“Instant will not cease operations. Together with our partners, we are developing a new menu and rebranding the firm. “All finishing stations are intact, and nobody is affected by this decision,” said a Zomato representative.

Not for the first time has a food aggregator platform attempted to reduce delivery times. Swiggy partnered with cloud kitchen providers such as Eatongo and Brekkie in 2015 to serve cuisine within 15 minutes. However, the company encountered difficulties with unit economics and supplying hot and fresh meals, and as a result, it chose not to expand the business without all the solutions.

Simultaneously, Ola Cafe, Ola’s food delivery service, experimented with speedy deliveries within a set region. However, the product did not grow, and Ola Cafe closed within a year.

The gross order value of Zomato’s food business increased by 3 percent in the second quarter (September quarter) compared to the first quarter. As its size has increased, the development of its food delivery business has slowed, with quarterly revenues increasing by just 22% from Rs 5410 crore in Q2 of FY2022 to Rs 6,631 crore in Q2 of FY2023.