Employee-Only Pilot Expanded
Flipkart initially began testing the service with a few hundred employees. The internal trial has since been expanded to over 8,000 staff members, allowing the company to test restaurant listings, ordering flows, delivery operations and customer feedback before a public launch.
The pilot is currently limited to Bengaluru, where delivery personnel wearing “Eat-in by Minutes” branded uniforms have reportedly begun fulfilling trial meal orders.
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Built Inside Flipkart App
The food-delivery feature is said to be integrated directly into Flipkart’s main shopping app. It appears as a separate tab alongside the company’s quick-commerce vertical, Flipkart Minutes, and its travel-booking offering.
To support the planned rollout, Flipkart has reportedly assembled a dedicated fleet of delivery riders through its logistics arm, Ekart. The riders handling food orders are said to be separate from those delivering Minutes orders.
Public Launch Expected By October-End
According to the India Today report, Flipkart has told restaurant partners that it expects to launch the service publicly by the end of October. The company is also reportedly planning to expand the offering to five or six Indian
cities by the end of the year.
However, Flipkart has not officially confirmed the launch timeline, service name or expansion plan.
Challenge For Zomato, Swiggy
If launched at scale, Flipkart’s entry could intensify competition in India’s food-delivery sector. The company’s large user base, existing logistics network and in-app placement could give it an advantage in acquiring customers quickly.
Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy had earlier indicated a limited start for the service, and the company has been gradually building the product and operational model through employee testing.
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For consumers, the service could add another option for restaurant food delivery, potentially triggering more discounts, faster deliveries and stronger competition among platforms. But its success will depend on restaurant partnerships, delivery reliability, pricing and its ability to compete with Zomato and Swiggy’s established networks.
Rapido has also entered the food-delivery space with its own service, Ownly last year, while Uber exited the segment in 2020 after selling Uber Eats’ India operations to Zomato. These moves highlight how competitive and difficult India’s food-delivery market has been, with several players attempting to challenge the dominance of Zomato and Swiggy.