Amazon’s entry into the Indian food delivery market is reportedly just a few weeks away, and it plans to club the service with its Prime Now package, which is part of the annual/monthly Prime membership. This has been mentioned by sources quoted in the ET Tech report on Thursday.
The US-based retail giant was expected to launch its service in September last year, but due to some unknown reasons it got delayed.
With this entry, Amazon will be fighting head-on with established giants like Swiggy and Zomato but UberEats will no longer be part of this wagon, as the US-based company sold off its food delivery stake to Zomato few weeks back.
The report points out Amazon has already started pilot testing its service in select parts of Bengaluru, and by March, it will be rolling out to other parts of the country.
The food delivery sector in general is debt-ridden for all the players, but that is unlikely to deter a behemoth like Amazon, which is backed by one of the richest person on the planet.
This market has heavily relied on big ticket discounts for its growth and demand from consumers, and Amazon will be expected to chime in with similar benefits, without diluting the business of restaurateurs, something that both Zomato and Swiggy have been repeatedly accused of doing.
Amazon is entering at a time when both its rivals have been expanding their network, business as well as cities where they are servicing. It will be intriguing to see the kind of incentives Amazon offers to the users.
And if the delivery service comes packaged in their existing Prime subscription (Rs 999 for one year), as the report suggests, chances are people might be open to jumping ship after seeing which of these platforms offer them better discount, giving them cheaper food.
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