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Zomato Pilots Last-Mile Deliveries For Office Goers

Inc42Inc42 · 1y ago
Zomato Pilots Last-Mile Deliveries For Office Goers
Medial

Foodtech major Zomato is piloting a new initiative to offer last-mile delivery to office goers inside corporate parks. The company has set up kiosks in several corporate parks in Gurugram, where delivery executives hand over food parcels to a stationed team. A "walker" is then responsible for delivering the items to the customers on their respective floors or exact locations. Zomato is experimenting with this service and plans to scale it across the top five cities based on the pilot's outcome. The company aims to emulate a similar model seen in China, where delivery teams are stationed at zones with corporations and startups. Zomato has been exploring various offerings to boost its revenue, including a platform fee and partnerships for pre-ordered meal deliveries. The company recently reported a profitable quarter and its shares closed higher on the BSE.

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Exclusive: Zomato pilots new service for last-mile deliveries across corporate parks

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Zomato pilots new service for last-mile deliveries across corporate parks
Medial

Zomato appears to be trialing a new service wherein the company is ensuring last mile delivery for office goers through a stationed team. The service seems to be an attempt to streamline deliveries inside tech and corporate parks to ensure timely deliveries and save rider’s time. It also reduces the hassle for an employee in collecting the food as many offices do not allow delivery partners beyond the reception area. As spotted in Gurugram, Zomato has set up a micro hub at an office premise where the delivery partners can deliver the food. Then, a “walker” picks up the food parcel and hands it over to a customer on their respective floor or exact location. It’s likely Zomato has made some arrangements with such corporate parks to whitelist these last-mile delivery partners. Moreover, Zomato is promising “no calls from delivery partners”, and dedicated “walkers” for each floor. Entrackr has reached out to Zomato for a comment on the same. According to sources, Zomato is piloting the service at around five-six places in Gurugram, including Unitech Cyber Park. “It’s an experiment at the moment and the company would scale this service across top five cities depending on the outcome of the pilot,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. Another source disclosed that one of the hubs where this service is being trialed receives roughly 100 to 150 orders a day, and is likely to increase in the near future. Setting up kiosks at busy locations such as corporate parks is new for online food ordering platforms, but such a concept is widely popular in China where companies like Meituan have been leveraging stationed teams for efficient deliveries across areas which houses large corporations and startups. While time would decide the relevance of such a concept, logistics companies such as QuikPod tried to create a network of lockers across corporate and residential societies to streamline e-commerce deliveries. QuikPod also raised $9 million from Flipkart and Accel Partners but it didn’t manage any scale and currently appears to be in stealth mode.

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