Flipkart, owned by Walmart, is gearing up to jump into India’s online food delivery space in the next few weeks, squaring off with big players like Zomato and Swiggy.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the group’s CEO, confirmed these plans on July 24. Flipkart won’t rush into it nationwide. They’ll start small, test things out, and get feedback before taking the plunge across more cities.
The pilot should kick off in about a month. First, they’ll check if their offering really clicks with customers. They’ll use what they learn to tweak the service, then look to expand.
Krishnamurthy put it simply: “We will launch food delivery in the next few weeks.” He’s clear on the approach—launch, learn, and improve. No plans to force a national rollout right away.
The new food delivery service will show up both as its own app and as a feature inside the main Flipkart shopping app. Krishnamurthy didn’t reveal what they’ll call it or where the pilot will start. Eventually, Flipkart wants a sweeping selection of restaurants, especially once the service is fully woven into their main platform.
News reports say Flipkart will work with the government-backed ONDC network in some way. Details are still fuzzy, though—they haven’t officially said how this will all work.
Earlier chatter suggested Bengaluru as the test city, and that Flipkart was weighing whether to build its own delivery platform or just plug into ONDC as a buyer-side application.
This move is set to shake up a market dominated by Zomato and Swiggy. Krishnamurthy isn’t worried about being late to the party. He believes any company can break in and disrupt things with a strong offer, a solid team, and good execution.
He also stressed that value isn’t just about low prices. People care about choices, quality, reliability, and a smooth ordering process.
Flipkart will only scale this up nationwide once it’s sure it can stand out in these areas.
Right now, India’s online food delivery market is valued around $9 billion and could hit $25 billion by 2030, according to The Economic Times. New challengers and ONDC-backed models are popping up too, so it’s getting crowded.
For Flipkart, this is another step outside its usual shopping turf. They’ve already tried their hand at quick commerce with Flipkart Minutes, and now also offer travel and finance services. Krishnamurthy sees quick commerce as just another piece of their growing e-commerce ecosystem, not a separate play.
At the heart of it, Flipkart wants to be where customers go for everything—shopping, groceries, travel, financial services, and now, food delivery, all through one digital platform.
The food delivery pilot will show if Flipkart can turn these strengths into a real threat to Zomato and Swiggy in one of India’s toughest online markets.
