Business Today interviewed unicorn start-ups such as Zomato and Swiggy in order to better understand the current situation and learn how they are managing it.
On Thursday and Friday, Delhi was hit by torrential rains that caused chaos. The impact of waterlogged roads and traffic jams was so severe that the Indian Meteorological Department had to place the capital on a ‘yellow alert.
Apart from the people who went to work and the children who go to school, one section was affected by the rains: the delivery companies and the individuals who delivered orders.
Zomato, a food delivery startup, stated that weather conditions and infrastructure limitations have had an adverse effect on its services. The spokesperson for Zomato told Business Headers that they are doing their best to service customers at this point and asked everyone to show empathy with ground crew members who have to brave the bad weather and roads to serve them.
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She also said that delivery partners have the right gear, including raincoats, mobile covers and traffic support. They are able to deliver essentials throughout the region. Swiggy was a competitor to Zomato.
The foodtech unicorn stated that it monitors the situation continuously and compensates its delivery partners for the’surge component’ which causes an increase in prices.
BT spoke with Zomato’s delivery partner to discuss the current situation. Due to the rains, he said that all orders will be delayed at least 30 minutes. He stated that he will deliver any order he receives from the company regardless of rain.
Swiggy isn’t the only company to add the surge component. Dunzo, a quick commerce company that relies on the government, adds an additional surge fee for heavy rain.
Vijay Verma (Vice President Supply and Operations at Dunzo) shared an interesting point. According to him, rains cause an increase in orders because people can’t get out. He said that delivery partners are safe and that customers have easy access to essentials.
Dunzo also takes other measures to make sure smoother delivery, such as increasing delivery time from 19 to 60 minutes and temporarily halting services in inaccessible or waterlogged areas.
Zepto, an e-grocery startup, is well-known for its fast delivery times. Vijay Dhanani (Zepto’s Chief Operating Officer) said that rains had severely affected areas around Gurugram as well as a few parts of South Delhi.
Other operations in the NCR are continuing as normal, with a slight rise in traffic which is negatively impacting delivery times.
It seems that Delhi is a large and difficult-to-ignore marketplace for delivery and ecommerce businesses. Fynd, an online retail company, claims that Delhi accounts for 25% of its total orders. The situation over the past 72 hours has led to an increase in orders. It has set up WhatsApp groups to inform delivery partners about the current situation.
Harsh Shah (co-founder of Fynd) says, “We are keeping an eye on the situation and ensuring that delivery is safe and on time.” Shah and all other Fynd co-founders have stated that they wait for the situation in order to improve.
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