New Entrants Challenge India's Food Delivery Market Dominated by Swiggy and Zomato

India's food delivery market, long dominated by Swiggy and Zomato, is facing increased competition from new players. Rapido's Ownly, Swish Go from food delivery startup Swish, and e-commerce giant Flipkart's Eat In are all seeking to disrupt the established market structure.

Ownly is already handling around 50,000 orders daily in Bengaluru and has recently expanded into Hyderabad. Swish Go is broadening its offerings beyond quick food delivery to include restaurant aggregation, while Flipkart is testing its Eat In service in Bengaluru. These new entrants are particularly targeting restaurants dissatisfied with the high commissions charged by Swiggy and Zomato.

Ownly is attracting restaurants by offering zero commission and leveraging Rapido's existing user base and delivery network. Swish Go presents more flexible commission structures. A key challenge will be convincing consumers to regularly order from these new platforms, given the established market players.

The long-term profitability of these new services at scale remains uncertain. Even established players like Swiggy and Zomato have struggled to make certain models, especially for rapid delivery, work at scale. However, Flipkart's extensive user base and financial resources could provide a significant competitive advantage.

Swiggy and Zomato continue to report strong growth in their food delivery operations. Zomato's food delivery revenue reached ₹3,537 crore in Q1, while Swiggy reported ₹2,208 crore. Both companies also maintain extensive restaurant networks, with Zomato averaging 3.28 lakh monthly active restaurant partners and Swiggy over [value missing] active restaurant partners.