Sowmya Ramasubramanian ( )
Food delivery firm Swiggy is testing a new ecommerce feature in its app, Maxx which promises to deliver orders within an hour. The pilot is currently being conducted in select areas of Bengaluru.
Users can place orders in several categories including electronics and gadgets, pet care supplies, books and toys, home and kitchen appliances, and stationery items. Swiggy is expected to add new categories including beauty and grooming, health and fitness, and essential clothing soon.
Orders above Rs 99 will qualify for free shipping. Users will get Rs 100 off on first-time orders above Rs 249.
Screenshot of the Maxx feature on the Swiggy app
This move by is a step towards creating a shopping ecosystem, right from food and grocery delivery to ecommerce. Food delivery and Instamart, however, will remain the core businesses.
“Maxx aims to be the destination for a wide variety of home and family shopping needs, delivered in 1 hour. We are currently running a pilot program in Bangalore. Stay tuned for more updates,” a Swiggy spokesperson told YourStory.
The Prosus-backed firm is already testing several different features within the main app. It ventured into the premium grocery segment with an invite-only feature named Handpicked in January, offering next-day delivery. Last year, it began a pilot for Minis, a Shopify-like ecommerce enablement platform for local direct-to-consumer brands.
YourStory reported last month that it rebranded its morning grocery delivery service Supr Daily to InsanelyGood, with a focus on locally sourced and organic food items.
Swiggy is also preparing for a public listing by September this year, according to media reports. Recently, Swiggy’s CTO Dale Vaz stepped down from his role, while Senior Vice President for consumer technology and fintech at the company, Madhusudhan Rao, was elevated as the CTO.
Last month, Co-founder Phani Kishan Addepalli took over as the head of Instamart, after Karthik Gurumurthy announced he would be taking a sabbatical.