Albinder Dhindsa, the founder of online grocery delivery platform Grofers, which has Zomato as a strategic investor, has slammed critics who have questioned the company’s promise to deliver orders in 10 minutes, claiming that it has neither put its riders in danger nor incentivised them to deliver orders quickly.
Many on social media questioned the battle for speedy commerce among businesses like Grofers, Instamart, and Dunzo, asking if people truly wanted food delivered in 10-15 minutes, when doing so could put delivery partners’ safety at danger.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Dhindsa said he wanted to ‘chime in about the hate we are getting for delivering groceries in 10 minutes.’
Grofers’ partner stores are within 2 kilometers of its consumers, he said, adding the company already has 60+ locations in Delhi and 30+ stores in Gurugram. He went on to say that because its outlets are so close together, it can deliver 90 percent of orders in 15 minutes, even if its riders are traveling at less than 10 miles per hour.
“Our in store planning and tech is now so good that we pack most orders under 2.5 minutes. Our riders are not (dis) incentivised to deliver orders fast. We’ve had zero reported rider accidents in the last two months since we launched 10 minute grocery delivery,” he said.
“Also it breaks my heart that instead of celebrating innovations coming from India, some of us stay cynical. We need more people who dare and less of those who pull them down,” he signed off.
In Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ghaziabad, Noida, and Lucknow, Grofers offers clients 7,000 everyday needs.
It just obtained $100 million from Zomato, an online food delivery service, and became a unicorn with a valuation of slightly more than a billion dollars.
Grofers claimed to have done 7,000 15-minute deliveries in a single day last month.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the uptake of online grocery by customers who demand lightning-fast delivery. Furthermore, the organizations have grown in recent years, establishing stronger supply chains and wiser hub locations. They’re putting a lot of emphasis on deep tech to better understand consumer preferences.
