ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, parent of ride-hailing company Ola, has rebranded its quick commerce business as Ola Dash and aims to set up 500 so-called dark stores, or warehouses that do not have retail storefronts, in the next six months across 20 Indian cities amid rising competition for quick commerce in the country.
The quick commerce service was launched in 2021 as Ola Store, and is currently available in 9 cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Lucknow. Ola has over 200 dark stores, and over 2,500 stock keeping units (SKUs). The company said it aims to grow the business by more than 500,000 per day by the year-end.
“Our quick commerce service is an essential part of our connection with customers as they rely on technology and online service to fulfill their daily needs. Over the next few months, we will be expanding our reach and presence to more cities and customers,” said Anshul Khandelwal, Chief Marketing Officer, Ola.
To be sure, Ola made forays into the hyperlocal delivery space in June 2015 with the launch of Ola Store, but it shut it down the following year. In October last year, Ola set aside Rs 250 crore for grocery business.
Ola’s brand rejig and expansion plans come at a time when the quick commerce is heating up in India, with many new-age technology companies, aggressively making forays into the space.
Last week, Swiggy, operated by Bundl Technologies Pvt Ltd raised $700 million from global investors, with a focus on investing heavily in its quick commerce and delivery segments--Swiggy Instamart. Swiggy had then said that Instamart will achieve an annualised gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate of $1 billion in the next three quarters.
In December last year, Swiggy said it will be investing $700 million in its express grocery delivery service Instamart.
Swiggy is not alone. Another company in the quick commerce segment, Zepto, operated by Kiranakart Technologies Pvt Ltd, has been raising funds aggressively over the last 12 months. Zepto guarantees 10-minute delivery of groceries in cities, where it currently has presence. The company, is already valued at $570 million and has raised over $160 million in 2021 alone.
Recently, logistics company Shadowfax said that quick commerce deliveries serviced by the platform []grew 500% in January 2022, over same period a year ago.
The hyperlocal delivery segment, too, is picking up pace in the country. Tiger Global Management-backed Grofers, in December rebranded itself as Blinkit with a view to expanding its 10-minute delivery business to 100 cities. The company had then said it will diversify into non-grocery deliveries under the 10-minute umbrella.
In November, Zomato invested in hyperlocal delivery startup Magicpin, operated by Samast Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Many traditional Indian and global conglomerates, too, are aggressively betting on the quick commerce business in India. Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest company in terms of market capitalisation, had invested $200 million in Google-backed Hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo, for a near 26% stake.
Meanwhile, Swiggy said it will be expanding its pick up and drop service--Swiggy Genie, which currently claims to be present in 68 cities. Swiggy’s company’s meat delivery service, and daily grocery service, Supr Daily are present across all major Indian cities, Swiggy said.
