Rapido partners Big Basket, Big Bazaar & Spencer's for essential deliveries in COVID lockdown

Rapido teams up with Big Basket, Big Bazaar and Spencer's Retail for last-mile essential deliveries across 90 cities during India's lockdown, deploying 70% of its driver fleet and waiving commissions. Talks underway with Grofers, Dunzo and FreshToHome.

— FiledWed, 8 Jul, 2026, 05:37 IST·First seen Wed, 8 Jul, 2026, 05:36 IST·Source Financial Express · BrandWagon

What happened

Rapido partners with Big Basket, Big Bazaar and Spencer's Retail for last-mile essential deliveries across 90 cities during India's COVID-19 lockdown, deploying

Key facts

  • 90 cities
  • 70 percent of fleet
  • 118 lives
  • 4,300 cases

Why this matters

Big Basket, Big Bazaar and Spencer's securing bike-taxi last-mile capacity—with Grofers, Dunzo and FreshToHome in talks—reveals a scramble for flexible delivery fleets that could seed lasting retail-logistics alliances.

What to watch

  • Lockdown extension or relaxation timelines across the 90 cities
  • Announcement of Grofers/Dunzo/FreshToHome partnership confirmations
  • Shift from waived to standard commission structure signaling monetization
  • Driver deployment ratio moving back toward passenger transport
  • Competitor last-mile moves from Swiggy, Zomato, Dunzo, Ola
  • Rapido converts waived-commission pilots into paid last-mile contracts with grocery chains
  • Close pending deals with Grofers, Dunzo and FreshToHome to widen retail coverage
  • Launch a standalone delivery/logistics brand or API to formalize the vertical
  • Introduce driver incentive/earnings floors to prevent churn during zero-commission phase