Swiggy, Eternal and challengers chase new users with budget food-delivery formats
As food-delivery order frequency softens, Swiggy is expanding Toing and Eternal is adding Bistro kitchens to target lower price points. Rapido, Swish, Flipkart, BigBasket and Zepto are also testing delivery models aimed at bringing first-time and dormant users online.
What happened
Swiggy, Eternal and newer rivals are pursuing low-cost food delivery to acquire new Indian users as order frequency weakens. Swiggy is expanding Toing, Eternal
Key facts
- Net order value per Eternal monthly transacting user: about Rs 3,900 for five quarters
- Swiggy gross order value per user: about Rs 4,900
- Both platforms expanded users by about 18% year-on-year in the June quarter
- Swiggy platform frequency: 3.87 orders, its sixth consecutive quarterly decline
- Toing operates in 50 cities
- Two-thirds of Toing users are new or previously dormant
- Swiggy Platform Innovations adjusted revenue: Rs 69 crore, versus Rs 13 crore a year earlier
- Platform Innovations adjusted EBITDA loss: Rs 131 crore, more than double year-on-year
- Swiggy food-delivery growth guidance: 18-20%
- Bistro adds around 10 kitchens per quarter
- Bistro targets Rs 50-150 food-delivery price points
- Ownly charges a flat Rs 30 delivery fee, currently waived
- Only about one in 10 Indians has ordered food online
Why this matters
Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions that add hyperlocal value supply, cloud-kitchen capacity, merchant technology and low-cost last-mile density in cities where budget delivery is gaining traction.
What to watch
- Expansion pace of Toing and Bistro into new cities, neighborhoods and meal occasions.
- Order-frequency growth versus gross order value growth at Swiggy and Eternal.
- Average order value, delivery-fee realization, contribution margins and marketing spend disclosed in quarterly results.
- Growth in exclusive value-menu partnerships, cloud-kitchen capacity and platform-owned or platform-affiliated kitchens.
- Whether Rapido, Zepto, Flipkart, BigBasket or Swish sustain food-delivery pilots beyond a few dense markets.
- Restaurant commission disputes, menu-price divergence between delivery and dine-in, and evidence of reduced restaurant assortment.
- Changes in delivery times, rider incentives and cancellation rates during lunch and dinner peaks.
- Regulatory scrutiny of platform self-preferencing, dark-kitchen operations, labor practices or predatory discounting.
- Swiggy and Eternal will expand dedicated budget formats city by city, concentrating first on dense student, office and lower-middle-income catchments.
- Platforms will recruit cloud kitchens, local QSRs and restaurant chains into fixed-price meal menus, likely with exclusivity, lower commissions or demand guarantees.
- Delivery apps will use segmented pricing: low-fee budget meals at off-peak times, membership-linked free delivery, and targeted reactivation offers for dormant users.
- Competitors with quick-commerce infrastructure will test ready-to-eat assortments, pickup points and sub-20-minute meal promises rather than broad restaurant marketplaces.
- Restaurants will create platform-specific value menus, smaller portions and bundled meals to preserve visible entry prices while protecting average ticket size.
- Rider supply will become a constraint in peak meal windows, encouraging batch deliveries, tighter delivery radii and cross-utilization of quick-commerce or mobility fleets.