Zepto's same-day slotted delivery pilot in select Delhi and Bengaluru areas resurfaces from December

Zepto tested a feature that let users choose a later same-day delivery window in select locations, with cancellation allowed up to 30 minutes before the slot, in a pilot first reported in early December. The pilot expands its offer beyond instant delivery and adds scheduling flexibility for planned purchases.

— Source publishedThu, 4 Dec, 2025, 13:44 IST·First seen Sun, 27 Sept, 2026, 19:45 IST·Source Business Standard (via Wayback)

What happened

Zepto is piloting same-day slotted delivery in select Delhi and Bengaluru locations, letting users choose a later delivery window and cancel up to 30 minutes

Key facts

  • BigBasket offers one-hour slots up to six days in advance
  • Zepto allows cancellation up to 30 minutes before the selected slot
  • Swiggy Food on Train is available at 122 railway stations

Why this matters

Zepto’s shift toward scheduled fulfilment makes it a more direct competitor to grocery, marketplace, and logistics players, increasing the strategic value of partnerships or capabilities in demand forecasting, routing, and slot management.

What to watch

  • Pilot expansion beyond select Delhi and Bengaluru areas, especially into Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and NCR clusters.
  • Evidence of higher average order value, item count, and share of bulky or planned-purchase categories for slotted orders.
  • Slot pricing or incentives that indicate Zepto is actively steering demand from instant delivery to scheduled fulfillment.
  • Changes in promised delivery windows, cancellation rules, minimum order values, or capacity caps.
  • Responses from Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart, including matching same-day slots, scheduled-basket promotions, or membership perks.
  • Signs that Zepto separates fulfillment capacity for scheduled orders or adds larger-basket assortment and warehouse capabilities.
  • Expand the pilot to additional high-density micro-markets after validating on-time delivery, cancellation, and picker-capacity metrics.
  • Offer lower delivery fees, free-delivery thresholds, or targeted coupons for scheduled slots to shift demand away from peak instant-delivery periods.
  • Merchandise planned-basket categories such as staples, bulk beverages, baby care, pet care, and weekly household replenishment within the slot flow.
  • Use scheduled demand forecasts to pre-position inventory, labor, and delivery capacity by neighborhood and time window.
  • Introduce recurring scheduled orders, basket reminders, and subscription-linked slot benefits if repeat use is strong.

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