Swiggy Considers Branching Into India’s Social Commerce Space

Swiggy, India’s largest food delivery platform, is considering a move into the country’s social commerce space, Entrackr reported.

As part of the move, Swiggy is going to launch the social commerce business Swiggy Bazaar to sell grocery items, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and fresh farm produce. The company is also likely to bring a “group-buying element and leverage the reseller model in Swiggy Bazaar,” according to the report, which cited unnamed sources.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Swiggy had an estimated valuation of $5.6 billion at its last funding round in July. The company is anticipated to become the first private company to earn decacorn status — valued in excess of $10 billion — by the end of 2021.

Read more: India’s Swiggy in Talks to Raise $800M From Investors

The company is planning to grow its Swiggy Bazaar workforce to about double its current 10 to 15 people, the report stated.

It’s estimated that Swiggy will make an initial $10 million to $15 million investment into its social media venture and pilot the program in central markets, such as Bengaluru and Gurugram, according to the report.

In August, Swiggy was reportedly moving more into the grocery and goods delivery space, transitioning away from restaurants. Its goal is to compete with Zomato, a rival.

See more: Swiggy Pivots to More Grocery Delivery Services

Co-Founder Sriharsha Majety said at the time that nonrestaurant food deliveries made up around 25% of the company’s revenues. In the next few years, Swiggy plans to get that number up to 50%.

“Some of the businesses are in a really exciting place where they can go from here to the next level,” Majety said. “Some of them will be larger than the [restaurant] food-delivery business in the next four or five years. I want to come back in a few years and talk about the story of a business being larger than food.”