Flipkart Plans Food Delivery Trial in Bengaluru by June

Flipkart is evaluating an entry into India’s online food delivery market, marking what could be its most direct challenge yet to entrenched category leaders Zomato and Swiggy. According to people familiar with the matter, the Walmart-owned e-commerce major is targeting a pilot in Bengaluru around May–June, with a broader rollout likely by late this year or early next year.

The move comes as Flipkart prepares for a public listing and looks to widen its consumer touchpoints beyond e-commerce and quick commerce.

“Flipkart is evaluating the food delivery market while trying to identify a differentiated positioning in the space,” one of the people said.

The company did not respond to queries.

Standalone Platform or ONDC Route?

Two strategic options are under consideration. Flipkart is weighing whether to build a standalone food delivery platform or launch a buyer-side application on the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

A second person said both routes remain under active discussion and that the company has already begun building a team for the initiative.

This is not Flipkart’s first brush with the category. About two years ago, it had outlined plans to enter food delivery through ONDC, alongside peers such as Ola and Paytm. Those discussions did not progress.

The renewed evaluation suggests that the timing, and perhaps the infrastructure, may now be more aligned.

A $9 Billion Market With Headroom

India’s food delivery market is estimated at around $9 billion in FY25 and is projected to expand to $25 billion by FY30, according to Jefferies. The brokerage notes the category is evolving from an indulgence-led service to an everyday consumption channel, supported by improvements in affordability, delivery speed, and reliability.

Annual transacting users are projected to rise from roughly 100 million in FY25 to more than 150 million by FY30, although order frequency still trails more mature markets.

After several quarters of growth at the lower end of their 18–22% medium-term guidance, both Zomato and Swiggy signalled improved demand in the October–December quarter. Gross order value rose 21.3% year-on-year for Zomato and 20.5% for Swiggy.

Even so, the market has consolidated sharply. A sector that once saw over a dozen players is now largely a two-operator game.

Quick Commerce as a Launchpad?

Flipkart’s food delivery evaluation coincides with aggressive expansion in its quick commerce arm, Minutes. The vertical now operates more than 800 dark stores, with plans to expand further in the coming months.

While the company has not outlined operational details, such infrastructure could provide logistical leverage in dense urban markets where delivery speed and reliability are decisive.

On January 26, ET reported that e-commerce players, including Flipkart, had increased discounting in quick commerce to counter leaders Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy’s Instamart. A food delivery layer could, in theory, deepen utilisation of these micro-warehouses, though the execution model remains unclear.

Food delivery has historically been unforgiving to late entrants. Uber exited India’s market in 2020, selling Uber Eats to Zomato for $350 million in an all-stock deal after reportedly burning around $20 million a month. Ola shut down Ola Cafes and later wound down Foodpanda, which it had acquired for Rs 200.7 crore in 2017. Amazon also attempted entry in 2019.

More recently, urban mobility startup Rapido piloted its Ownly service in Bengaluru and has expanded city-wide, with plans to enter Pune, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR. The platform is positioned around addressing restaurant concerns over commissions and transparency.

Brokerages note that outside India and China, where food delivery has consolidated into two-player structures, most large economies tend to stabilise around three or four operators with one dominant platform.  Whether India’s market can absorb another scaled player remains an open question.

IPO Optics And Growth Signals

Flipkart’s broader business has shown signs of stabilisation. Led by chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the group narrowed losses across most entities in FY25 through cost controls, though revenue growth remained muted. Its core marketplace business reported a 14% increase in revenue to Rs 20,493 crore in FY25.

For a company heading towards the public markets, food delivery represents more than adjacency. It signals an attempt to strengthen daily-use relevance in urban India and deepen ecosystem stickiness at a time when e-commerce growth is recovering but not accelerating sharply.

Flipkart’s potential entry would test whether infrastructure depth, balance sheet strength and timing can reshape a category that has already seen multiple exits. The outcome may hinge less on ambition and more on execution discipline in a market that has little tolerance for prolonged cash burn.