Swiggy launches Pocket Hero feature to offer extra discounts on food delivery

Food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy has launched a feature called Pocket Hero to offer additional benefits to cost-conscious users.

Currently in pilot mode in Delhi, Pocket Hero will offer extra cashback and discounts of up to 60% on food orders from select restaurants, according to a tab on the Swiggy application. At present, about five restaurants—Pink Box, 34 Chowringhee Lane, Cold Love Ice Cream, The Chai Story, and Chai Chapter—are available under the feature.

“Pockethero aims to make food delivery accessible to a set of users who today may find online food delivery less value for money ... Pockethero delivers the best of discounts from our partner restaurants and gives free delivery on top of it to give our customers a taste of convenience without having to think much about their pockets," said Sidharth Bhakoo, VP, National Business Head at Swiggy, in response to YourStory's query.

"As a company, we keep innovating on behalf of our customers, and this is one other initiative that is being piloted by our teams," he added.

Swiggy introduced several new features in pilot mode this year. In April, it launched the ecommerce service Maxx, which promised to deliver utility goods such as pet care supplies, electronics, and stationery items within an hour. 

In January, Swiggy ventured into the premium grocery segment with an invite-only feature named Handpicked offering next-day delivery. In March, it rebranded its morning grocery delivery service SuprDaily to InsanelyGood, continuing the service in pilot mode in Bengaluru.

Last year, Swiggy began a pilot for Minis, a Shopify-like ecommerce enablement platform for local direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands.

The new features are part of Swiggy’s efforts towards creating a wider shopping ecosystem while maintaining food delivery and grocery service Instamart as its core propositions.

The company is also preparing for a public listing between July and September next year, according to a Reuters report. 

The Bengaluru-based company appointed Anand Kripalu, Managing Director and Global Chief Executive Officer of packaging firm EPL Limited, as an independent director and chairperson of its board, as it gears up for an initial public offering.

In February, Swiggy brought Mallika Srinivasan (Chairman and Managing Director of TAFE), Shailesh Haribhakti (Chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti and Associates), and Sahil Barua (Managing Director and CEO at Delhivery) to its board as independent directors.

Last week, Prosus—one of Swiggy’s earliest and biggest backers—said in its annual report that the startup’s food delivery business grew 17%, delivering a gross merchandise value of $1.43 billion in the first six months of the year. This was led by a rise in transacting users that drove double-digit order growth and inflation in average order value, according to the Netherlands-based investor. 

This came months after the company turned profitable for the first time in March since its launch in 2014, around the time that rival Zomato reported a profitable quarter.