Swiggy Instamart expands to 100 cities as demand grows in Tier II and III markets
The move comes as Swiggy Instamart looks to capitalise on the cricket and festive season by expanding its dark store network.
Swiggy Instamart has expanded its offerings to 100 cities as the quick commerce platform sees rising demand from Tier II and III markets.
Over the last month, the company has expanded to cities including Raipur, Siliguri, Jodhpur, and Thanjavur. According to Amitesh Jha, CEO of Swiggy Instamart, the platform sees one in four new users coming from Tier II and III markets.
"Over the past year, millions of Indians have turned to Swiggy Instamart for everything from groceries and essentials to festive and everyday needs. We have noted that there is significant traction for convenience-led retail much beyond Indian metros, as both consumer behaviour and the value proposition of quick-commerce evolve in tandem. Our expansion to 100 cities strengthens our reach and allows us to better serve growing consumer needs in underserved geographies,” Jha said in a statement.
Additionally, as demand picks up amidst cricket and festive seasons, the quick commerce arm of the foodech giant is also looking to expand its dark store network by launching megapods.
According to the company, megapods are dark stores that can range between 10,000 to 12,000 square feet in size and can house up to 50,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs). This can give customers almost three times the range of products available from a normal dark store.
Megapods will allow the platform to open up non-grocery categories and expand its grocery offerings. It will include a mix of products from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), direct-to-consumer brands as well as local brands.
Some interesting trends the platform has observed from Tier II and III markets include Raipur being the first city to hit 300 orders on launch day and Thiruvananthapuram outpacing Mumbai when it came to ordering hot and sweet-flavoured potato chips.
Launched in 2020, Swiggy competes with Zomato-owned Blinkit and IPO-bound Zepto. The quick commerce segment in India saw intense growth in 2024 forcing ecommerce players like Amazon and Flipkart to churn out quick commerce options to cash in on the gold rush.
Edited by Kanishk Singh