Swiggy, which is in the process of making the transition from a food-ordering and delivery company to a digital convenience platform, is set to take its drone-led delivery ambitions to the next level.
The Bengaluru-headquartered company has invited proposals from bidders for drones as a service to help it execute deliveries using these for groceries and essential items in several major cities for six months. While last year it ran test flights with airspace company ANRA Technologies in a controlled environment, the current exercise will see the food-tech company run test flights in real-life scenarios.
Consumers, however, may have to wait a bit more before a drone delivers pizzas and biryanis to their doorstep, as Swiggy will be piloting the service as a strictly business-to-business (B2B) model.
A drone, for instance, can be used to fly goods from one Instamart dark store to another if either one runs out of stock for certain items. Instamart is Swiggy’s quick commerce initiative that depends on a network of warehouses (dark stores) to deliver groceries within an hour.
