Swiggy plans bigger grocery play via community buying

MUMBAI: Online food delivery major

Swiggy

is experimenting with a new social commerce vertical for community group buying of groceries.


The trend, that has recently gained popularity in China due to the pandemic, reduces the cost for the end-consumer as items are bought in bulk and unpacked by the group leader for members in the community, who follow him on a messaging platform, such as WhatsApp.

While the model helps ecommerce players save on logistics costs, it also allows consumer brands to reach smaller cities and towns.

Swiggy has been actively hiring to build the vertical, showed its job postings on various online hiring platforms.

“Swiggy

Bazaar

is our latest foray in the trillion-dollar grocery market and will be a community group buying destination. Over the last year in lockdown, consumers have discovered new ways to access better foods and some of these behaviours have proved to be resilient — creating tailwinds that Bazaar will aim to ride,” the SoftBank-backed startup wrote on a hiring platform for the role of a manager.

While a Swiggy spokesperson did not reply to queries from TOI, a senior industry executive familiar with the development said, “The company is currently experimenting with the model and whether it materialises or not will depend on several factors.”