Walmart’s Flipkart Prepares to Challenge India's Food Delivery Market

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Flipkart is quietly testing a food delivery service in India, aiming to compete with leaders Zomato and Swiggy through its established e-commerce and logistics infrastructure.

Flipkart, the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant based in Bengaluru, India, is gearing up to enter the country's competitive food delivery market, currently dominated by major players Zomato and Swiggy. The company has expanded its internal testing of the service from a few hundred employees to over 8,000, indicating significant progress toward a public launch. This pilot includes a dedicated fleet of riders under its logistics arm, Ekart, operating separately from those delivering quick-commerce orders.

The food delivery option appears as a distinct tab within Flipkart's main shopping app, alongside its existing quick-commerce and travel offerings. It leverages restaurant listings both from the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and directly signed partners. Delivery riders wearing “Eat-in by Minutes” jerseys have been seen fulfilling orders in Bengaluru, Flipkart’s headquarters.

India’s food delivery market is growing rapidly, with an estimated annual growth rate of 18-20% according to brokerage Bernstein. Despite this growth, online delivery comprises just over 15% of India’s overall food-services industry. Zomato and Swiggy collectively serve between 85 million and 95 million paying customers annually, underscoring their dominant hold and the sizable opportunity for newcomers like Flipkart.

Flipkart’s approach differs from previous entrants such as Amazon and Google, who have withdrawn from the space after unsuccessful attempts. While Zomato and Swiggy initially built their operations around food delivery and later expanded into quick commerce, Flipkart is reversing this strategy by using its established e-commerce and quick-commerce operations as a foundation for launching food delivery. This integrated model, along with operational efficiencies, could translate into lower commissions and costs for restaurants.

Restaurants are reported to be hopeful that Flipkart’s entrance will disrupt the prevailing duopoly. The company has proposed a base commission of approximately 10%, substantially lower than the typical 20-25% charged by existing platforms. Factoring in advertising and promotions, restaurants currently spend up to 50% of the order’s value on fees and discounts. Flipkart aims to keep total commission-related costs closer to 15-16%, potentially improving profitability for restaurants.

Customer adoption remains a challenge, as estimated savings per order may be modest, and incumbents can counter with deeper discounts. Nonetheless, Flipkart plans to launch its food delivery service publicly by the end of October 2026 and expand to five or six cities within the year.

This new initiative comes amid intensifying competition in India’s e-commerce sector, with quick-commerce platforms expanding beyond groceries to electronics and other goods, increasing overlap with Flipkart and Amazon’s offerings. Flipkart’s broader push into food delivery may also support its business growth ahead of a potential, though currently uncertain, stock market debut.

Flipkart did not provide comments on the food delivery project when reached for this report.