Blinkit to close services in areas where 10-minute delivery not possible

Blinkit, the online delivery firm which was previously known as Grofers, has announced that it will only operate in locations where it can deliver in 10 minutes and shut down the services in the other areas.




“While we understand 15 minute or 20 minute service would be better than no service, our systems and infrastructure are built solely with 10 minutes (or less) in mind,” Albinder Dhindsa, founder and chief executive officer, said in a blog.

“We hope to be insanely consistent with our 10 minutes promise and apologise to our affected customers in advance,” Dhindsa said in his post.

The company has estimated that the business decision will impact 75,000 of its 2,00,000 daily customers.

Here’s why we are temporarily closing down areas without 10-minute delivery service. @letsblinkit pic.twitter.com/7LT79vNEJY

— Albinder Dhindsa (@albinder) December 20, 2021

“We are singularly committed to instant delivery — focusing on areas where we are serving within 10 minutes and deprioritizing everything else,” the company statement said.

Blinkit has plans to open a store every four hours and “accelerate the pace even further”.

The company also said that it is a temporary lack of service and all affected customers will be served after four weeks.

Customers can update their exact location on the Blinkit app to find out if they are currently unserviceable.

Earlier December 13, the company rebranded itself as Blinkit to entirely focus on quick commerce space. he name ‘Blinkit’ itself suggests that Grofers will deliver products with the blink of an eye. The rebranding came at a time when the Gurugram-based company is in talks to raise USD 500 million in a fresh round of funding from existing investor Zomato.

Grofers is facing tough competition from foodtech giant Swiggy, which has upped its play in fast-delivery segment through its Instamart offering, and quick grocery delivery startup, Zepto which is ramping up its play in the space.