Swiggy halts 'Genie' service in Bengaluru, stops Supr Daily in 5 cities
Food delivery giant Swiggy has been on shaky grounds of late, with two of its services being shut on the same day in several cities.The company cited losses and a dearth of delivery executives.
Lack of enough delivery personnel has resulted in food delivery major Swiggy temporarily shutting down its "Genie" service in three cities, namely Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. This is due to a spike in demand across these metropolitan cities coming for the various services Swiggy offers, like Instamart, the instant grocery delivery service, and ‘Genie’, among others.
The company stated in a release that it has been forced to reassess its priorities and focus its resources on its most profitable services accordingly. In an internal email statement, a Swiggy spokeswoman said that the ‘Genie’ door-to-door delivery service will temporarily be unavailable in three out of the 68 cities it operates in.
The statement added, “The cricketing and festive season has resulted in a surge in demand for servicing the requirements for both the food marketplace and Instamart, requiring us to prioritise these deliveries accordingly.”
Elsewhere, Swiggy also shut down its Supr Daily operations in five cities: Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune, citing that it has yet to be profitable. While the service will no longer be operational in the cities mentioned above, it will remain operational in Bengaluru.
In an email to all Supr Daily employees, the Co-founder of Swiggy and CEO of Supr Daily, Phani Kishan Addepalli, said, "While we are now an inalienable part of our consumer's lives, we unfortunately are yet to demonstrate a clear path to profitability. Today, we find ourselves in a situation where we end up spending a significant amount of time & money in managing the business - distracting ourselves from our primary goals of establishing the business market fit. As we go into the year, it's important that we organize ourselves in a way that best sets us up to hit our goals."
The company continued to assure its Supr Daily employees and customers that a smooth transition will be prioritised and that the firm has set plans in action for the transition and closure plan "to make it less painful for our users as well as brand and vendor partners." Swiggy reportedly also said that it hopes to resume the terminated services in the affected cities soon.
Users of the Swiggy app in Bengaluru continue to post their woes and experiences on Twitter, with one user writing: "Swiggy delivery exec decided to switch off phone and go home instead of delivering the order. When you think you've seen it all, Bengaluru finds ways to amuse you. Still wondering if he took the food or just threw it."
Another user lamented over the termination of the Supr Daily services and said, “Supr daily stopped services in my area, receiving milk on time was the only sorted thing in my life.”
To combat instances where delivery agents are flooded with order after order, Swiggy recently partnered with Chennai-based start-up firm Garuda Aerospace to start deliveries of groceries via drones on a pilot basis in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru.
Netizens went berserk recently when a Swiggy delivery executive in Bengaluru used Dunzo to deliver a coffee order, after which both the companies shared their reactions of amuse.
