Zomato’s recent acquisition of Blinkit

Zomato, the popular restaurant review, search and delivery website, recently acquired the grocery delivery business Blinkit for $568 million in a major move towards offering instant grocery delivery services. The acquisition gives Zomato access to Blinkit’s 4 million customer base and their large-sized warehouse facility located in Gurgaon. This recent move will help Zomato expand its offerings to a wide range of customers and help them compete better with companies such as Amazon and Flipkart, which have been making big moves in the online grocery market.

Zomato is known for being an expertly curated restaurant discovery apps. Still, this acquisition shows that they are confident enough in their platform to take it into an entirely new segment that is full of competition. With the addition of Blinkit’s capabilities, Zomato will be able to offer customers the convenience of ordering groceries online and having them delivered within minutes. Moreover, this move will get them closer towards creating a one-stop solution for all food-related needs.

Zomato acquires Blinkit for $568 million in instant-grocery delivery push

Blinkit is a Singapore-based hyperlocal grocery delivery service. Founded in 2018, the company has grown to cover 14 cities across Southeast Asia and has become known for its reliable delivery, variety of products and aggressive pricing.

The company recently announced its acquisition by Zomato, a food delivery and restaurant search platform, for $568 million in a push for instant grocery delivery. But, first, let’s look at the background of Blinkit and how this latest development will transform the food delivery space.

Overview of Blinkit

Blinkit is an India-based online grocery delivery business acquired in May 2021 by the restaurant aggregator Zomato for $568 million. This acquisition is part of the company’s push into the grocery delivery market and allows customers to place instant orders and receive groceries within 15 minutes.

Founded in 2020, Blinkit began offering customizable grocery boxes delivered from local stores. In a short period, it quickly became one of India’s most sought-after food delivery apps, and expanded to offer single items and meals for online ordering. Users can also access organic food products, fruits, vegetables and more at exciting offers and discounts.

Beyond providing great convenience for customers, Blinkit values community involvement in creating job opportunities for the youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them earn a livelihood by getting trained on demand grocery skill sets while also helping improve product quality standards through diligent scouting & curation process.

The leading-edge technology used by Blinkit allows customers to easily track their orders — right from when it leaves warehousing till it reaches their doorstep — ensuring timely deliveries with accurate order fulfilment & complete transparency throughout the process. In addition, with easy payment options including UPI VPA Ids and wallets, there’s never been simpler or easier way to shop groceries!

Services offered by Blinkit

Blinkit is an online grocery delivery service based out of Singapore, which has developed an innovative platform to provide its customers an easy, quick and reliable grocery shopping experience. Through its mobile-focused platform, Blinkit enables customers to shop from a variety of local grocers as well as international specialty stores. In addition, customers can choose from an extensive range of personal and household groceries, adding them to their virtual basket before completing their purchase.

Blinkit offers several services for its customers including same-day delivery in select locations, free home delivery on orders over a certain value, subscription packages for those looking for regular household grocery items delivered weekly or monthly depending on the customer’s preferences. Blinkit also provides loyalty schemes that include discounted rates and special offers & promotions.

With Blinkit’s customisable picking options, customers can pick up selected items in store or have them delivered to their address – curbside pickup is available for some locations.

Zomato’s Acquisition of Blinkit

Zomato, an Indian restaurant aggregator, recently acquired Blinkit, an online grocery delivery company, for $568 million to expand its instant-grocery delivery capabilities.

The acquisition aims to create an integrated offering combining restaurant and grocery deliveries.

Let us see what this acquisition has in store for both companies and how it could potentially change the landscape of online food delivery services.

Reasons behind Zomato’s acquisition of Blinkit

On 2nd June, 2020, Zomato announced the acquisition of Indian tech startup Blinkit. This new development is part of Zomato’s push towards instant-grocery delivery in the country. For the uninitiated, Blinkit is an AI-driven logistics and intelligent automation startup in India.

This move comes from the growing demand for instant grocery delivery in India due to coronavirus pandemic. The total transaction size was reported to be around $568 million and this could be a game changer for Zomato and Asian online grocery space.

Through this acquisition, Zomato will access Blinkit’s cutting edge AI algorithms, which will help it optimise its inventory replenishment model and expand its reach into rural areas faster with its market entry acceleration product ‘Smart Gurukul’ & their Artificial Intelligence-powered ‘Flux’ middleware platform. This combination would help expedite decision-making related to purchasing items & inventory planning while also improving customer experience by providing instant delivery services.

Blinkit has also developed a ‘Hub App’ that helps delivery personnel manage orders using modern technology such as machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). With so many products under its belt, Zomato is gearing up for an intense battle with Amazon India and Big Basket in upcoming months.

Terms and conditions of the acquisition

On October 10th, 2020, Indian online food delivery company Zomato announced its acquisition of blinkit for $568 million. The move signals Zomato’s expansion into the instant-grocery delivery business and further strengthens the company’s already formidable presence in the country.

The acquisition consists of two stages: a cash payment of $404 million and then a set of long-term earnouts amounting to $164 million that will be honoured between 2021 and 2024. These payouts are conditional on the acquisition meeting certain performance targets related to revenue, save rate, gross merchandise value and customer engagement metrics. Moreover, blinkit will remain an independently operated business under Zomato’s ownership.

The integration is expected over the next 12 to 18 months as both companies plan their strategies to integrate their operations while offering consumers a seamless experience on both platforms. This includes a unified customer base with access to Zomato’s wide range of restaurants and Blinkit’s vast grocery offering. Furthermore, Zomato will utilise technology from Blinkit in its existing grocery deliveries business across multiple cities throughout India.

It remains to be seen how this move will affect other players in the market and what competitive advantages it may give its owner going forward in this rapidly expanding sector. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that this transaction indicates an exciting new venture for both companies: one that may shape India’s food delivery industry for years to come.

Impact of the Acquisition

Zomato sparked a revolution in India’s digital food delivery market by acquiring Blinkit, a start-up focused on the instant-grocery delivery space. The $568 million deal is the biggest financial acquisition that Zomato has ever made. This acquisition is expected to have far-reaching implications for Zomato and the Indian food delivery market.

Let’s take a closer look at what these effects could be.

Benefits to Zomato

Zomato recently acquired Blinkit, a start-up that operates an instant-grocery delivery service to strengthen its foothold in the food delivery industry. The estimated value of the deal is said to be $568 million.

The acquisition of Blinkit brings several benefits to Zomato. Firstly, it allows for wider reach for Zomato’s new groceries delivery service Access, as access to Blinkit’s tech platform will provide Zomato with needed infrastructure and geographical presence for effective expansion. In addition, by leveraging the existing network of small and large vendors on its platform, Access can guarantee faster deliveries at more competitive prices.

Furthermore, Zomato’s active user base will gain access to “in-app grocery shopping solutions” apart from regular food orders through single tap ordering through the new partnership with Blinkit. This could offer improved convenience features like timely updates or automated product recommendations based on past purchases.

Another potential benefit relates to cost savings where sharing certain backend processes such as order tracking and payment processing between two services could result in operational efficiency and cost reductions over time when compared with having two separate systems that operate independently in silos without any capital or labour optimization opportunities.

Impact on the Instant-Grocery Delivery Market

Zomato’s recent acquisition of Blinkit, an automated grocery delivery service, for US$568 million is a significant move that has ramifications for the entire instant-grocery delivery market. This acquisition makes Zomato one of the largest players in this field and their influence will be felt across all aspects of the business.

With this move, Zomato has given itself access to Blinkit’s existing customer base as well as their technology and resources which could further increase their share in the market. Additionally, Zomato now provides a food delivery service through its platform and gives customers access to a wide range of items needed for grocery shopping including household items, beauty products and more from local stores.

The success of this transaction will depend on how effectively Zomato can integrate Blinkit’s services into its online platform while maintaining customer convenience and satisfaction. Their decisions could also have wide-reaching implications on how other players in the industry operate. With its extensive growth in recent years, this deal marks an interesting development in the instant-grocery delivery market; one which will no doubt continue to shape its future growth trajectory.