Flipkart gears up for Bengaluru food delivery launch on August 15

MUMBAI: Looks like Flipkart is ready to deliver more than parcels the next order could be your lunch. The Walmart-owned e-commerce giant is preparing to make its long-awaited entry into India’s fiercely contested food delivery market, with a Bengaluru launch expected as early as August 15.

Flipkart has already begun onboarding eateries across the city ahead of the rollout. The company is offering a commission of around 10 per cent, significantly lower than the 16 per cent to 30 per cent typically charged by established food delivery platforms, a move that could make it an attractive alternative for restaurant partners.

The Bengaluru pilot will mark Flipkart’s formal entry into a market long dominated by Zomato and Swiggy, while also adding fresh competitive pressure following Rapido’s recent push into food delivery through its Ownly platform.

Rather than building a traditional closed marketplace, Flipkart is placing its bet on the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The company has previously said it would begin with a limited pilot before expanding the service to more cities based on user feedback.

The initiative is being led by Ashish Vijayvergiya, former chief of staff to Flipkart Group chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy, according to the report. Restaurant owners said merchant onboarding and operational preparations are already under way, with Bengaluru set to serve as the testing ground before a wider national rollout.

Last month, Krishnamurthy confirmed that Flipkart would enter food delivery through a phased launch over the coming weeks. He said the company would first test the service with a select group of users, refine the offering based on customer feedback and then scale it further, mirroring the rollout strategy used for Flipkart Minutes.

Krishnamurthy also described food delivery as another important consumer touchpoint within the broader Flipkart ecosystem, adding that the company would only enter the category if it could bring a differentiated value proposition rather than simply replicating existing services.

The food delivery service is expected to be available through both the main Flipkart app and a dedicated standalone application, giving the company multiple customer entry points.

Flipkart’s arrival also lands at a time when commission structures have become one of the industry’s biggest battlegrounds. While Swiggy has questioned whether ultra-low commission models are commercially sustainable given delivery and operational costs, Rapido has argued that restaurants need significantly lower take rates to improve profitability.

If Flipkart succeeds in pairing lower commissions with ONDC’s open-network model, the country’s food delivery wars could be about to get a fresh and fiercely competitive new player.