Flipkart Pilots Eat In Food Delivery in Bengaluru to Challenge Zomato and Swiggy Duopoly — September 18, 2026

Walmart-owned e-commerce leader Flipkart has initiated internal pilot testing of its proprietary food delivery offering, dubbed Eat In, setting the stage for a high-stakes challenge against incumbent giants Zomato and Swiggy. The service is being tested among company employees in Bengaluru ahead of a broader public launch in the city.

The venture marks Flipkart's direct entry into online food delivery, a category it previously stayed clear of while focusing on horizontal retail, fashion via Myntra, travel through Cleartrip, and its recently spun-out quick-commerce arm Flipkart Minutes.

Disrupting Take Rates with ONDC Integration

A central pillar of Flipkart's strategy is taking aim at the take rates charged to restaurants. While Zomato and Swiggy typically levy commissions ranging between 16% and 30% per order, Flipkart is mulling take rates of around 10% to 11% to swiftly onboard eatery partners.

To streamline order fulfillment and routing without building an isolated network entirely from scratch, the company is leveraging the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Initially housed directly inside the flagship Flipkart app to capture traffic from its hundreds of millions of registered users, the company has indicated that Eat In could eventually receive a dedicated standalone application as operational scale warrants.

Convergence Across E-Commerce and Hyperlocal Delivery

Flipkart Group Chief Executive Officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy had previously signaled that food delivery represents a vital consumer touchpoint designed to lift user engagement and repeat order frequencies. The move comes at a time when the boundaries separating traditional e-commerce, 10-minute quick commerce, and prepared food delivery are rapidly vanishing.

The competitive landscape in urban hubs like Bengaluru is witnessing significant upheaval:

• Incumbent Dominance: Swiggy and Zomato continue to process the overwhelming majority of India's daily food delivery volume, underpinned by mature hyper-local delivery fleets and sticky loyalty programs.
• Low-Commission Challengers: Rapido has made inroads in Bengaluru with its zero-commission food delivery product 'Ownly', processing over 50,000 daily orders.
• Value-Tier Experimentation: Incumbents are defending their turf by rolling out affordable meal propositions, such as Swiggy's pocket-friendly format 'Toing'.

Implications for Public Market Investors

For public market investors tracking Indian internet platform businesses, Flipkart's pilot introduces fresh valuation considerations.

After years of fierce cash burn, both Swiggy and Zomato managed to engineer positive unit economics, turning food delivery adjusted EBITDA profitable by extracting higher platform fees, delivery surcharges, and merchant advertising revenues. A well-capitalized competitor entering the fray with double-digit funding capacity could spark a renewed discounting cycle.

If Flipkart successfully rolls out Eat In beyond Bengaluru to major metros including Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, the resulting squeeze on merchant take rates and delivery partner retention could test margins across listed delivery platforms. Investors will closely monitor restaurant participation rates and delivery reliability metrics once Eat In opens to Bengaluru consumers.

Tags: Flipkart Zomato Swiggy ONDC Consumer Tech Indian E-Commerce