Food Delivery Platforms Rival Over Low-Cost Strategies to Win New Users The competitive landscape of India’s food delivery sector is intensifying as major players like Swiggy, Eternal, and Rapido pivot toward low-cost models to attract new customers. With existing users spending less and quick commerce reshaping consumer habits, these platforms are experimenting with divergent strategies to sustain growth, even as they publicly challenge each other’s economic viability. The debate has intensified recently, with Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal and Swiggy CEO Rohit Kapoor directly critiquing rival approaches. In Eternal’s shareholder letter, Goyal argued that Bistro, Eternal’s self-cooked delivery service, represents a solution to the challenges faced by platforms like Toing and Ownly. He warned that reliance on low prices alone lacks structural economics and risks collapsing without sustainable models. Kapoor, meanwhile, questioned the vertically integrated micro-kitchen approach that Bistro employs, calling it more expensive to build and economically uncertain. He noted that Swiggy itself had previously tested a similar model through Snacc before discontinuing it in the March quarter. The shift reflects a broader trend in the market: growth is now driven by expanding user bases rather than extracting more spending from existing customers. Eternal’s net order value per monthly transacting user has remained around Rs 3,900 for five quarters, while Swiggy’s gross order value per user has hovered near Rs 4,900. Both companies reported an 18% year-on-year user growth in the June quarter, but Swiggy’s platform frequency dropped to 3.87 orders, marking a sixth consecutive quarterly decline. Restaurant partnerships also fell for the first time, attributed to outlets closing during the LPG shortage.#eternal #swiggy #deepinder_goyal #rohit_kapoor #bistro
