Ola overhauls grocery delivery business; expands service to 20 cities

Multinational ridesharing company Ola has re-branded its grocery delivery arm and expanded its service to 20 cities.

In the next six months, Ola Stores — now called Ola Dash — aims to supply groceries from nine cities at present to 20 cities in the coming six months. The company provides fresh vegetables & fruits, cooking essentials, snacks & beverages, fast food, home care products, etc.

At present, Ola Stores serves Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Lucknow through its ‘Store to Door’ service in 10 minutes and has 200 dark stores. It aims to expand to 500 dark stores and order size to more than 500,000 per day by the end of 2022. Currently, it offers an assortment of more than 2,500 stock keeping units.

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Ola CEO Anshul Khandelwal said, “Ola has been a leader in the on-demand mobility business for more than a decade. Our advanced geolocation tech, coupled with the very low cost of customer acquisition, gives us a unique advantage in bringing the benefits of mobility to all. Our quick commerce service is an essential part of our connect with customers as they rely on technology and online service to fulfill their daily needs. Over the next few months, we will be expanding our reach and presence to more cities and customers.”

Ola Dash does not offer cash on delivery. The service is available on the main Ola app itself.

Bhavish Aggarwal-led company is in competition with Zepto, Reliance-backed Dunzo and Zomato-backed blinkit. Together these companies look to transform the aggressively expanding online retail industry of India.

Grofers and Instamart recently claimed they had crossed the 1 million orders per week mark. Swiggy too aims to invest $700 million in the grocery segment in the next few years. It has 150 dark stores, and would add 100 more in the coming months.

Zepto has so raised over $160 million and sits at a valuation of $570 million.