Ola zooms into quick grocery delivery service with Ola Store

Grocery emergencies are rarely life or death ones, but they can certainly feel like it sometimes. The latest player to offer the delivery of groceries and essentials in 10-15 minutes is leading ride-hailing app and mobility brand Ola. Nearly five years after it left the quick grocery delivery segment, Ola has re-entered it with Ola Store.

Ola Store can be accessed from the Ola app itself. Tapping on the icon leads a user to the section where they can select groceries at discounted rates and have it delivered within 10-15 minutes.

In July 2015, Ola attempted to make inroads in the grocery segment by opening a standalone online grocery store in Bengaluru, quick on the heels of a food delivery app (Ola Foods) in March of the same year. The intention was to use its cabs and drivers to also deliver groceries, between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Less than nine months later, it shut both Ola Store and Ola Foods without going into the details as to why. Last year (2020), when the COVID pandemic was at its peak, brands like Zomato and Domino's Pizza also offered essential grocery delivery service.

Ola's competitors in this space include newly founded Zepto which, according to a Firstpost report, has been receiving 10,000 orders on a daily basis, besides Swiggy's Instamart and Grofers. While Instamart delivers 1.5-1.6 lakh orders on a daily basis, Grofers founder Albinder Dhindsa recently told Moneycontrol that it was delivering 1.25 lakh orders per day.

(Hero image by nrd on Unsplash)

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