India’s online delivery platform Swiggy posts wider quarterly loss on higher expenses

Indian online delivery platform Swiggy posted a wider quarterly loss on Thursday, as rising investments in its quick-commerce arm, Instamart, continued to weigh.

Its consolidated net loss widened to 11.97 billion rupees ($136.68 million) for the quarter ended June 30, from a loss of 6.11 billion rupees a year ago.

Swiggy is pouring money into expanding its quick-commerce arm, Instamart, with major investments going to set up stores, strengthening warehousing and logistics, and offering aggressive discounts to attract users.

The decade-old Swiggy, which enjoys a duopoly in the food delivery business with Eternal’s Zomato, continues to spend on its core food delivery business through marketing, platform upgrades, and loyalty programs like Swiggy One, as it fights to maintain its edge in the competitive delivery market.

Instamart, which delivers everything from pulses to purses in minutes, is up against stiff competition from Eternal’s Blinkit, Zepto, Tata-backed BigBasket, and Amazon , all racing to win the quick-commerce game by prioritizing rapid expansion over profits.

Swiggy’s revenue surged 54% to 49.61 billion rupees in the quarter ended June 30. Its consolidated expenses jumped about 60% in the quarter to 62.44 billion rupees, owing to higher spends on advertising.