Zomato halts ‘Xtreme’ hyperlocal delivery service due to low demand and relaunches ‘Legends’ intercity food delivery … – Business Today
Zomato has discontinued its ‘Xtreme’ hyperlocal delivery service due to low demand, according to a report by The Economic Times. The service was launched in October last year and was available in most cities where Zomato operates. It used the existing delivery fleet to transport small packages for both small and large merchants, similar to services like Porter.
The report cites a Zomato executive saying that ‘Xtreme’ was an experiment. ‘A lot of restaurants do direct delivery, and they wanted the same quality for their deliveries. That was why we started ‘Xtreme’. But it was always an experiment and could have gone either way,’ said the executive.
Zomato has removed the ‘Xtreme’ app from the Google Play Store, but has not officially commented on the suspension. Zomato’s entry into hyperlocal delivery came at a tough time for competitors. Dunzo, backed by Reliance Retail, was struggling, which led Ola to launch its own service, Ola Parcel, in Bengaluru using electric two-wheelers.
Zomato has also relaunched its ‘Legends’ service, which delivers food from famous restaurants in one city to customers in other cities. The new version now delivers directly from the restaurants and requires a minimum order of Rs 5,000. Customers can place orders from different restaurants in a single order.
The service is currently available in a few cities like Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, with plans to expand soon. ‘Legends’ was first launched in 2022, but later switched to delivering pre-stocked items from other cities for faster delivery. This approach did not meet customer expectations, leading to its suspension in April due to low demand and legal issues.
A New Delhi resident had filed a case against Zomato for promising deliveries from famous restaurants in other cities but delivering pre-stocked items from local warehouses instead. The case is still ongoing.
