Amazon to enter food delivery business in Bengaluru

E-commerce giant Amazon is planning to step-in the food delivery business. The plan is learned to be a part of its comprehensive product portfolio -- from grocery and food to electronics and home products to its customers of Amazon Prime.

At present, the food delivery platform of Amazon is owning the employees and is experimented in cities like HSR, Bellandur, Haralur, Marathahalli and Whitefield, according to the executives of the restaurants. They also confirmed that the Prione Business Services, a joint venture between Catamaran Ventures and Amazon has been signing contracts with the restaurants to list on Amazon offering 10-15 per cent commissions. It is learned that the commissions offered are about half what Swiggy and Zomato charge its restaurants.

According to the sources, the launch of the food delivery business is scheduled in March for the Prime Now subscribers. The e-commerce giant is planning to offer specialized cuisines including Korean and Japanese to its customers by colluding with exclusive brands.

However, the retailer should have to make investments in logistics, the restaurant ecosystem and technology and marketing to scale its food delivery business, experts and investors in the space said, in order to take a fight with Swiggy and Zomato.

Earlier, UberEats, the ride-hailing firm which ventured into the food delivery business has backed out of the business and sold to Zomato in return for a 10 per cent stake.