Boolanga Business Bites

Your Personal Navigator in the Ever-Evolving World of Food Delivery

Week 08/04/2024

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Food-delivery platform Zomato said it has received a service tax demand and penalty order aggregating more than Rs 184 crore. The demand order is related to the non-payment of service tax from October 2014 to June 2017, according to the company (The Economic Times ).

Line Man is gearing up for its 2025 IPO. Line Man Wongnai's decision to go public in Bangkok suggests that it aims to tap into the local investor market and potentially expand its operations with the raised capital. This move could also increase the app's visibility and credibility within the region (Thailand Business News ).

Food delivery platforms compete with free delivery. The competition among Korea’s three largest food delivery platform operators is intensifying as each of them has recently launched free delivery services to increase their share of the market (The Korea Herald ).

Finnish delivery service Wolt set to expand operations to Uzbekistan. Wolt, a renowned delivery service offering food and various goods, is gearing up to commence operations in Uzbekistan (Daryo ).

Internet Abuzz Over Food Delivery Agent Carrying Zomato Bag, Wearing Swiggy Shirt And Zypp Helmet. In the X post, the delivery agent is seen riding his bike with a Zomato bag, wearing a Swiggy shirt and a green Zypp helmet (NDTV ).

Uber Eats and DeliverZero expand reusable packaging pilot. The partners plan to expand the trial to more than 130 restaurants in the greater LA and San Francisco regions (Packaging Gateway ).

DoorDash Dominates Deliveries. DoorDash has a large moat with 65% of the US restaurant delivery market (Seeking Alpha ).

People are getting taxed for gig work they've never done. Some people are getting tax forms suggesting they worked for apps like DoorDash even when they didn't (Business Insider ).

?Q-Commerce

Gopuff Doubles Down on Speed to Drive Paid Memberships. As on-demand delivery platforms compete to drive paid memberships in an effort to win consumers’ loyalty in the crowded space, Gopuff is looking to speedy fulfillment to boost engagement with its highest-value customers (PYMNTS ).

Zepto in Talks for $300 Million Raise at $2.5-3 Billion Valuation. Mumbai-based startup Zepto is reportedly in preliminary discussions to secure a substantial raise of at least $300 million from global investors (B2B Connect ).

India’s Zepto zooms to $1.2B in annualized sales in 29 months, Goldman says. Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto has surpassed the annualised sales milestone of $1 billion within 29 months of its inception, Goldman Sachs wrote in a note Thursday, citing Zepto management (TechCrunch ).

Dunzo eyes profitably for the first in FY25. The convenience platform Dunzo, supported by Reliance Retail, is struggling to get through a difficult liquidity issue (Techstory ).

Ocado investors urged to vote against proposed ￡14.8mn share award. Grocery group has put forward plans to award chief executive Tim Steiner if share price significantly improves by 2027 (Financial Times ).

Revolutionizing the Delivery World: Blinkit’s Instant Grocery Service Amazes Customers! In a groundbreaking turn of events that has sparked intrigue and excitement, Blinkit unveiled its innovative instant grocery delivery service, providing customers with essential items within a strikingly short timeframe, reshaping traditional delivery norms (Zaman ?sterreich ).

?? Grocery Delivery

Florida police officers complete grocery delivery after arresting delivery driver. Titusville police arrested Richard Robertson, 40, for charges out of Texas and Florida (Fox News ).

Amazon's Grocery Stores To Drop Just walk Out Checkout Tech. AMazon's grab-and-go checkout system, Just Walk Out, has been a centerpiece of its ambitions to transform brick-and-mortar supermarkets (The Information ).

Future of shopping: Instacart debuts AI-driven ‘smart carts’ to NYC retailers. Artificial intelligence-powered smart carts are rolling out in Big Apple supermarkets — and they do practically everything except cook the food (NYPOSTS ).

Instacart starts Walmart delivery pilot in some U.S. cities. Instacart app users in some U.S. cities will now be able to shop for their bread, milk and eggs from Walmart Inc, a spokeswoman for the grocery delivery company confirmed on Tuesday (Yahoo! Life ).

???? Delivery Tech

Drones Take on Pharmacy Delivery Amid Health Systems’ Embrace. The intersection of technology and medicine has ushered in a transformative era in healthcare delivery in recent years — one where autonomous drones take to the skies to bridge the gap between patients and medical supplies (PYMNTS ).

Waymo and Uber Eats start human-less food deliveries in Phoenix. You'll need to run outside when your robot delivery arrives (Arc Technika ).

?? eCommerce

Amazon needs to comply with EU ad database. The European Court of Justice has ruled that Amazon must establish a publicly accessible advertising repository (Ecommerce News ).

Loyalty eCommerce aggregator Presto expands into Singapore, Thailand. In a statement today, the company said it has connected over 20 million users in Malaysia via various partnerships that include Bonus Link and Touch ‘N Go eWallet (The Star ).

AI Proves Effective in Stopping eCommerce Returns Fraud. Returns are a cost of doing business for all merchants. If not handled well, they can present a point of friction, disappointing customers so much that they’re discouraged from shopping with that company again (PYMNTS ).

‘Alibaba gaining popularity among European SME buyers’. Alibaba is making targeted efforts to attract European SMEs (Ecommerce News ).

Ecommerce growth slows; Ola Electric raises debt. Ecommerce companies have seen a notable dip in gross sales by value so far this year (The Economic Times ).

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