Ola plans aggressive push for Ola Dash in crowded quick-commerce arena

The move comes at a time when several platforms—including Swiggy and Zomato—are eyeing a bigger play in this high-growth sector. Others like Zomato-backed BlinkIt (formerly Grofers), Dunzo and Mumbai-based Zepto are also amping up their offerings in the instant delivery category. Earlier this week, Swiggy
raised $700 million in a funding round led by US asset manager Invesco at a valuation of $10.7 billion. Zepto last week
raised $100 million at a valuation of $570 million. Reliance Industries
recently led a $240-million funding round in Dunzo for a significant minority stake.

Ola Dash currently services nine cities through 200 dark stores, offering more than 2,500 stock-keeping units. It aims to clock more than 500,000 orders per day by the year-end. Dark stores are neighbourhood distribution centres that facilitate quick delivery of products.

“Ola has been a leader in the on-demand mobility business for more than a decade,” said Anshul Khandelwal, chief marketing officer of Ola. “Our advanced geolocation tech, coupled with very low cost of customer acquisition gives us a unique advantage to bring the benefits of mobility to all.”

“Our quick commerce service is an essential part of our connect with customers as they rely on technology and online services to fulfil their daily needs. Over the next few months, we will be expanding our reach and presence to more cities and customers,” he added.

Ola’s quick-commerce focus is part of its endeavour to position itself as a super app ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO). The company recently raised $500 million in debt to strengthen its newer businesses like quick commerce and used car sales platform. It is trying to increase spending by customers who have the Ola app installed on their devices.

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To be sure, this isn’t the first time that the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company is taking a stab at delivery. In 2016, the company shuttered its hyperlocal delivery service, Ola Store. It pulled the curtains on its food delivery vertical Foodpanda in 2019 and moved the business to cloud kitchens only. According to sources, the team that handled the cloud-kitchen business is now working on quick commerce. Former Cafe Coffee Day executive Vinay Bhopatkar heads the foods, grocery and hyperlocal business at Ola.