Flipkart widens 'Eat-in by Minutes' food delivery pilot, eyes October launch

Flipkart has expanded the internal pilot of its food delivery service, called "Eat-in by Minutes", to more than 8,000 employees in Bengaluru, according to reports published on October 19 and 20, 2026. The e-commerce company is reported to be aiming for a public launch by the end of October 2026, though Flipkart has not formally confirmed the timeline or its pricing for restaurants. The service sits as a tab inside the main Flipkart shopping app.

India's food delivery market has for years been dominated by two companies, Zomato (now part of Eternal) and Swiggy. Restaurants often complain about the commissions these platforms charge on each order, which restaurant owners and industry reports have put at roughly 25 to 35 per cent. A large new entrant offering a much lower commission could give restaurants more choice and more bargaining power.

Flipkart brings three strengths that a start-up would not have. It already has a very large base of shoppers using its app, so it does not need to spend heavily to find customers. It owns a delivery network through Ekart. And it is backed by Walmart, which gives it the money to sustain early losses. Its use of ONDC is also notable: ONDC is a public network that lets sellers and buyers on different apps find each other, and Flipkart can use it to list many restaurants quickly without signing each one up itself.

The move is part of a wider race among large platforms to become "super apps" that handle shopping, groceries, payments and food in one place. Quick-commerce companies already deliver groceries in minutes; adding cooked food lets Flipkart keep users in its app for more of their daily spending.

There are clear challenges. Food delivery is a hard business with thin margins, high rider costs and fierce competition on discounts. Lower commissions may attract restaurants, but customers will judge the service on choice, speed and reliability.

For Indian start-ups and investors, the important signal is about market entry: when a deep-pocketed platform enters a category, smaller players in that space often need to specialise, for example in a city, cuisine or price segment, rather than compete head on.

Short-term: If the launch goes ahead as reported, Flipkart users in Bengaluru could see the food delivery tab open to the public within days. Restaurants may be offered lower commissions to join.

Long-term: A third large player could change how commissions and discounts work in food delivery, and test whether ONDC can support a large consumer service. Expansion to five or six cities by the end of 2026 would show how serious Flipkart is about the category.

Who is affected: Restaurants and cloud kitchens, especially small ones; delivery riders; Zomato and Swiggy; ONDC and the sellers on it; and customers in Bengaluru and the cities that follow.

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