Swiggy, the Indian food delivery and quick commerce startup, is making changes to its Swiggy Minis platform. Initially launched as a no-code alternative to Shopify for small businesses, Swiggy Minis allowed merchants to create and manage their online stores without paying any commissions. It also offered a discoverable marketplace on its app for end users to browse and order from these stores.
However, Swiggy is now pivoting Swiggy Minis into a link-in-bio service that will cater not only to small businesses but also to service providers such as nutritionists and fitness trainers. The revamped version of Swiggy Minis will serve as a landing page for sellers, allowing them to direct their target customers from their social media pages. The company plans to integrate with Google Calendar to provide a booking module for service providers.
As part of this revamp, Swiggy is removing the discovery layer on Swiggy Minis. Customers will still have access to their saved stores and past orders, but they will no longer be able to browse for new stores on the platform. Despite this change, Swiggy claims that Swiggy Minis has higher conversion rates than other platforms. Additionally, by focusing on repeat purchases, Swiggy aims to drive more customer loyalty and repeat business for the merchants.
Swiggy is expanding its services beyond physical products to include digital offerings from various service providers. In addition to the Google Calendar integration, the company is also introducing Google Reviews as a rating system for these service providers. This move allows Swiggy to accommodate a wider range of sellers and creators on its platform.
While some sellers relied on Swiggy Minis’ discovery mechanism to reach customers, the company claims that only a small percentage of customers were actually arriving on merchants’ store pages directly through Swiggy Minis. Therefore, sellers who previously used the discovery layer will need to promote their shops elsewhere.
Swiggy’s decision to pivot Swiggy Minis into a link-in-bio service aligns with the growing trend of such services. Link-in-bio platforms like Linktree offer both appointment booking and storefront capabilities, catering to a range of creators and service providers. Similarly, Patreon has been adding tools to support creators in various ways.
In the highly competitive market, Swiggy faces competition from food delivery rival Zomato and Lightspeed-backed unicorn Zepto. However, unlike BlinkIt and Zepto, Swiggy offers a SaaS product specifically designed for small sellers and creators, giving them the ability to set up and manage their online stores with ease.
As Swiggy prepares for its upcoming IPO in India, the company continues to focus on scaling up its quick commerce platform, Instamart. By pivoting Swiggy Minis and expanding its services, Swiggy aims to strengthen its position in the market and provide a comprehensive platform for both physical and digital offerings.