In a regulatory filing sourced from business intelligence platform, Tofler, Swiggy said that the Covid induced lockdowns, restrictions and multiple emergency impacted the performance of the company in FY21.
“This coupled with a general fear of contracting the virus led to a significant reduction in the demand for food delivery,” the company said in the filing.
However, the Bengaluru-based firm which raised fresh capital at a $10.7 billion last month, added that its business has shown strong recovery throughout the year.
Total orders as of March 2021 on Swiggy grew 20% compared to the March 2020 level. The company credits the improvement to its focus on customer acquisition and retention, supply improvements among others.
In the same fiscal, rival Zomato’s revenue had also fallen by nearly 25% year-on-year to Rs 1,994 crore and losses narrowed to Rs 812 crore in FY21.
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Swiggy said despite the fall in revenue its contribution margin per order improved by 150% year-on-year. This was amid a broader trend in the food delivery industry in 2020 to cut back on discounting to acquire customers, increase in delivery charges as well as average order value. Both the delivery platforms resumed their aggressive discounting practice in July 2021.
Swiggy is increasingly focussed on scaling its quick commerce vertical Instarmart, for which it has earmarked $700 million. During the New Year’s demand rush, Swiggy said orders delivered grew 62%, while gross merchandise value went up 61% against last year.
