Coronavirus, the threat that has taken over the world and put multiple companies out of business, has proven to be a once in a lifetime opportunity for delivery services like Swiggy and Zomato, as they continue to expand their scope to meet with new requirements.
After earlier entering the grocery delivery sector, Swiggy is now all set to tick another checkbox on its list, alcohol. The “food delivery” app has started delivering alcohol in the city of Ranchi in the Indian state of Jharkhand, with other parts of the Jharkhand state expected to follow suite very soon. Jharkhand is among a handful of Indian states who have allowed for liqour delivery at homes, ever since large swathes of populace were seen lining up outside liquor stores, flouting all social distancing norms.
The company said, “The service went live in Ranchi today after obtaining necessary approvals from the Jharkhand government, with other major cities in the state launching within a week.”
The next step on the journey — expanding the functionality to the entire country. Swiggy is in talks with multiple state governments and you will probably be able to receive your booze from a man in an orange t-shirt very soon.
The company is expanding its clientele by incorporating more and more options on the app everyday, and the new “Wine Shop” section will not be any different. However, when it comes to handling something like alcohol, the rules are a little different. Thus, Swiggy will also make it mandatory to verify your age, which can be done by uploading an ID through the app’s camera and clicking a selfie for verification. The authentication will be done by an AI powered system. A limit will also be set on the amount of booze that one can order, which will be set according to the guidelines provided by the state governments.
“All orders will carry a unique OTP which needs to be provided by the customer at the time of delivery. There is also a capping on the order quantity to ensure a customer does not order alcohol above the prescribed limit as per the state law. To avail this service, customers in Ranchi can access the ‘Wine Shops’ category by updating their Swiggy app,” it said.
The news comes just a few days after Swiggy announced that it was firing 1,100 employees due to business uncertainty.
