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Decathlon: Affordable Sports for All
The challenge
Swiggy launched in Bangalore in 2014 when food delivery barely existed at scale in India. Restaurants had their own unreliable delivery boys or didn't deliver at all. The unit economics of food delivery were brutal — small order values, high delivery costs, and demanding customers.
The strategy
Unlike aggregators that relied on restaurant delivery fleets, Swiggy built their own delivery network. This 'hyperlocal' model meant they controlled the full experience and could promise 30-45 minute delivery times that restaurants couldn't guarantee alone.
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Try the full case free →Key lessons (preview)
- Owning delivery is more expensive but creates quality control that aggregator models cannot match.
- City-by-city expansion with proven operations playbooks scales faster than national rollout.
- Logistics infrastructure built for food delivery can serve multiple categories — grocery, packages, pharmacy.