Shiprocket aims for a slice of food delivery pie, with a direct-ordering play 

India’s food delivery battle is entering a new phase. Shiprocket, the logistics and e-commerce enablement company, is taking aim at a costly pain point for restaurants: the commissions and promotional spending associated with third-party food delivery platforms. 

Its entry into food commerce comes through Fastrr, a direct-ordering platform being tested with Delhi-NCR restaurant brands Punjabi Angithi and Bikkgane Biryani, operated by Vegorama Group. The proposition is straightforward: help restaurants acquire and retain customers through their own digital channels, while using an outsourced delivery network to get meals to customers’ doorsteps. 

The move brings Shiprocket into a market shaped by Zomato and Swiggy, where convenience has helped aggregators become central to how consumers discover and order food. For restaurants, however, that convenience can come at a price. Commissions, taxes, discounts, and promotional expenses can together consume as much as 40% of an order’s value, according to the figures cited in the company’s announcement. 

The fight for the customer relationship 

Fastrr’s pitch centres on giving restaurants greater control over the customer journey, from placing an order to encouraging the next one. The platform is designed to help brands identify new and returning customers, run targeted advertising campaigns, and use personalised offers and WhatsApp reminders to drive repeat purchases. 

The underlying commercial logic extends beyond the cost of acquiring a single order. Restaurants that build their own customer databases can potentially market directly to existing diners, encourage more frequent purchases, and develop loyalty without relying entirely on an intermediary to reach them. 

“We believe brands should have the ability to build that relationship directly, rather than have it mediated entirely by third-party platforms,” said Gaurav Mangla, CEO of Ads and Checkout at Shiprocket. 

For restaurant operators, this could offer greater visibility into customer behaviour and more opportunities to convert one-time buyers into regulars. The challenge will be persuading customers to order directly when aggregator apps already offer familiar interfaces, broad restaurant selection, and established discovery mechanisms. 

Delivery without the fleet 

Shiprocket is pairing Fastrr’s ordering and marketing capabilities with Shiprocket Quick, its hyperlocal delivery service. Rather than requiring restaurants to build and maintain their own delivery fleets, the service draws on third-party rider networks, including Ola, Porter, Borzo, and Shadowfax Local. 

Advertised delivery rates start at Rs. 10 per kilometre, with live tracking and no surge fees promised under the model. This allows participating restaurants to outsource fulfilment while maintaining their own ordering channels. 

The approach also plays to Shiprocket’s existing logistics capabilities. Instead of building an entirely new delivery operation for food, it can extend its fulfilment infrastructure into another category of commerce. 

A crowded field, and a bigger ambition 

Fastrr plans to expand beyond its initial partners into quick-service restaurants, cloud kitchens, bakeries, and packaged foods. Its roadmap includes loyalty programmes and peak-hour delivery allocation, potentially broadening the platform’s role from order processing to customer engagement and fulfilment. 

Competition will come from restaurant technology providers such as DotPe and uEngage, as well as direct-ordering initiatives such as Rebel Foods’ EatSure and alternatives built around the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). 

Shiprocket’s entry is therefore part of a broader effort to give food businesses more control over their digital sales. The opportunity is clear, but execution will determine whether direct ordering can achieve sufficient customer adoption, delivery reliability, and repeat usage to make the economics work. 

For Shiprocket, food commerce offers a new application for its existing capabilities. For restaurants, the prize is a larger share of the value they create, alongside a more direct relationship with the people who keep coming back for another meal.