The Indian foodtech sector is expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~39 percent during the 2021-25 period and is expected to reach Rs 1,868.19 billion by 2025, as per a ResearchAndMarkets report. In addition to factors such as rising internet penetration, increasing ordering frequency, and favourable customer disposition, the growth of the Indian foodtech industry is being driven by many innovative and disruptive startups.
Food delivery app Fidoo has been winning the hearts and appetite of the patrons of Gurugram (Delhi-NCR) with their tech stack and disruptive features.
Founded in 2020 by techpreneur Balram Gupta, Fidoo claims to have delivered over 50,000 orders in a span of one year in Gurugram. By onboarding a wide range of food offerings from health food to regional cuisine, international food chains, cloud kitchens, Fidoo is serving both the end customers and its B2B partners.
What sets Fidoo apart?
Several loopholes like late deliveries and non-transparent behaviour in the existing food delivery system in the city led Balram to identify a space and need to create a friendly and mutually beneficial atmosphere for local eateries and restaurants to partner with food delivery apps.
“Other platforms are charging unbelievably high commissions and account management fees to their partner restaurants. Fidoo, on the other hand, is asking for a zero percent commission and is absorbing the initial cost,” Balram tells YourStory, highlighting that they are focussed on maximising long-term growth as its imperative to maintain a strong network of local restaurants within micro communities to ensure success and customer satisfaction. Balram elaborates that this has helped Fidoo generate enough goodwill with its partners to negotiate periodic offers and rewards for their customer base.
What also sets the brand apart from competition is the transparent and easy pricing strategy wherein the price of an item is the same on the app as it is in a restaurant’s physical outlet. “The fact that we are breaking the cycle of higher costs due to cost of packaging, online operations, etc has enabled us to gain a lot of repeat customers,” adds Balram.
Looking out for delivery partners
Delivery platforms have often faced criticism for advertising unreasonable food delivery timelines and putting undue pressure on their delivery partners to offer instant gratification to customers.
Fidoo, however, believes in faster deliveries in a humane manner. The app has adopted a ‘one-on-one’ approach to orders wherein only a single delivery is carried out at a time by one rider. “This no-order batching enables riders to meet timelines well in a reasonable fashion, especially during the periods of high order volumes. Additionally, it also brings down the rate of error in deliveries significantly,” he adds, saying that the brand vouches for high priority, error free food delivery.
The road ahead
Riding high on the success in the high-pressure Gurugram market, Fidoo is all set to up its delivery game and penetrate into 30 more cities in the upcoming months. “We are a 60+ members team that’s hoping to bring the same level of trust, quality, and convenience to restaurant partners, delivery partners, and end customers in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh,” says Balram, elaborating that month-on-month rise in the number of restaurants registering themselves on Fidoo, combined with good reviews from customers and high stickiness have been key indicators of their success so far.
The bootstrapped startup is in advanced talks with some investors and conversations are likely to be finalised in the coming months. Fidoo is also fine-tuning its product to cater to newer cities.
“We pride ourselves in being the only brand that offers unlimited coupon validity and flat discounts to all our customers because when it comes to rewards, hidden conditions and esoteric language can ruin the customer experience,” says Balram, adding that no rush on using coupons and transparent discounts, coupled with superior deliveries, enables the customer to enjoy a relaxed journey on Fidoo.
“For us, all our customers are premium and to enable them to enjoy good food and experiment with their taste buds is all that matters to us,” concludes Balram.
