Now local businesses can hop on Rapido to deliver products to customers

The bike-taxi unicorn aims to leverage its 15 lakh registered riders present in close to 100 cities to ensure timely and safe delivery methods in times of Covid-19

Bike-taxi unicorn Rapido has started 'Rapido Store', a platform for all business deliveries. It would help offline and online businesses reach out and deliver products to their customers in these challenging times. Rapido Store will help local businesses take care of multiple customer deliveries simultaneously in the most affordable and trusted manner, said the company.

Over 200 small and medium enterprises are already on-board on Rapido Store. The service is currently operational in Bengaluru and Vijayawada and will scale to all cities in which Rapido has a presence. India is home to 30 million SMEs, with many of them at the nascent stage of their digital transformation. Rapido said the sudden and prolonged changes in social and business landscape has caused a significant apprehension within local and smaller businesses.

“Rapido Store will give these businesses and entrepreneurs an opportunity to maintain continuity and also increase sales by reaching out to new customers by leveraging Rapido’s extensive network,” said Rapido co-founder Aravind Sanka. “The service will allow these businesses to overcome manpower and mobility challenges by helping them deliver their orders and save time.”

Rapido, today, has more than 15 lakh registered captains (riders) present in close to 100 cities. The firm said Rapido Store will leverage the already existing fleet of Captains. They have undergone training to ensure timely and safe delivery methods in times of Covid-19. Rapido has also put in place mandatory safety guidelines – use of mask, gloves, and sanitisers – that the captains will follow for each delivery.

Rapido store will help users track all their deliveries across customers simultaneously. The base price of the service starts at Rs 35 for 3km in Bengaluru and Rs 30 for 3km in Vijayawada.

Rapido said SMEs contribute to about 30 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and it is both essential and challenging for them to consider rapid digitalisation to avoid loss of productivity and business.