White-Glove by Swiggy? ‘Crew’ Rolls Out the Velvet Rope

Image Source: Inc42

Food ordering giant Swiggy has officially ventured into highend lifestyle and travel concierge with the beta launch of its new app, Crew. It's a strategic shift away from food and quick commerce into India's growing universe of highend consumers.

What Crew Provides

Crew is a personalized concierge mobile service that offers services including international driving permit services, personalized travel planning, and gift search within set budgets.
The app is in beta and is now available to a small group on iOS and Android.
It brings together human concierges and AI to attend to routine and unexpected tasks, in between holiday booking and sourcing unusual products.

Strategic Context

Crew is Swiggy’s second attempt to tap into the premium segment, following last year’s pilot of Rare Life, a subscriptionbased concierge service that never became a standalone app.
This launch forms part of Swiggy's broader bets on diversification, including others such as Pyng (a consumerfacing professional services marketplace) and Assure (a B2B restaurant procurement platform).
The company is adopting a 'house of apps' strategy similar to the world's top technology leaders to get people participating in highmargin verticals.

IPO Watch

With a possible IPO on the horizon, Swiggy seems to be making investments in its nonfood business to win over investors and get new customers.
Crew's invitation rollout suggests a phased release, which can be finetuned before a wider distribution.

Sources: News18, The Hindu BusinessLine, Inc42, NewsBytes, YourStory, The Economic Times.