Apollo 24|7's 19-Mins Delivery Drives Nearly 30% of Daily Online Orders

By the end of the year, Apollo expects its daily online order volume to reach 60,000, with 28-30% of those being from the 19-minute delivery option.

Apollo 24| 7's 19-minute delivery service has become a key player in its online business, contributing nearly 30% of daily orders.

Launched in Delhi and Noida in November 2023, this service has expanded to six major cities, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. Plans are in place to grow this service to 20 cities by the end of 2025.

By the end of the year, Apollo expects its daily online order volume to reach 60,000, with 28-30% of those being from the 19-minute delivery option.

According to the report from Financial Express, Apollo 24|7 currently processes around 45,000 orders daily, with approximately 28-30% fulfilled through the rapid delivery service.

Madhivanan Balakrishnan, CEO of Apollo Healthco and chief digital & technology officer at Apollo Group, noted that around 90% of online orders are delivered on the same day; however, orders from smaller cities typically utilize courier services.

A combination of large-format and dark stores supports the rapid delivery service, with Apollo operating 12-14 large stores and 10-12 dark stores. This setup enables deliveries within 19 minutes using an in-house team while logistics partners like Shadowfax manage additional orders.

In response to increasing competition in the quick commerce sector, Apollo is leveraging its wide product range and a prescription validation model to differentiate itself. Apollo's retail outlets carry roughly 6,000 SKUs, while its online platform features nearly 45,000 SKUs, which Balakrishnan emphasized makes it challenging for quick commerce platforms to match their scale.

For prescription medications, Apollo 24|7 requires customers to upload a doctor's prescription or engage in a verification call within 1-2 minutes of placing an order for rapid deliveries. Those products are removed from the order if a prescription is not validated. Despite the challenges of implementing this model, Balakrishnan stated that the 19-minute delivery system hasn't posed significant hurdles for the company.

Additionally, Apollo Hospitals recently announced Karan Thakur's promotion to Group Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability, underscoring the organization's commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, sustainability, and healthcare policy. 

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