Meenakshi Verma Ambwani

As consumers in India increasingly turn to online deliveries following the “social distancing” norm, companies in the space are working on stepping up their efforts to offer safe and hygienic deliveries.

In the past few days, a slew of e-commerce players and QSR chains have announced measures that include contactless deliveries and steps to minimise spread of the epidemic. Experts and government bodies have listed “delivery packets” as one of the surface contact points in everyday life of a consumer that can be contaminated and can contribute to the spread of coronavirus.

In an email sent out to consumers on Tuesday, Myntra CEO Amar Nagaram outlined the various measures undertaken by the company. “We are constantly keeping track of impacted areas across the country to minimise the exposure of our delivery personnel and undertaking deep cleaning and sanitisation of all our facilities, fulfilment centres and delivery hubs in the best possible manner.”

Ayushi Gudwani, Founder, FableStreet, the premium women workwear brand, said, “All our shipments are being sent in sealed packaging – with multiple layers to avoid any contamination risk. Our entire facility is being sanitised with alcohol-based cleaners. Our entire staff, including those in design, production (tailors) and sales, has been briefed on personal hygiene such as washing hands often, maintaining a good respiratory system and to keep working surfaces sanitised.”

Meanwhile, QSR chains are rolling out contactless deliveries and making efforts to further sanitise their restaurants. For instance, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, which runs the network of Domino’s Pizza restaurants in the country, announced that consumers can avail “Zero Contact Delivery” service of its pizzas from its 1,325 restaurants in the country and pay digitally. Besides, adopting an enhanced hygiene and sanitation protocol across its restaurants, it has assured consumers that all its “Safe Delivery Experts” are company employees that undergo mandatory health checks and that it is sanitising restaurants, delievery bikes, delievery bike boxes and pizza delivery hot bags are being sanitized every four hours. Westlife Development, that runs McDonald’s outlets in south and west India, has also rolled out contactless delivery.

Other QSR chains such as KFC India and Tacobell India, too, told consumers through social media and texts that delivery bags are disinfected and sanitised and that delivery partners have taken every measure against the spread of the virus.

Last weekend, online food aggregators Zomato and Swiggy rolled out measures such as contactless delivery, providing masks to delivery partners and raising hygiene awareness among restaurant partners.

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