Zomato is closing sales of Gold subscription on pretext of remarkable demand

Driving an adoption of a new feature or product is not easy until it doesn’t solve a glaring problem. The situation gets more challenging when the product is paid and the company behind has been evangelising a freemium model.

Nevertheless, if the product is enticing enough and has a frequent use case, it can sell like hot cakes.

With its subscription-based membership - Gold, Zomato has taught the peers and many product companies that subscription layered solutions can successfully be explored.

Six months ago, the company had launched Zomato Gold in India and amassed about 200,000 members across five cities through multiple campaigns for the limited period. However, following an unprecedented demand, the company is opening sales for Zomato Gold for the last time.

Once the Zomato Gold gates shut on 27th April, it would only be an invite-only membership, mentions a company blog post. With this announcement, it’s also upgrading Gold experiences with exclusive access to more premium events.

The membership makes absolute sense to frequent diners as it extends special perks including a complimentary dish, and up to 2 complimentary drinks, every time you dine out or hit the bar at any of its partner restaurants.

Unlike typical happy hours at restaurants, Zomato Gold subscribers will have access to above perks at any given time. During past campaigns, it has priced gold membership at Rs 599 for three months period while annual plan costs Rs 1499.

Prior to India, Gold subscription was available in  UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi), and Portugal (Lisbon and Porto). Besides Gold, Zomato also had launched ‘Zomato Treats’, at a subscription fee of Rs 249. It lets subscribers avail a free dessert with every meal they order across 16 cities in India.

Over the past two years,  subscription-based product and services are gaining grounds in India. Adoption of paid membership such as Amazon Prime, Ola Share Pass, MMT Black, Hotstar, Netflix and a few others appear to have been thriving.

Sensing an opportunity with a decent penetration of the Bengaluru-based media platform The Ken, BCCL-owned Economic Times is also launching ET Prime soon.