Zomato narrows down gap with Swiggy: Claims 13 Mn monthly order run rate

Fight for gaining more market share in online food ordering seems to be escalating as Zomato has narrowed down the gap with Tencent backed rival Swiggy. The Gurugram-based company has claimed 13 million order run rate in July, a 136 per cent up from its 5.5 million orders in March.

“Zomato registered a record-breaking 600,000 orders on the day of the (soccer World Cup)  and achieved the mark of 13 million monthly orders,” mentions a company's statement.

While the spike in monthly order run rate (based on last Sunday) was largely driven by frenzy around finale between France and Croatia, the Alibaba-backed company had announced a  million monthly order run rate in the beginning week of July.

Zomato forayed into online ordering and food delivery services in May 2015. Currently, it operates across 21 Indian cities.

To catch on with Swiggy in online ordering segment, the Deepinder Goyal-led company also announced a commission-free campaign for its restaurant partners in September 2017.

Zomato recently introduced Zomato Piggybank to woo more users on the platform. It lets to save 10 per cent every time users order online.

Presently, the programme is being tested with loyalty-based access to a select number of Android-powered smartphone users (10,000 users). After two weeks from now, it would be available for masses (who place more than 5 orders a month).

Meanwhile, Swiggy has about 15 million monthly order run rate.

Two months ago, the company had crossed 10 million monthly delivery mark. It was an almost 2X surge in terms of monthly volume within six months. It Used to do about 5 million delivers a month during September-October.

Since both Zomato and Swiggy are backed by Chinese rivals Alibaba and Tencent, both food-tech companies are eying greater scale through food and evangelising other segments. While Swiggy is entering the micro-delivery segment through the acquisition of SuprDaily, Zomato recently revealed its plan to begin ‘farm to fork’ business.

It would deliver raw materials and agricultural produce to restaurant partners.