After Treats, Zomato is suspending loyalty program Piggybank

Food ordering major Zomato is discontinuing its 12-month-old online ordering rewards program Piggybank. The company has confirmed in an email letter to its users that the loyalty program would be closed next month.

Zomato, in the letter, thanked the users for being part of the journey and said that the program will come to a close on August 12th. The subscription lets users save 10% every time you order with Zomato.

A subscriber can keep using your balance coins till then to get 10% off from select partner restaurants, said the company in a letter. After that, subscribers remaining coin balance will expire, it added.

The Alibaba-backed firm spokesperson said that the massive upgrade related to its loyalty program is underway. Till September last year, Zomato claimed to have over one million subscribers for Piggybank.

The major reason for discontinued is still unknown. However, as per industry observers, Zomato plans to convert into a paid subscription program at Rs 299 per year did not materialize as expected.

This is not the first such development happening at Zomato.

Last November, Zomato had suspended its paid subscription service Zomato Treats after running it for over 18 months. Inspired by acceptance of its loyalty program Zomato Gold, Zomato Treats, at a yearly price of Rs 249, used to offer free dessert on every online order.

Zomato reportedly had about 2.5 lakh Treats subscribers till July last year.

The suspension of subscription comes at a time when Zomato’s rival Swiggy has been aggressively integrating several other supplementary services for its subscribers. Apart from Swiggy Store, it also integrated Delight that promises free dessert from select restaurants to Swiggy Super subscribers.

Besides Piggybank, the Gurugram-based food tech firm also runs popular paid membership program Zomato Gold, which allows users to avail 1+1 on food and 2+2 on drinks across its partner restaurants.

Launched two years ago in India, Zomato said that Gold had 800,000 paying customers as of February 2019 in India.

At present, the program is available in seven countries.