Zomato V/S Swiggy - Who'll Win the Food Delivery Race?

The eating habits of people have changed due to the lockdown, and two players, Zomato and Swiggy , are dominating the Indian food delivery industry. According to the Research Report of the ETC Group, Swiggy is the ninth and Zomato is the tenth biggest Food delivery company in the world. Both companies are adopting and experimenting with new things to dominate the market.

Food Delivery Industry in India

The Indian food delivery industry is growing at a 30% CAGR every year and is expected to reach $21 billion by 2026, making it one of the fastest-growing industries in India.

Covid-19 Pandemic

Digitalization

Jio revolutionized the digital space by providing high-speed internet at a cheaper price, allowing cloud-based tech companies like Zomato and Swiggy to expand faster.

Zomato always strives for different innovative stuff to improve customer experience. Some innovations are the next level try, which have capabilities to disrupt the market. Let's have a closer look at what Zomato has done so far to stay ahead in the food delivery race.

Hyperpure is Zomato's initiative to provide fresh and high-quality ingredients to restaurants, with 1200+ ingredients and kitchen products delivered directly to the restaurant address. Sellers are verified and only those looking for a long-term partnership are appointed.

Zomato has launched Zomato instant, a 10-min delivery service for food from restaurants, which is based on a demand prediction algorithm and a network of finishing stations near the high-demand area. Delivery partners are not informed of the delivery time and penalized for late delivery.

Zomato has introduced 'Intercity Legends' to order iconic dishes from different cities and states. It is available for selected customers in Gurgaon and some parts of south Delhi and is delivered via a flight with proper packaging and a logistic system. The response has been good and the innovative step taken by Zomato to bring iconic dishes to our doorstep is appreciated.

Zomato introduced a new feature in its app that allows users to provide voice instructions for the direction to their homes. To use this feature, users need to click on the delivery instruction tab and hold the record button to give the information related to their delivery location. This feature is helpful because sometimes delivery partners face issues in finding the delivery location and need to call the customer, delaying the delivery and leaving a bad taste in customer satisfaction.

Street Vendors on the Zomato Platform

Street food is a popular alternative to restaurants, and during the lockdown period, Zomato and the government launched the Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme to provide working capital loans and increase digital payment.

So far, Zomato has onboarded approx 965 street vendors on its platform across different cities like Vadodara, Bhopal, Nagpur, Jabalpur, and Ludhiana.

Swiggy is also not behind the race for innovation; various steps have been taken by Swiggy to improve its delivery services and user experience.

Swiggy is using AI technology to fill the loopholes present in the different stages of delivery. AI is used to predict orders, customer behavior, and interaction with the help of previously available data. Everything is connected with GPS for location tracking to ensure transparency. With the help of AI, Swiggy provides a personalized list of restaurants based on your previous order, reviews, search, and interaction. It also recommends different dishes which you are most likely to order.

Swiggy launched Swiggy Super in 2018, which provides free delivery on restaurant orders. Since then, it has launched other services like Instamart and Swiggy genie to boost its quick commerce. Now, Swiggy has integrated all these services under one roof called Swiggy One, allowing users to install only one app, create only one account and buy only one membership plan. Users can use one app to order food, buy groceries, and deliver anything with Swiggy genie, with benefits such as discounts and free delivery.

Swiggy is working on providing delivery using drones, and multiple pilots are conducted to make this concept operational. The first trial was conducted by Garuda aerospace in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, and Swiggy will conduct a second trial with ANRA technology, Techeagle, and Marut drone tech.

Swiggy has launched a new innovative multimedia card to showcase the product overview. Images and Lottie animations are old, but informative videos are used to show the product's features. Providing a better Customer Experience is the way to build long-term trust among customers.

Figure Overview: Zomato vs Swiggy

Marketing of Zomato V/S Swiggy

Zomato has a top-notch marketing strategy that supports its presence in the market, making it a leader in the food delivery industry.

Zomaland is a food festival hosted by Zomato in 2019 that hosted 1.5 lakh+ visitors, 300+ restaurants, and served 3.5 lakh dishes. Famous artists such as Badshah, Hardy Sandhu, Divine, and many more performed to entertain the visitors.

Zomaland season 2 is a popular and successful marketing event in cities like Pune, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

Zomato is known for its creative marketing, which connects with its audience and conveys a message.

On the other hand--

Swiggy recently launched a marketing campaign called "Why is this a Swiggy ad?". The challenge was to answer the question and Swiggy announced Rupees 1 lakh worth of Swiggy money to the person who gave the right answer. Approximately 800,000 people participated online with their own theories behind the campaign, making it one of the most successful Swiggy user-generated campaigns. The question was also the most searched topic on 谷歌 that week.

Conclusion

Zomato can be upvoted for market share, marketing, innovation, and acquisition, but Swiggy provides better relief to delivery executives, leading to better consumer satisfaction.