Zomato can now handle larger orders catering for parties or events where the food delivery order exceeds the regular delivery space’s capacity. The electric fleet, explicitly designed for orders of gathering up to 50 people, is a game changer.
In the past, Zomato used fleet delivery partners to fulfill the customers’ needs. But that means there wasn’t complete control over the delivery. “Customer experience wasn’t what we aspired for,” says the company.
The food delivery service hopes its new, more extensive fleet will “solve most of the problems” customers face when placing orders for events or large family gatherings.
Meet the new fleet
The more extensive capacity fleet serves what it intends to solve: a capacity problem. But it’s still a “work in progress,” as Zomato puts it. They are in the process of adding and enhancing their ability to keep the food fresher for longer.
A cooling compartment, hot boxes with temperature control, and other features will be added to the more extensive fleet.
Zomato’s CEO and founder, Deepinder Goyal, says the company is not interested in “building products and services to make money” but makes money to build better products and services. Their aim is to “serve the community better.”
While it clearly states that this is one of these types of projects to “serve” the community better, the business sector in India hasn’t held back its criticism of the new innovation.
Industry reaction
There are mixed reactions to the initiative, with a bulk of the business sector congratulating Zomato for its initiative. Smit Raj Gyanani, managing director at Shaneessa Group, told LinkedIn that it’s the “most ridiculous idea” as most large groups would make use of catering services or go to a restaurant. “If at all there is a gathering of 50 people, any customer will call for catering service or go to the restaurant directly to have a better discount, choice of cuisine and dishes.”
Krishna Prasad Sidheeshwaran, CEO at Growceries, says instead of focusing on new innovation, Zomato should focus on reaching profitability. “Next, you’ll launch drone delivery and helicopters?”
Sidheeshwaran adds: “It’s surprising how the educated class is finding this to be an amazing business, while all I see is that India used to build profitable businesses, and now everyone’s playing a game of valuation.”
Increasing delivery fee
While Zomato is living on the excitement of its larger delivery fleet, it is snucking in a delivery fee increase. This will see customers pay 25% more for delivery fees. The platform fee is now Rs 5 per order, according to the Times of India.
It’s reported that these fees apply to major cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Lucknow.
As Zomato navigates through its expansion and community feedback, it remains steadfast in its commitment to reshaping the landscape of food delivery for large gatherings.
About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
