The Hunger Games: Swiggy vs. Zomato
With the ability to conquer the world with our devices, technology has made assessing our basic necessities extremely easy with a swipe of a finger. In the first half of 2018, both prominent food delivery apps, Zomato, and Swiggy have made it to the financial news with Zomato raising US$200 million from Ant Financial in February and Swiggy bagging US$210 million from 4 investors in June. The numbers prove how deep food delivery apps have penetrated into the market, leaving more and more people ditching phone calls to order their next meal.
The common reason for both of their success stories is undoubtedly the way users have become accustomed to the design of these apps, which individually speaks so much about the company and the services provided.
Let us give you a break to break analysis on where should you order next from, Zomato or Swiggy.
Background:
With its estimated monthly visits at 6.8 million, Swiggy lags way behind Zomato which is at 32.4 million. Starting four years prior to the launch of Swiggy, Zomato has quickly acquired the market and is visibly a favorite of users with one of the reasons being its global presence. Zomato has an extensive database of 1.4 million restaurants across 23 countries while Swiggy is still growing and has a hold over eight national cities where it has more than 9,000 restaurants on its platform.
Design:
In the cutthroat competition, both Zomato and Swiggy have redesigned their complete app layout. Swiggy’s VP of Design Srinath Rangamani adds, “At Swiggy, we aim to help users explore their choices in the easiest and fastest manner possible. We realized that users often don’t get a chance to peruse the entire menu because of the limited one-handed gestures that we are accustomed to. So, we redesigned the app in such a way that the full menu could be accessed with a single vertical swipe. It needs only minimal navigation and is suited to both left-handed and right-handed usage; all in an uncluttered and unconstrained environment.”
While on the other hand, Zomato’s redesign didn’t give them the results they expected and users and experienced UI designers felt Zomato’s new design shifted its attention from food delivery app to restaurant discovery app.
What do the Vendors have to say?
The main revenue model of both the apps being the restaurants that they have tied up with has favored Swiggy over Zomato. Here is what a restaurant owner who is listed at both Zomato and Swiggy says, “ As a restaurant owner, I would say Swiggy is much faster than Zomato with its service. It’s reliable for both customer and restaurant owner as delivery boys come within 5 to 10 minutes when the order is placed and once the order is picked, the responsibility lies with Swiggy. Even if a customer cancels the order midway, Swiggy ensures the amount should be credited in the restaurant owner’s account. They even have a GPS system to track the order which is good for the customer.”
About Zomato, the same vendor says, “Zomato is slower than Swiggy and they COD which is, honestly, a tad bit of a hassle. It is only good for online menu and not for delivery. Swiggy takes one order at time Zomato takes 2 to 3 order at a time so because of their delay in service I generally prefer Swiggy over Zomato.”
So it is evident that Swiggy beats Zomato when it comes to the real deal, but then why are restaurants still doing business with them? The answer lies in Zomato’s Zero Commission Campaign which has opened an assault on Swiggy. “The zero commission model is certainly going to hurt Swiggy,” says the founder of a food tech company. Swiggy charges about 18–20% commission from restaurant partners. On an average, a restaurant makes anywhere between 40–60% margin on an order.
By signing up for the zero commission campaign, restaurants can cut the margin they shell out to Swiggy.
Well, the businesses are profiting and enjoying serving the consumers beyond their hotel’s tables, the consumers have been happier with Zomato thanks to the discounts offered.
But on the other hand, Swiggy has happily partnered with all kinds of restaurants — from pocket-friendly joints to the crème de la crème outlets which have benefited the business as well as the consumers a lot.
For small restaurant/food joints (with limited capacity for dining), the platform that rakes in orders and ensures delivery with minimum manpower assistance is what matters the most.
“Currently, Swiggy accounts for about 50% of online orders from my kitchen while Zomato does about 20–25% orders. I think Zomato needs to beef up its logistics part to compete with Swiggy,” says Mihir Shrivastava who runs Punjabi kitchen in DLF Phase-II, Gurugram. However, he expects Zomato will gain the lead over Swiggy with its zero commission model.
Customers Speak:
The customers on other hand are also not-so-happy with food delivery of Zomato but they cannot think of any other platform when it comes to checking restaurant menu and reviews.
While Zomato comes with great discounts, Swiggy topped the game with their ‘No Minimum Orders’ and ‘Live Tracking Features’.
The app design has again come into question. Zomato reviews say, “Such a loud design, I want color on my plate and not on my screen” and Swiggy has earned extra brownie points with redesign even from the users.
People also consider Swiggy over Zomato for food delivery. The simple reasons for Swiggy’s logistic being faster compared to Zomato and the no-minimum order barrier which takes the cake.
While Zomato is winning with its social media advertising, Swiggy has left no stone unturned when it comes to straight message giving TVCs that has done wonders. With fleeting drivers delivering food everywhere, tell us which application you prefer when your stomach growls. Because no amount of stats can decide what rules your heart. As they say,
“You don’t need a silver spoon to eat good food”