The loyalty programme wars: Zomato Gold vs. Swiggy One

Zomato‘s updated Gold membership program, which it launched in January, is demonstrating early signs of success as the food tech unicorn regains some of the ground it lost to archrival Swiggy. According to a study by HSBC Global Research, Zomato has eaten into Swiggy’s market share in this quarter thanks to Gold, which was relaunched at an initial price of Rs 149 for three months (Q4FY23).

Everything about Zomato-Swiggy Rivalry!

Thanks to the introduction of Zomato Gold, the company has begun to regain some of the market shares it lost in H2CY22. With an aggressive go-to-market approach, we anticipate it to continue to oust Swiggy from the market share lead, according to HSBC’s study. Within a month of the relaunch, Zomato revealed in an earlier statement that it had added 9 lakhs, Gold subscribers.

“The new Gold program is built on top of what we have discovered over the past few years, iterating on the input we have gotten from customers, restaurant partners, as well as investors. Deepinder Goyal, the CEO, stated in a letter to shareholders that he expects this initiative to promote loyalty and increased ordering frequency moving forward.

Zomato’s market share might increase to 57% in FY24, up 13 percentage points from FY20, according to HSBC. Swiggy’s market share would remain unchanged at 35%. The brokerage anticipates that Zomato will eventually absorb the effects of Gold advantages, boosting its EBITDA margins, over the course of the following few quarters. According to HSBC, Swiggy’s burn rate is still higher than that of its listed competitor.

The company also forecasts that the price of Zomato’s stock would increase by 64% from present levels to ₹87. HSBC anticipates Zomato’s rapid commerce vertical Blinkit to create value over the next two years despite the food ordering sector showing indications of slowing down, notably outside the top 8 cities.

According to projections from HSBC, Blinkit’s $1 billion gross order value run-rate may easily treble by FY25. “The Street continues to undervalue Blinkit. Due to low penetration and steady competition, hyperlocal/Q-commerce will probably experience rapid growth for a few years. We anticipate that rising volumes will also lead to an improvement in profitability,” it added.