After Swiggy introduced Scheduled in August to enable users to pre-order, Zomato rolled out its new Order Scheduling feature that helps users to plan their food deliveries from two hours to two days in advance
This tool, available across over 35,000 restaurants in 30 cities, enables customers to pick a specific delivery time, with options for rescheduling if slots are full. It allows cancellations up to three hours before delivery.
Swiggy introduced a similar service in August to allow users to pre-order meals. Introduced in select cities, Swiggy Scheduled includes 30-minute delivery slots, maintaining ease and reliability. Both platforms support restaurants by optimising order flow during slower times, ultimately helping restaurants manage demand while enhancing user satisfaction.
In August, Zomato also launched Group Ordering, simplifying ordering for groups by creating a shared cart. Users can generate a link to share with friends, allowing everyone to add their meal choices directly to the order, avoiding the need to swap phones or combine orders manually.
In recent weeks, Swiggy and Zomato have been actively pursuing significant fundraising efforts, creating a competitive atmosphere in the quick commerce and food delivery sectors.
Zomato is looking to raise approximately $400-500 million through a QIP, despite having around $1.5 billion in cash reserves. This move is seen as a strategic effort to bolster its balance sheet ahead of Swiggy’s anticipated IPO, which is scheduled for mid-November.
Swiggy plans to raise Rs 3,750 crore in a fresh issue, along with an offer for the sale of 18.52 crore shares from selling stockholders, according to its draft red herring prospectus.
