Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal Reveals the Truth About Zomato Discounts: “They are not very big, they only appear so”

In an episode of "The Ranveer Show," Zomato's founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, told YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, "The discounts are not very big, they only appear so.” Additionally, he acknowledged that the app's discounts are not entirely legitimate.

Deepinder acknowledged that the discounts being offered are deceiving customers, but he expressed his reluctance to keep running such offers on the platform due to intense competition in the industry. 

Deepinder used a Zomato promotion offering "50 percent off up to Rs. 80" as an example of these schemes. Subsequently, he clarified that these deals only amount to Rs. 80 instead of a 50 percent discount. He explained to Ranveer that it is not a 50 percent reduction, it is merely an Rs. 80 discount. So, for an order of Rs. 400, that translates to only a 20 percent discount.

He also added that the discount should be Rs. 80 off instead of a 50 percent discount up to Rs. 80. He believes that this form of discounting is not “honest”. Even though he considers the discounting strategy as dishonest, he mentioned that the discounts should be fair and that service providers should keep their word if they inform a customer of anything. 

He did, however, also discuss how market pressure and increasing competition forces him to adopt this unfair discount strategy. 

Deepinder acknowledged that millions of customers are still drawn to online delivery platforms because of their discounting practices. Zomato announced on Friday that it had made a profit for the second quarter in a row, with a net profit of Rs. 36 crore during Q2 FY 24, a significant sign of the company’s increasing profitability. 

In addition to Zomato’s discounting strategy, he also talked about his opinions of Gen Z and the company’s relationship with it’s biggest rival and one of India's biggest unicorns, Swiggy. He expressed the ongoing challenges with Swiggy and mentioned that at one point, Swiggy secured a billion-dollar investment while Zomato’s finances were strained.

To address this, they sold their UAE business and received 170 million dollars. Despite the financial obstacles, they persevered and worked tirelessly to create their presence in the industry.

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