15 November 2017, India:
Online restaurant guide and food ordering app Zomato has launched its premium, subscription-based program called Zomato Gold in India.
With Zomato Gold, Zomato plans to provide customers with complimentary meals and drinks over 1,200 curated restaurants and bars. Customers will also get exclusive invitations to food & drinks events like – wine testing sessions, new menu previews, pub crawls, chef cookout sessions, new restaurants openings etc.
Zomato can be used only for dining out, it can’t be used for home delivery. After placing orders at the Gold Food partner restaurants or Gold Drinks partner restaurants, customers will be provided with a complimentary dish or up to two complimentary drinks.
Zomato Gold was first launched in Portugal and UAE earlier this year. This program in UAE is limited to drinks and in Portugal specific to food. But Indian customers can get both food and drinks through Zomato Gold.
Initially, Zomato Gold will be provided in three metro cities across India. These cities are Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The program can be accessed by users directly from the Zomato app. This program is also available on the company’s official website.
Users can purchage the Zomato gold service for a three month period at ₹599. Users can also buy an annual plan at ₹1499.
Zomato has launched an early bird offer, where the three months plan can be purchased at ₹299 and the annual plan can be bought at ₹999.
Zomato already has a subscription program in India – Zomato Treats. In a recent blog, the company claimed that Zomato Treats has already reached approximately 60,000 members.
Zomato Treats was launched in April. In Zomato Treats, subscribers get a free dessert with every online order. The charge of Zomato Treats is ₹249 per year.
In a press statement, Founder and CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal said, “We are super excited to bring Zomato Gold to India, and are sure our users, as well as restaurants partners, are both going to find this hugely beneficial.”
Zomato is not the only startup which is offering subscription based service.
FOOMÂ also offers a subscription based service in which customers can get free drinks at registered bars and pubs.
Zomato has launched its subscription based service just after Swiggy launched Swiggy Access, a central kitchen base-like facility for restaurants In Swiggy Access. In Swiggy Access, ready-to-occupy kitchens will offer restaurant partners a basic setup with the required amenities. No rent or deposit will be charged for the premises.
Lets see how Zomato performs in this stiff competition.
(Image – Zomato)