Zomato To Invest In Infrastructure And Loyalty Programmes; Plans To Launch Two New Services

Restaurant discovery and food ordering platform, Zomato is reportedly working to launch two new initiatives, Zomato Red and Zomato Infrastructure Services. As per an official statement, Zomato will roll out the new services between February and June 2017.
With Zomato Infrastructure Services, the company will create kitchen spaces in areas where there is a lack of good restaurants. Under the service, partnering restaurants will prepare and deliver food exclusively for Zomato through these kitchens.

Commenting on the development, Deepinder Goyal, co-founder, Zomato said, “We are already talking to restaurants and they are showing immense interest. The whole idea is to take iconic brands to cities and areas where they are not available. Also, we have enough data to predict which areas have demand for what kind of food. We will use that data to bring different cuisines and brands under one kitchen.”

According to a report by Mint, Zomato will back the entire project, from investing in kitchen’s infrastructure to last mile delivery network and will operate on a commission-based model. The services under this initiative will be primarily rolled out in Gurugram, where the company plans to open eight kitchens.

Followed by Gurugram, the services will be rolled out in Tier II and Tier III cities, where there is a dearth in availability of big food brands and restaurant chains. As per an official statement, the company will invest $2 Mn-$3 Mn in its infrastructure services and plans to generate revenues from the arm after six months of launching operations.

Zomato Red, on the other hand, will be an exclusive membership feature, where customers will be allowed to buy a yearly/semi-annual subscription that will get them exclusive offers such as access to happy hours and discounted prices in restaurants.

The brand loyalty programme will be initially launched in Dubai and Lisbon (Portugal) starting January and will be introduced in India by March 2017.

Earlier this month, Inc42 reported that Zomato was gearing up for aggressive investments in food delivery and new businesses such as cloud kitchens. The company is also looking to raise fresh funds and has roped in Morgan Stanley for the same.

Earlier in September, Zomato announced the acquisition of tech-based logistics company Sparse Labs in a blog post on its website. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.