Zomato adds new features – tips and bios to its app; grows delivery fleet in India to 40,000 executives
Zomato adds a short bio feature for delivery executives, and an option to add a tip – in its food delivery service
Zomato seeks to change social behaviour towards delivery personnel with these newly added features
Zomato acquired last mile delivery leader Runnr last September to build its last mile delivery capabilities; fleet strength up from 2,200 in February 2018 to 40,000 people strong in June 2018
Zomato currently delivers over 10.5 million orders a month; is the market leader in a number of cities in India
New Delhi: In an effort to celebrate the superheroes who deliver hot meals at our doorsteps, irrespective of rain, wind, heat, or storm, online restaurant guide Zomato has introduced two new features – a short bio of the delivery executive and an option to add a tip for the person.
The tip feature allows you to add a small tip between Rs 5 to Rs 50 to the order which is directly transferred to the delivery executive without any deductions by Zomato.
This feature appears during the final stage of placing an order on the same page as customer information, order cart, and some other features like the GoGreen filter (allowing you to skip the plastic cutlery), and the option to expedite an order for an unwell customer.
The short bios of the delivery executive comprise information like their education, hometowns, languages they speak, and a line about their life, families and aspirations.
The bio appears after a delivery executive is assigned for an order, and is on the same page with information such as – the order status, summary and the delivery executive’s contact details and rating.
Speaking on the motive behind adding features, Deepinder Goyal, Founder & CEO – Zomato, said, “We want to give our app a human touch. There is a story behind every delivery executive that comes to deliver food to us – they aren’t just a dot on a map that you can track. This is our endeavour to bring the larger community closer to each other, and also enable our customers to help these delivery executives realise their dreams for themselves and their families.”
“These short bios work as the medium of conversation and remind our users that a person, just like them, is going to deliver their food. The tip feature is one a lot of our users had been requesting and tipping is another way to thank delivery executives for going the extra mile and providing a great experience. Both these features are an initiative aimed to support, empower, and appreciate our delivery heroes and the initial response to both has been fantastic.” added, Mohit Kumar, (founder, Runnr), and the Head of Food Delivery, Zomato
Zomato’s delivery executives hail from varied backgrounds in the 17 cities in India where online ordering services are available. All executives have their own bikes.
While some of them are students who are keen on completing their graduation, others have been in the delivery vertical for years now.
Some deliver food orders full-time, while some others do this on a part-time basis.
Interestingly, an overwhelming majority of them have completed high school (pre-university) and aim to own either a house or a car someday.
Zomato launched its online ordering and food delivery services in May 2015 and currently delivers over 10.5 Million orders a month.
The food delivery service is currently available across 17 cities in India.
