Zomato introduces ‘order scheduling’ for customers, users can plan meals in advance; check key details

Food aggregator Zomato Ltd. has announced the launch of an advance order feature that allows customers to book their food orders up to two days before the scheduled delivery.

The new service has been launched initially in select seven cities. These are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

Currently, customers can schedule orders worth ₹1,000 and more at around 13,000 outlets, according to a post by Zomato Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal on social media platform X.

“Plan your meals better by placing an order up to 2 days in advance, and we’ll deliver right on time. For now, scheduling is available for orders above ₹1,000, at around 13,000 outlets across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Jaipur,” Goyal said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“These restaurants historically have high quantities of dishes in stock and have shown kitchen-preparation-time consistency. More restaurants and cities are being added. We will soon extend this for all orders,” Goyal added.

The new service's launch comes days after the online food platform shut down its inter-city food delivery service, Zomato Legends, following poor customer response.

Goyal, in a post on X, stated that the Legends service had been shut down with immediate effect despite two years of efforts as the product was not market-fit.

Last week, Zomato also announced the acquisition of the ticketing business of payment services provider Paytm.

Zomato has signed definitive agreements to acquire Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business. This business allows customers to discover and buy tickets for movies, sports, and events like live performances.

Paytm’s ticketing business generated a combined GOV of more than ₹2,000 crore (29% YoY growth) in 2023-24 as over 10 million unique customers bought more than 78 million tickets on its platform.

During the same period, the business generated Revenue of ₹297 crore and Adjusted EBITDA of ₹29 crore (translating to about 1.5% Adjusted EBITDA margin as a % of GOV).

Zomato shares rose up to 0.6% to hit a high of ₹264.42 apiece on the NSE in morning deals. However, the stock pared its early morning gains to trade 1.12% lower at 259.7 per share on NSE at 11:45 am.