Zomato reached a peak of 4,254 orders per minute, while Swiggy surpassed 5,500 orders per minute.
2020 was a whole year for food delivery, especially due to the lockdown, as it began to be the way for many to eat out, as well as for restaurants to survive amid the coronavirus pandemic. While major cities slowly returned to pre-COVID numbers on delivery, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities began to outpace them. New Year’s Eve turned out to be an icing on the cake, as restrictions and curfews were put in place in various cities, so people stayed inside. It turned out to be the best for Swiggy and Zomato, with both companies registering their highest orders per minute.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted that the company reached a peak of 4,254 orders per minute, and a source from Swiggy told TNM that the company crossed 5,500 orders per minute on NYE. Swiggy CEO Vivek Sunder told ETNow that it was the best day the company had ever had.
A spokesperson for Swiggy said that traffic increased by 100% during dinner, with Tier 2 and 3 cities like Jaipur and Vizag increasing by almost 200%. Swiggy said Tier 3 and 4 cities like Berhampur, Rourkela and Karimnagar experienced 150-200% growth, which was higher than that seen in metropolitan areas.
Swiggy said that new users to the platform doubled, “showing that there was a strong intention for customers to order online.”
In a series of tweets, Deepinder Goyal said the company’s gross merchandise value (GMV) was 60% higher than last New Year’s Eve. “That’s a GMV of ₹ 75 crore in a single day, with a maximum order per minute (OPM) rate of 4,254,” he tweeted.
He also added that the demand was more than the company could handle and that they ran out of delivery partner capacity long before rush hour. “If we had an unlimited supply, yesterday we could have reached GMV 100 million rupees. I need to do better next time, ”he tweeted, saying nearly 1,00,000 delivery employees delivered orders yesterday.
“Great participation from the restaurants, which were also very well prepared with the staff in their kitchens. Cancellations caused by restaurants were quite low even during the peak, “said a spokesman for Swiggy.
Goyal also said customer complaint and failure rates are at an all-time low for food delivery in India. “This is a testament to the work that everyone in the ecosystem has done to make this an enjoyable experience for customers,” he added.
Read: Swiggy in 2020: Biryani continues to rule, Bengaluru ordered in the majority
Also read: Zomato 2020: Bengaluru man places the most orders, almost 4 per day
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