“We are still negotiating with them (Zomato Gold) on certain terms. Until that’s not completed, our members will wait for the outcome,” said Kabir Suri, president of NRAI, which has over 500,000 members. Suri is also co-founder of Azure Hospitality, the company that operates Mamagoto and Foxtrot restaurant brands.
Zomato Gold, which was first launched in 2017 as a membership programme with offers such as one+one free at restaurants, had to be withdrawn amid protests from restaurant partners, which alleged that deep discounts offered with Gold were making business unsustainable, and had started a #LogOut campaign delisting themselves from the programme. Gold (which was later renamed Pro) was discontinued in August last year.
“We will not be on Zomato Gold unless the terms benefit restaurant partners; we have urged all restaurant companies to take forward their own loyalty programmes,” said Riyaaz Amlani, managing director at Impresario Handmade Restaurants, which runs Social, Smoke House Deli and Salt Water Cafe. Impressario’s brands are also scaling up their similar programmes.
The Zomato Gold membership offers a three-month subscription for Rs 149; a discount to the Rs 999 quarterly membership. Subscribers have been offered free deliveries at restaurants that are within 10 km on orders above Rs 199. Gold members are also being offered discounts on food deliveries and dining out.
“We are not using Zomato Gold. We are looking to collaborate to either launch individual brand loyalty programmes or an overall loyalty programme of our own—we have a large internal database and will drive repeat transact using this,” said Rohit Aggarwal, director at Lite Bite Foods, which operates Punjab Grill, Artful Baker and YouMee chains.
Discover the stories of your interest
Executives at restaurant companies said their own loyalty programmes, besides owning data, helps them to gain insights on customer preferences based on purchase frequency, and customise offers and products accordingly.On a previous earnings call, Zomato’s chief financial officer Akshant Goyal had said: “On loyalty programmes, we are aware of what the competition is doing, and we had one of our own, which we discontinued. It’s a business call. There are pros and cons of the kind of loyalty programme that is out there in the market today”.
Following escalation of the face-off between Zomato and restaurant companies in the Competition Commission of India (CCI), Zomato got rid of the Gold tag and launched Pro, which was focused on discounts on dine-out and delivery.
In its latest version, Gold also offers benefits such as no delay guarantee and VIP access during rush hour. The Gold membership also clarifies that some benefits might not work on “certain festivals and special days”.
The CCI’s investigation on allegations of anti-competitive practices against Zomato and Bundl Technologies, which runs the Swiggy app, for imposing certain clauses on restaurants, is still ongoing.
