Zomato — one of the leading food technology startup, is trying everything it can to stay ahead of the competition in the Indian food-tech sector. After announcing that it will stop charging commission to restaurants, Zomato is now waiving off table reservation fees for restaurants.
The startup, which enables online restaurant discovery and food ordering, has announced that it has decided to waived off ‘per cover’ fee or platform fee for restaurants that enable table reservations through Zomato.
Announcing this, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said:
Retrospectively from June 1, 2017 onwards, our restaurant partners will not need to pay a “per cover” fee or even a platform fee to accept seamless digital table reservations from Zomato. Yes, the service will be completely free.
The company is now expecting that more restaurants will now start accepting online reservation system from Zomato, and also continue to offer reservation slots during peak hours and on weekends instead of switching them off.
This development comes few weeks after the company announced that it completed over 1 million reservations mark in September. The company’s CEO claims that this makes Zomato the largest in 3 of the 4 countries where the service is available. Presently, Zomato is offering its table reservation services across more than 10,000 restaurants in India, UAE, Philippines and Australia.
It seems that with this latest incentive, the food-tech startup is aiming to bolster its presence, and stay ahead of its biggest rival in India, Swiggy.
Apart from this, the company also claims to have upgraded its platform to make the online reservation process faster, simpler and more convenient for both diners and restaurants.