Assessing the Emergence of Zomato as the Market Leader in the Online Food Service Segment in India in Terms of Marketing and Consumer Perception

With digitization, the food industry has very efficiently utilized the e-commerce platform in the online food review and food ordering business. Through a vertical system of food delivery apps, the entire system has brought almost every restaurant in India under a single roof in the hands of the consumer. Now, finding a great place to eat, ordering food, reserving tables, and giving positive or negative feedback for a restaurant has become very easy and accessible for the consumer. This vertical has shown tremendous growth over the last 10 years signifying the untapped potential. The pioneer and leader of this segment in India has been Zomato. Zomato is a brand, which every consumer would relate to when s/he thinks of an e-food platform. This paper aims at critically examining the marketing and positioning aspect of the company by drawing on the works published in the form of surveys, journals, articles and reports by independent authors as well. This paper covers certain figures mentioned in the financial reports published by Zomato and assesses the reasons responsible for the major market presence and consumer preference of the brand. While evaluating the brand, we try to examine how policies, PR and strategizing has had a profound impact on the company’s market share in its 12 years of functioning. This has been done by drawing out a hypotheses and carefully surveying a group of 50 respondents belonging to different socio-economic backgrounds, keeping in mind the various aspects of consumer perception. The results have been interpreted using graphical representation through histograms. The overall analysis suggested majority of respondents were more attracted towards Zomato than other competitors. Furthermore, the majority of respondents were found more satisfied with the food quality and fast delivery of Zomato and a wider range of restaurants and choice of food.