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Journalism of Courage
Bengaluru-based food-delivery company Swiggy announced Friday that it will buy restaurant listing platform Dineout. The move marks Swiggy’s entry into the non-delivery restaurants space and intensifies its battle against Zomato, which currently does both food delivery and restaurant listings.
What is the deal?
Why is Swiggy getting into this space?
In a statement, Swiggy said that the acquisition is designed to capitalise on Dineout’s assets and position in the dining out space. The app brings with it a network of 50,000 restaurant partners. Sriharsha Majety, CEO, Swiggy said: “The acquisition will allow Swiggy to explore synergies and offer new experiences in a high-use category.”
What is the big picture impact of this deal?
The acquisition means Swiggy stepping into Zomato’s core terrain of restaurant listings — a move that intensifies the competition between the two food-tech platforms. Zomato’s popular Zomato Pro product is at the heart of the Gurugram-based company’s dining out business segment. This segment was hit severely during the pandemic but is seeing some green shoots as Covid19 recedes. In its results presentation for October-December, Zomato had said: “The revival of in-restaurant dining in Q3 FY22 led to some green shoots in our dining-out ad-sales business. Our focus here for now is on improving our product and customer engagement while putting monetization on the backburner for a while”.
