Why Foodpanda is Offering Discounts on App

Online restaurant aggregator Foodpanda wants more of its customers to order their food through its app, not its website. Foodpanda is currently offering a one-time discount offer for customers who use its app for the first time to order food.

Explaining the rationale for its mobile-first policy, co-founder Chinmay Malaviya told NDTV that it has seen higher re-ordering rates from customers who use apps.

"We see super high loyalty from customers who use apps. If you just look at the re-order rates over the 14-day period, we see 3-4 times better coming back as compared to a desktop," he said.

The discounts are funded by restaurants or by Foodpanda itself, Mr Malaviya said.

Mr Malaviya also says apps help in better customer relationship management. It is able to keep customers informed about deals or discounts through notifications.

Foodpanda lists restaurants and their menus and also carries user reviews. This year, it also started food delivery services in some cities. Backed by Germany's Rocket Internet, Foodpanda is currently present in over 100 cities in India. Rocket Internet also owns e-commerce company Jabong.

Mr Malaviya says Foodpanda is targeting to add more tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India to its network. Its mobile-first policy is also likely to be useful to attract more users who use internet for the first time through their smartphones, he added.

Besides increasing its footprint in more Indian cities, Foodpanda is also focusing on expanding its food delivery business. Explaining the rationale, Mr Malaviya said, "When we leave the end game (food delivery) to the restaurant, a lot of times we complaints. Even though the customers love the food, the delivery is late or the packaging is not nice."

In some cases, Foodpanda charges a fee for delivering the food.

Restaurants don't pay a joining fee for getting listed on Foodpanda but they pay a percentage of the transaction value for orders routed through the online aggregator.

Mr Malaviya said Foodpanda recently raised $100 million in a funding round. Foodpanda has raised more than $300 million since its launch about four years ago.

Online restaurant aggregator Foodpanda wants more of its customers to order their food through its app, not its website. Foodpanda is currently offering a one-time discount offer for customers who use its app for the first time to order food.

Explaining the rationale for its mobile-first policy, co-founder Chinmay Malaviya told NDTV that it has seen higher re-ordering rates from customers who use apps.

"We see super high loyalty from customers who use apps. If you just look at the re-order rates over the 14-day period, we see 3-4 times better coming back as compared to a desktop," he said.

The discounts are funded by restaurants or by Foodpanda itself, Mr Malaviya said.

Mr Malaviya also says apps help in better customer relationship management. It is able to keep customers informed about deals or discounts through notifications.

Foodpanda lists restaurants and their menus and also carries user reviews. This year, it also started food delivery services in some cities. Backed by Germany's Rocket Internet, Foodpanda is currently present in over 100 cities in India. Rocket Internet also owns e-commerce company Jabong.

Mr Malaviya says Foodpanda is targeting to add more tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India to its network. Its mobile-first policy is also likely to be useful to attract more users who use internet for the first time through their smartphones, he added.

Besides increasing its footprint in more Indian cities, Foodpanda is also focusing on expanding its food delivery business. Explaining the rationale, Mr Malaviya said, "When we leave the end game (food delivery) to the restaurant, a lot of times we complaints. Even though the customers love the food, the delivery is late or the packaging is not nice."

In some cases, Foodpanda charges a fee for delivering the food.

Restaurants don't pay a joining fee for getting listed on Foodpanda but they pay a percentage of the transaction value for orders routed through the online aggregator.

Mr Malaviya said Foodpanda recently raised $100 million in a funding round. Foodpanda has raised more than $300 million since its launch about four years ago.