Zomato on Monday announced that its food delivery services are available in 500 towns and cities across India after expanding into 120 new markets in July. The company had originally aimed to hit the milestone by September, but fueled by steady growth and massive cash infusions from investors like Sequoia Capital, it has managed to exceed its expectations, although some within the industry are wondering whether the expansion is happening too fast, too soon.
Zomato, however, seems oblivious to such concerns as it expands aggressively into Tier III and Tier IV cities around the country. “We are able to maintain this momentum thanks to our data-driven strategy of reaching out to places that show potential and come true on our set criteria”, said the company on its official blog. As part of its expansion strategy, Zomato had made its food delivery services available in 300 cities last month after hitting the 200 mark in April.
Some of the latest cities to be added to the list include Alappuzha and Malappuram (Kerala), Pushkar (Rajasthan), Ankleshwar and Mehsana (Gujarat), Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal and Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu), Itarsi and Ashoknagar (Madhya Pradesh), Fazilka and Nawanshahr (Punjab), Vrindavan and Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), Daltonganj (Jharkhand), Pataudi (Haryana), Osmanabad and Sawantwadi (Maharashtra), Shillong (Meghalaya) and more.
To provide readers with insight into the food-ordering habits of small-town residents, Zomato said that Chicken Biryani has been the most-ordered non-veg item in these cities, while Masala Dosa took the pole position in the veg category. The company also sought to dispel notions that it is growing too fast for its own good, saying many of the new markets are not only clocking impressive numbers but also registering high-value orders, including a single order worth Rs. 6,995 in Nagaur, Rajasthan, with a population of 1.3 lakh.
