On New Year's Eve, food delivery giants like Zomato and Swiggy, alongside rapid commerce platforms like Blinkit and Zepto, experienced an unprecedented surge in orders and bookings compared to previous years, indicating a shift in celebration preferences toward home-based festivities.
Zomato's Founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, expressed enthusiasm about the future, noting an astounding volume of orders on New Year's Eve 2023, nearly matching the combined orders of the previous six years.
Blinkit's CEO, Albinder Dhindsa, highlighted their significant accomplishment, surpassing the total orders of New Year's Eve 2022 within a single evening, experiencing record-breaking orders, items sold, and rider gratuities.
Across Zomato and Blinkit, over 3.2 lakh delivery partners catered to India's needs during the festive night, reflecting the extensive demand for home-delivered services.
Individual instances of high-value orders, such as one worth Rs 33,683 in Lucknow on Blinkit and another worth Rs 48,950 on Swiggy Instamart in Kolkata, highlighted the scale of celebrations conducted from home.
Swiggy's CEO, Rohit Kapoor, shared the company's record-breaking success, emphasizing the exceptional growth in orders across Swiggy Food and Instamart, showcasing India's enthusiasm for the New Year.
Additionally, Zepto witnessed a significant surge in orders, serving 2.1 million more customers compared to the previous year, indicative of the platform's expanding user base.
Meanwhile, Oyo, a major hospitality player, noted a substantial surge in both domestic and international bookings for New Year's Eve, reporting a 37% increase in last-minute bookings compared to the previous year.
The surge in bookings was not limited to popular tourist destinations like Goa but extended to lesser-known places like Ayodhya, which experienced a remarkable 70% increase in Oyo app users.
This collective surge in orders, bookings, and app usage across various platforms signifies a clear trend of heightened demand for home-based celebrations and last-minute travel plans, reflecting a changing landscape in how people celebrate and engage in festivities.
(With Agency Inputs)
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