Zomato doubles consumer reach for merchants

Zomato introduces ads on the mobile app, doubles consumer reach for merchants

Auckland, 26 November, 2014: Zomato, the popular global restaurant search and discovery service has announced the introduction of advertisements on its mobile apps, marking a significant leap in the value it brings to restaurants advertising on Zomato. Users will now see in-line ads for restaurants contextual to their search and location, appearing on search result pages.

Zomato first launched its mobile apps in 2011 for Android, iOS, and BlackBerry; an app for Windows Phone was added subsequently. Today, more than 50% of Zomato's 30,000,000+ monthly visits come from its mobile apps across the globe, testimony to the fact that local search is moving to mobile very quickly.

Zomato's revenue model is based on hyper-local advertising contextual to the user search criteria, where users searching for a type of restaurants in a particular area see ads for other relevant dining establishments in and around that location; this allows restaurant businesses to target customers already searching for dining options in their catchment area. At present, over 4500 restaurant businesses in 15 countries globally advertise on Zomato, with the number of merchants increasing by the day. Zomato's mobile focus is also accompanied by the recently launched Zomato for Business application – an app built exclusively to help business owners engage with customers and drive business.

Speaking about the introduction of ads on their mobile apps, Zomato Co-Founder and COO, Pankaj Chaddah, said, “Merchants have been eagerly waiting for this for a while, but we took our time as we wanted the ads to be as relevant to the consumer as possible. We experimented a bit over the past few months, and we believe we have the right product in place now. This increases the reach of our advertisements by 100%. We have been focusing on mobile as a company for a while now and this accompanied by The Zomato for Business app, which is already gaining traction steadily, holds great promise.”

“Working with Zomato ads have been a game changing experience for our restaurants for our hotels. The investment is well worth it. The increased exposure and customers that we are getting via the mobile ads is really helping to drive the traffic we need to our restaurants not only in times of need but in general as well. We consider Zomato not only our partners in business but an integral part of our plans for the foreseeable future for all our restaurants online advertising needs. Truly a one stop shop for more footfall.” said, Aftab Sayed, Senior eCommerce Manager, Dubai Marriott Hotels.

Kirsty Cardy, Country Manager, Zomato New Zealand adds, “With the introduction of mobile ads, Zomato now offers business owners the opportunity to reach out to an even larger audience. This adds value to both users and restaurant owners. It’s a given that an app that simplifies the user experience is here to stay.”

Some facts about Zomato

• Zomato employs over 900 people across 19 countries.

• Zomato has raised in excess of USD 113 million, over multiple rounds of funding from investors – Vy Capital, Indian e-commerce giants Info Edge (India) Limited, and Silicon Valley investors Sequoia Capital.

• Available across web and mobile, Zomato sees over 30 million visits across its web and mobile platforms every month. Traffic has grown by over 300% in the past year.

• Zomato has acquired 4 companies globally in the recent past. These acquisitions include MenuMania in New Zealand, Lunchtime in the Czech Republic, Obedovat in Slovakia, and Gastronauci in Poland.

• Zomato expanded further in Europe today with the launch of a section for Dublin, Ireland.

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