What were the hurdles Zomato faced when they introduced their food delivery services in India?   Q2: How Zomato use the “flywheel effect” to increase its customer base?

Understanding Business
12th Edition
ISBN:9781259929434
Author:William Nickels
Publisher:William Nickels
Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment
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Q1: What were the hurdles Zomato faced when they introduced their food delivery services in India? 

 Q2: How Zomato use the “flywheel effect” to increase its customer base?             

Case Study
increases switching costs for customers, imposing significant barriers to entry for new players.
Network Effects: For most modem tech companies, the bigger the network, the more valuable the
company. There are three types of network effects: direct network effects, indirect network effects,
and data network effects. Tech companies like Facebook and LinkedIn benefit from direct network
effects. Each new customer joining Facebook or LinkedIn creates value for an existing customer
because both customers can now create direct links with each other, even if they're located in
different places. The thousandth customer joining the network creates more vahue than the tenth,
fiftieth, or hundredth customer, because the thousandth customer can create 999 new links, while
the tenth can create just nine links. Tech companies like Netflix, Amazon, Uber, and Zomato don't
have direct network effects. If a new customer joins Zomato, they don't create a direct new link
with current customers. Similarly, a new restaurant joining Zomato doem't create value for current
restaurants using Zamato. However, in a two-sided platform like Zomato, there are indirect
network effects. The greater the number of customers, the greater the vahue for restaurants and vice
versa. Now customers have more choices, restaurants have a bigger market, and the delivery
network can be utilized more efficiently. More important, Zomato benefits from data network
effects. Every new customer and restaurant contributes valuable data that Zomato can use to
improve the value proposition for all existing users by enhancing the quality and depth of
feedback, understanding usage habits, optimizing logistics, troubleshooting, and growing the
repository of local tastes and preferences. Machine leaming keeps improving these insights.
Zomato can now provide more personalized recommendations for each customer and better
connect restaurants to their target customers based on collective leaming across its customer base.
This improvement, when coupled with increases in the mumber of delivery agents and restaurants
that get attracted to the bigger market, improves the options of products and services while
lowering costs. Zomato calls it a "flywheel effect," and every new customer and supplier joining
the network adds to the flywheel's momentum.
Ecosystems that Boost Expansion with Minimal Costs: A modem tech company can leverage
its relationships with customers to deliver new lines of products and services. Companies that rely
on ecosystem partners' assets can achieve this at little additional cost. Consider Apple's use of the
iPhone and Amazon's use of Echo devices to sell apps, music, games, and videos produced by
third parties - and doing so using their own payment services. Apple and Amazon then take a cut
from each dollar flowing through their systems. Similarly, Zomato can extend its offering of
restaurant food to include pre-sorted, ready-to-cook ingredients; in fact, it's already leveraging its
relationships with restaurants to source ingredients for them. The same concept, however, does not
apply equally to Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, and Zomato. Large parts of their revenues are passed on
to suppliers, such as restaurants (Zomato), car drivers (Uber), and homeowners (Airbnb). In
addition, Amazon and Zomato must pay their delivery agents. But improvements in scale,
kmowledge about suppliers, and increases in bargaining power cut those variable costs. Futuristic
technologies like drones, robotics, and autonomous vehicles can further reduce delivery costs.
Increased scale improves unit economics - the profits obtained from each new unit of transaction
- by improving revenues and lowering per-unit costs. Rapid growth thus becomes an inherent
part of a firm's strategy.
It's noteworthy that asset-light "tech" companies that display these six characteristics have
commanded large valuations in the 21st century. As of July 2021, the combined market
capitalization of FAANG companies (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) plus
Microsoft stands at almost $9 trillion, which exceeds the GDPS of all nations in the world except
two. So Zomato's high valuation shouldn't come as a big surprise. After all, it's a proven tech
Title: What Zomato's $12 Billion IPO Says about Tech Companies Today
In mid-July, Zomato, a food delivery company, listed its shares in Indian stock markets. Its
initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed 35 times, giving it a valuation of $12 billion. Why
does a loss-making company - with no real properties or assets - command such high valuation
and attract global celebrity investors like Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Canadian Pension Fund, and
the Singapore Govermment? Despite operating a traditional food business, Zomato epitomizes a
modem tech company. Like DoorDash and SkipTheDishes, it delivers ready-to-eat food to homes
without owning farms, food stores, restaurants, warehouses, trucks, or delivery vehicles. Its
business model is similar to those of other tech companies like Uber, Amazon, and Aironb, but
differs subtly from the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn.
Rapid industry transformation: Zomato aims to transform the eating habits of 1.36 billion
people in India, where 90% of the population doesn't eat at restaurants. Compare that to China,
where 58% of people routinely eat at restaurants. Previously, there were two hurdles to dining out
in India. The first was sheer logistics: Just 2% of Indian households own cars (compared to almost
98% of U.S. households). The second was cultural taboo: Some people would never eat food
cooked in someone else's kitchen. Zomato clears both of these hurdles. It gives a new segment of
the population access to restaurant food by delivering it with the touch of a button. It also brings
down cultural bariers by encouraging users to provide feedback- people will be less reluctant to
try restaurant food when they see their own family members or people from their oun caste and
peer groups doing so and providing recommendations about dishes and restaurants. WWhile a food-
delivery app may feel familiar to many of us, Zomato potentially transforming the eating habits of
a huge number of people is no less ambitious than what Uber or Airbnb set out to do. Uber
empowers millions to get rides from strangers and now employs more cars than any taxi company
in the world. This virtual shared ownership creates value for people by improving asset utilization
and lowering the risks that come with asset ownership.
Low capital costs yet extremely valuable local assets. Google Search, Airbnb, Yelp, Uber,
LinkedIn, and Facebook share one common feature: They have scalable virtual models that can be
magnified exponentially with few additions to their asset bases. This is unlīke a company like, say,
Ford or Target that would require land, factories, distribution centers, or warehouses to expand Put
another way, tech companies can expand their revenues and income statements with little addition
to their balance sheets. Zomato, a multibillion-dollar company, doesn't even oun an
office Nevertbeless Zomato differs from other tech giants in one important respect: Companies
like Google and Facebook can serve a foreign country without having a physical presence there. In
contrast, Zomato enters new cities only after establishing relationships with local restaurants,
assessing their offerings, and working with them to improve their menus and pricing. It also
identifies, evaluates, and appoints local delivery agents. Zomato thus invests large amounts in local
relationships and local knowledge - soft assets that cannot be easily replicated by competitors.
Customer Intimacy: Modem tech companies collect, store, organize, and analyze years of user
data. This data is virtual gold, as it enables companies to rum targeted ads and personalize the
customer experience. The key difference between a customer walking into a Walmart supercenter
and Amazon's online store is that Amazon instantaneously reorganizes the whole store (layout,
displays, product offerings, etc.) in a way that's tailor made for that customer. Similarly, Zomato
or Uber Eats cam track a customer's tastes, need for discounts and preferences in tems of cuisine,
delivery time, and price and combine those insights with local food trends, seasonality, and
holidays and festivals to offer a customized menu instantaneously. This level of customer intimacy
Transcribed Image Text:Case Study increases switching costs for customers, imposing significant barriers to entry for new players. Network Effects: For most modem tech companies, the bigger the network, the more valuable the company. There are three types of network effects: direct network effects, indirect network effects, and data network effects. Tech companies like Facebook and LinkedIn benefit from direct network effects. Each new customer joining Facebook or LinkedIn creates value for an existing customer because both customers can now create direct links with each other, even if they're located in different places. The thousandth customer joining the network creates more vahue than the tenth, fiftieth, or hundredth customer, because the thousandth customer can create 999 new links, while the tenth can create just nine links. Tech companies like Netflix, Amazon, Uber, and Zomato don't have direct network effects. If a new customer joins Zomato, they don't create a direct new link with current customers. Similarly, a new restaurant joining Zomato doem't create value for current restaurants using Zamato. However, in a two-sided platform like Zomato, there are indirect network effects. The greater the number of customers, the greater the vahue for restaurants and vice versa. Now customers have more choices, restaurants have a bigger market, and the delivery network can be utilized more efficiently. More important, Zomato benefits from data network effects. Every new customer and restaurant contributes valuable data that Zomato can use to improve the value proposition for all existing users by enhancing the quality and depth of feedback, understanding usage habits, optimizing logistics, troubleshooting, and growing the repository of local tastes and preferences. Machine leaming keeps improving these insights. Zomato can now provide more personalized recommendations for each customer and better connect restaurants to their target customers based on collective leaming across its customer base. This improvement, when coupled with increases in the mumber of delivery agents and restaurants that get attracted to the bigger market, improves the options of products and services while lowering costs. Zomato calls it a "flywheel effect," and every new customer and supplier joining the network adds to the flywheel's momentum. Ecosystems that Boost Expansion with Minimal Costs: A modem tech company can leverage its relationships with customers to deliver new lines of products and services. Companies that rely on ecosystem partners' assets can achieve this at little additional cost. Consider Apple's use of the iPhone and Amazon's use of Echo devices to sell apps, music, games, and videos produced by third parties - and doing so using their own payment services. Apple and Amazon then take a cut from each dollar flowing through their systems. Similarly, Zomato can extend its offering of restaurant food to include pre-sorted, ready-to-cook ingredients; in fact, it's already leveraging its relationships with restaurants to source ingredients for them. The same concept, however, does not apply equally to Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, and Zomato. Large parts of their revenues are passed on to suppliers, such as restaurants (Zomato), car drivers (Uber), and homeowners (Airbnb). In addition, Amazon and Zomato must pay their delivery agents. But improvements in scale, kmowledge about suppliers, and increases in bargaining power cut those variable costs. Futuristic technologies like drones, robotics, and autonomous vehicles can further reduce delivery costs. Increased scale improves unit economics - the profits obtained from each new unit of transaction - by improving revenues and lowering per-unit costs. Rapid growth thus becomes an inherent part of a firm's strategy. It's noteworthy that asset-light "tech" companies that display these six characteristics have commanded large valuations in the 21st century. As of July 2021, the combined market capitalization of FAANG companies (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) plus Microsoft stands at almost $9 trillion, which exceeds the GDPS of all nations in the world except two. So Zomato's high valuation shouldn't come as a big surprise. After all, it's a proven tech Title: What Zomato's $12 Billion IPO Says about Tech Companies Today In mid-July, Zomato, a food delivery company, listed its shares in Indian stock markets. Its initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed 35 times, giving it a valuation of $12 billion. Why does a loss-making company - with no real properties or assets - command such high valuation and attract global celebrity investors like Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Canadian Pension Fund, and the Singapore Govermment? Despite operating a traditional food business, Zomato epitomizes a modem tech company. Like DoorDash and SkipTheDishes, it delivers ready-to-eat food to homes without owning farms, food stores, restaurants, warehouses, trucks, or delivery vehicles. Its business model is similar to those of other tech companies like Uber, Amazon, and Aironb, but differs subtly from the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn. Rapid industry transformation: Zomato aims to transform the eating habits of 1.36 billion people in India, where 90% of the population doesn't eat at restaurants. Compare that to China, where 58% of people routinely eat at restaurants. Previously, there were two hurdles to dining out in India. The first was sheer logistics: Just 2% of Indian households own cars (compared to almost 98% of U.S. households). The second was cultural taboo: Some people would never eat food cooked in someone else's kitchen. Zomato clears both of these hurdles. It gives a new segment of the population access to restaurant food by delivering it with the touch of a button. It also brings down cultural bariers by encouraging users to provide feedback- people will be less reluctant to try restaurant food when they see their own family members or people from their oun caste and peer groups doing so and providing recommendations about dishes and restaurants. WWhile a food- delivery app may feel familiar to many of us, Zomato potentially transforming the eating habits of a huge number of people is no less ambitious than what Uber or Airbnb set out to do. Uber empowers millions to get rides from strangers and now employs more cars than any taxi company in the world. This virtual shared ownership creates value for people by improving asset utilization and lowering the risks that come with asset ownership. Low capital costs yet extremely valuable local assets. Google Search, Airbnb, Yelp, Uber, LinkedIn, and Facebook share one common feature: They have scalable virtual models that can be magnified exponentially with few additions to their asset bases. This is unlīke a company like, say, Ford or Target that would require land, factories, distribution centers, or warehouses to expand Put another way, tech companies can expand their revenues and income statements with little addition to their balance sheets. Zomato, a multibillion-dollar company, doesn't even oun an office Nevertbeless Zomato differs from other tech giants in one important respect: Companies like Google and Facebook can serve a foreign country without having a physical presence there. In contrast, Zomato enters new cities only after establishing relationships with local restaurants, assessing their offerings, and working with them to improve their menus and pricing. It also identifies, evaluates, and appoints local delivery agents. Zomato thus invests large amounts in local relationships and local knowledge - soft assets that cannot be easily replicated by competitors. Customer Intimacy: Modem tech companies collect, store, organize, and analyze years of user data. This data is virtual gold, as it enables companies to rum targeted ads and personalize the customer experience. The key difference between a customer walking into a Walmart supercenter and Amazon's online store is that Amazon instantaneously reorganizes the whole store (layout, displays, product offerings, etc.) in a way that's tailor made for that customer. Similarly, Zomato or Uber Eats cam track a customer's tastes, need for discounts and preferences in tems of cuisine, delivery time, and price and combine those insights with local food trends, seasonality, and holidays and festivals to offer a customized menu instantaneously. This level of customer intimacy
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