1 week Ago
Zomato has introduced a new feature, "Food Rescue," to address the high number of canceled orders on its platform—over 400,000 each month. Through Food Rescue, orders canceled by customers can now be claimed by nearby users at a discounted rate, providing them with food in its original, unopened packaging, delivered in minutes. Many netizens shared their thoughts on this new Zomato feature online.
But one suggestion from a Bengaluru man caught CEO Deepinder Goyal 's attention. The user, Bhanu from Bengaluru, shared some insights how Zomato could improve upon the Food Rescue feature. Bhanu highlighted potential areas for refinement, such as limiting the feature to prepaid orders rather than cash-on-delivery options.
He also suggested restricting the cancellation window, proposing that customers should not be allowed to cancel once the delivery partner is within 500 meters of their location. Additionally, Bhanu raised concerns about people potentially abusing the feature by ordering and cancelling meals in a coordinated way to exploit discounts. To mitigate such issues, he recommended allowing customers only a limited number of cancellations per month—two, to be precise.
— BhanuTasp (@BhanuTasp) Deepinder Goyal, impressed by Bhanu's insights, replied to him directly on X. While Goyal assured him that many of these safeguards were already in place, he expressed interest in Bhanu’s approach and asked to learn more about him professionally. This unusual job proposition sparked interest among followers, who were intrigued by Goyal's openness to hiring an external user simply based on his constructive suggestions.
Responding to Goyal’s interest, Bhanu shared that he works as a product manager at a startup in Bengaluru and enjoys offering feedback to companies like Zomato. He mentioned that he frequently tags Zomato and its sister company Blinkit in suggestions, showing a genuine interest in enhancing user experience on these platforms. In his original post about the Food Rescue feature, Goyal revealed that Zomato receives over 400,000 cancellations of perfectly edible food each month, despite a strict no-refund policy.
Instead of wasting this food, the new feature repurposes these orders by offering them to other customers nearby at a discounted rate. When a nearby user opts to buy the cancelled order, they receive it quickly, still in its original, untouched packaging. Zomato assures customers that only tamper-proof containers are used, emphasizing food safety.
The mechanics of the Food Rescue feature ensure that restaurant partners are compensated fairly. For every cancelled order, restaurants still receive full payment, and if another customer claims the order, they receive an additional portion of that payment. Zomato, on the other hand, is not keeping any profit from these resold orders, beyond covering applicable government taxes.
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