Food delivery apps Swiggy and Zomato have received notices from Google stating that the in-app gamification feature used by both platforms violate its Play Store guidelines.
“We are a small company and have already realigned our business strategy to comply with Google’s guidelines. We will be replacing Zomato Premier League with a more exciting program by this weekend,” a company person said. A spokesperson for Swiggy declined to comment but said the restaurant discovery platform had temporarily paused its in-app gamification product.
For both the food delivery companies, major cricketing event IPL has been seen as the best time to attract a larger share of consumer minds as well as wallets, and gamification features were a part of increasing engagement on the app as Zomato and Swiggy do not operate any gaming platforms.
For food delivery businesses, IPL is a crucial time to push for customer acquisition, and transactions. In fact, food delivery sales have recovered an additional 10% in September over the previous month, to touch 85% pre-Covid-19 numbers, reported Zomato. While Delhi and Mumbai are nearing full recovery, with 95% of pre-Covid-19 sales, metros such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai are still behind the curve with 80% recovery. Some cities, such as Kolkata, Patna, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, and Siliguri have recovered completely and have exceeded pre-Covid-19 sales levels.
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