Zomato increased ad spends by 7.1% in Q2FY24

Zomato revealed Q2FY24 results on November 3, posting a Rs 36 crore net profit, a significant improvement from last year's Rs 251 crore net loss. Zomato reported a 71.46% YoY surge in its sales from operations, reaching Rs 2,848 crore, up from Rs 1,661 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Zomato's expenses on advertisements and sales promotion for the quarter ending on September 30 amounted to Rs 303 crores, marking a 7.1% increase from the previous quarter's Rs 283 crores, according to the company's BSE report. The half-yearly ad spends totaled Rs 586 crores.

The gross order value (GOV) for Zomato's B2C businesses increased by 47% YoY to Rs 11,422 crore. Zomato remains optimistic about Q3 growth due to festive season demand and the ICC Cricket World Cup. Zomato aims to add at least 100 net new stores in FY24, projecting a total of approximately 480 stores by March 2024.

In the June quarter, the food aggregator achieved its first consolidated net profit of Rs 2 crore, contrasting with a net loss of Rs 186 crore in the previous year. Quarterly revenue rose to Rs 2,416 crore from Rs 1,414 crore, and EBITDA loss reduced to Rs 48 crore from Rs 307 crore in the previous year.

Blinkit anticipates a 17% sequential growth in GOV due to increased order volume, marking a 68% YoY rise. On Blinkit's growth, Akshant Goyal, CFO, Zomato, “We have also seen festivals driving much stronger growth for quick commerce as compared to food delivery. With major festivals like Navratri, Dussehra, Diwali etc. lined up in the December quarter, we expect another high growth quarter from Blinkit”.

Zomato's "Gold" program reached 3.8 million members within three quarters of its launch, constituting nearly 40% of their food delivery GOV. Member additions to the Gold program almost doubled from the previous quarter. The company also announced a new nominal fee for every order.

Commenting on Zomato Gold, he said, “Starting Q2FY24, customers are being charged a nominal platform fee (in the range of Rs 2-5 per order) on every order, including those of Zomato Gold members. It is a small fee to make our economics better and viable in the long run. We make sure we keep our service affordable for our customers at all times”.