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Case study
Publication date: 20 November 2023

Sumeet Gupta and Sanjeev Prashar

This case is designed to facilitate students to comprehend the challenges an e-commerce firm faces when it attempts to monetize data network effects. The challenges faced by Zomato

Abstract

Learning outcomes

This case is designed to facilitate students to comprehend the challenges an e-commerce firm faces when it attempts to monetize data network effects. The challenges faced by Zomato are ideal for in-class debate and discussion. The following learning objectives can be fulfilled through this case: understanding the promises and issues raised by data network effects; comprehending the problems an e-commerce firm faces in re-configuration; illustrating the responsibility of an established e-commerce firm towards its stakeholders; and discussing how a firm should navigate its relationship with its stakeholders.

Case overview/synopsis

Zomato.com, the largest Indian food aggregator and delivery platform, was contemplating the launch of Zomato Instant, a 10-min food delivery. Currently, the company’s delivery model pivoted around delivering food within 30 min. Recently, Zomato acquired Blinkit, an online grocery shopping app that was positioned to deliver groceries in 10 min. Deepinder Goyal of Zomato felt that customers would soon be more discriminant in demanding quicker services, as they might not be comfortable with 30-min deliveries. Hence, Zomato’s business model must also be re-configured to provide 10-min deliveries. Armed with access to customer data, Goyal predicted items that could be prepared and delivered within 10 min from its dark stores and automated kitchens. Although the model seemed promising and the company was upbeat about it, Zomato Instant faced challenges on several fronts. From the human angle, the decision was criticized on social media, mainly around the violation of road regulations, road safety issues and pressure on the delivery personnel to perform. Many delivery personnel had fled this gig work to join their pre-COVID jobs. Even the Competition Commission of India had established an inquiry into Zomato’s anti-competitive practices using customer data.

Complexity academic level

This case is best taught as part of a curriculum in management programmes at the post-graduate level, in courses such as e-commerce, e-retailing, business models for electronic commerce and online entrepreneurship/new age entrepreneurship. In terms of the positioning in the course, this case could be used to demonstrate the challenges of re-configuration of an online platform.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Case study
Publication date: 1 March 2023

Zahy Ramadan and Jana Kanso

The learning outcomes are as follows:1. assess and evaluate the challenges affecting a mobile food aggregator platform’s business model and its effect on the customer journey in a…

Abstract

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes are as follows:

1. assess and evaluate the challenges affecting a mobile food aggregator platform’s business model and its effect on the customer journey in a developing market;

2. understand the relationship between the different stakeholders on such platform, namely, restaurants, end-users and the platform itself, and its implication on the customer journey; and

3. develop different potential marketing strategies under that business context that can be implemented and replicated in a given emerging market.

Case overview/synopsis

Zomato is an online restaurant aggregator and food delivery company that provides information, menus and user reviews of restaurants. While Zomato was growing exponentially in terms of number of users and listed restaurants, the platform had to constantly reinvent itself to stay competitive in light of increasingly aggressive competitors that were launching into the different markets it serves. Maya, the country manager of Zomato Lebanon, faced a key dilemma deciding which potential strategy to replicate from head office into the local market that would help her fend off rising competitors while still increasing the size of the market.

Complexity academic level

This case can be used mainly in senior undergraduate-level business school students. The case can be taught in courses covering marketing and strategy.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 8: Marketing.

Details

Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 2045-0621

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 16 December 2022

Avil Saldanha, Sathiyaseelan Balasundaram and Rekha Aranha

This case study provides students/managers an opportunity to learn about:▪ Learning objective 1: Critically analyse reasons for the disgruntlement of delivery partners of Zomato

Abstract

Learning outcomes

This case study provides students/managers an opportunity to learn about:▪ Learning objective 1: Critically analyse reasons for the disgruntlement of delivery partners of Zomato.▪ Learning objective 2: Evaluate Zomato’s moral obligations to gig workers in the absence of government regulations.▪ Learning objective 3: Analyse the drivers of well-being affecting e-commerce delivery partners.▪ Learning objective 4: Evaluate the welfare schemes undertaken by Zomato for its delivery partners and infer well-being measures that can be adopted to improve worker engagement.

Case overview/synopsis

The focus of this case was the crisis at Zomato as a result of the protests by gig workers engaged as delivery partners at the company. This case discussed the CEO’s dilemma in resolving the crisis. Zomato's business model was discussed to provide students an overview of the dynamics and challenges of online food delivery business; the company’s initiatives to enhance the robustness of its business model and the resulting media backlash questioning some of these initiatives that could endanger the lives of its delivery partners. In addition, this case explored the lack of regulatory provisions for gig workers in India. Finally, the options available to the protagonist to mitigate the crisis were discussed. The focal point was the well-being initiatives that the protagonist could consider implementing to address the concerns voiced by the delivery partners and encourage them to engage in Zomato's business with positivity.

Complexity academic level

The case is best suited for postgraduate and executive students studying Human Resources subjects in Commerce and Business Management streams.

Supplementary material

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Case study
Publication date: 28 April 2022

Ratna Achuta Paluri, Rishabh Upendra Jain and R. Sankara Narayanan

This case allows students to critically analyse the business model of Zomato which is a multi-sided platform/in the foodtech industry. It helps students to critically analyse how…

Abstract

Learning outcomes

This case allows students to critically analyse the business model of Zomato which is a multi-sided platform/in the foodtech industry. It helps students to critically analyse how firms enter into the global market to create value and maintain dominance over the local market (especially in a large market such as India). The case can also be used to introduce students to the business canvas model by analysing foodtech start-ups. The outcomes are as follows: to understand the Business Model Canvas as a tool to describe and analyse the foodtech business such as Zomato’s, based on its value proposition and the way it sells its services; to conduct a value chain analysis and analyse the business models adopted by foodtech companies; to understand how Zomato can aim at global value creation; and to design a clear growth strategy and evaluate Zomato’s options to internationalize or expand locally.

Case overview/synopsis

The year 2018 was an important year for Zomato as it geared up to chart new heights amidst the changing dynamics of the industry on one hand and a co-founder exiting the company on the other hand. Zomato was incepted in 2008 as a restaurant discovery platform offering users the ability to access restaurant menus and post online reviews. It provided a range of value-added services for both its restaurant partners and end customers. Its vertical integration enabled it to grow its revenues across its three lines of business, namely, dining out, delivery and sustainability. Zomato was an early internet start-up that expanded rapidly in the international markets. In the past ten years, the company both scaled and rolled back its operations with unique lessons learned in each market that paved its path for success both locally and globally. The domestic market was being dominated by a few large players sharing the market. Reports by market intelligence firms showed that Swiggy, the closest competitor was starting to dominate Zomato in India [1]. Deepinder, CEO, Zomato’s dilemma for adding value and increasing revenues by weighing options of whether the company should strengthen its presence in the domestic market, or, venture into foreign markets or serve both local and foreign markets.

Complexity academic level

This case is appropriate for postgraduate courses in Strategic Management or International Business.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 5: International Business.

Details

Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 2045-0621

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 8 April 2022

Nidhi Yadav and Sonu Goyal

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand and examine the strategies that help platforms fight competition and manage networks; to analyse the role of platform…

Abstract

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand and examine the strategies that help platforms fight competition and manage networks; to analyse the role of platform governance in the management of the networks and partners’ trust; and to evaluate the strategic risks of disintermediation and multi-homing firms face while trying to sustain profits and capture value.

Case overview/synopsis

The case presents the dilemma faced by Deepinder Goyal, the young founder and CEO of Zomato in formulating the growth strategy for its food delivery platform, struggling to retain its market leadership position amid intensifying competition and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zomato has become a public company with an IPO announced in mid of July 2021. Therefore, there is growing expectation for profitability among its shareholders and investors considering tailwinds of COVID-19 crisis, which have given the push towards adoption of food delivery among the customers. This has also resulted in increased competition in the industry. On other hand, there is growing dissatisfaction among its restaurant partners who have been hit hard by COVID-19 and struggling for survival. CEO Deepinder has to find how he will ensure the long-term growth for Zomato to tap the growing food delivery market in India and regain its restaurant partner’s trust.

Complexity Academic Level

The case is intended for post-graduate courses (MBA, PGDM) on digital business strategy or strategic management of technology-oriented businesses. The case can be used to understand the nature of competition and different strategies for platform-based businesses in the digital world. The case can also be used to study the role governance can play in efficient value creation and capture on the platform by the partner entities. Finally, the case also highlights how are platform businesses are coping with the Covid challenge. There are no specific prerequisites but knowledge on basic strategy concepts and platform business concepts will be good for better understanding. Level of difficulty is medium.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 11: Strategy.

Case study
Publication date: 8 August 2023

Jagandeep Singh

By analyzing and discussing the case, students should be able to identify macro environmental factors that impact business decision-making; apply Michael Porter’s five forces…

Abstract

Learning outcomes

By analyzing and discussing the case, students should be able to identify macro environmental factors that impact business decision-making; apply Michael Porter’s five forces framework; evaluate sources of synergy; understand the concept of disruptive innovation; choose sources of competitive advantage; apply the value proposition canvas; and apply tenets of Blue Ocean strategy.

Case overview/synopsis

The grocery retail market in India accounts for nearly 70% ($608bn) of the total retail market ($883bn). The brick-and-mortar multi-tiered distribution network for groceries encompasses a million wholesalers and distributors and 12 million retail outlets. These retail outlets serve as customer touch points where bulk of grocery shopping is done. The online grocery industry is a miniscule $5.5bn. High incomes, change in purchase behaviour, inclination towards speed and convenience on the demand side and alacrity on the supply side have paved the way for new format, quick commerce. Trends and forecasts suggest that quick commerce, a high cash burn business, will grow exponentially. Zomato has jumped onto the quick commerce bandwagon with the acquisition of loss-making Blinkit. The case analyses the quick commerce industry through the lens of Michael Porter’s five forces framework and the Blue Ocean strategy. It elaborates the profitability drivers of the industry and also examines the sources of synergy from the acquisition.

Complexity academic level

This case is suitable for a class on strategy in postgraduate-level courses. It can be used in a session on entrepreneurship and innovation.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 11: Strategy.

Details

Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 2045-0621

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2021

Shrawan Kumar Trivedi and Amrinder Singh

There is a strong need for companies to monitor customer-generated content of social media, not only about themselves but also about competitors, to deal with competition and to…

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Abstract

Purpose

There is a strong need for companies to monitor customer-generated content of social media, not only about themselves but also about competitors, to deal with competition and to assess competitive environment of the business. The purpose of this paper is to help companies with social media competitive analysis and transformation of social media data into knowledge creation for decision-makers, specifically for app-based food delivery companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Three online app-based food delivery companies, i.e. Swiggy, Zomato and UberEats, were considered in this study. Twitter was used as the data collection platform where customer’s tweets related to all three companies are fetched using R-Studio and Lexicon-based sentiment analysis method is applied on the tweets fetched for the companies. A descriptive analytical method is used to compute the score of different sentiments. A negative and positive sentiment word list is created to match the word present on the tweets and based on the matching positive, negative and neutral sentiments score are decided. The sentiment analysis is a best method to analyze consumer’s text sentiment. Lexicon-based sentiment classification is always preferable than machine learning or other model because it gives flexibility to make your own sentiment dictionary to classify emotions. To perform tweets sentiment analysis, lexicon-based classification method and text mining were performed on R-Studio platform.

Findings

Results suggest that Zomato (26% positive sentiments) has received more positive sentiments as compared to the other two companies (25% positive sentiments for Swiggy and 24% positive sentiments for UberEats). Negative sentiments for the Zomato was also low (12% negative sentiments) compared to Swiggy and UberEats (13% negative sentiments for both). Further, based on negative sentiments concerning all the three food delivery companies, tweets were analyzed and recommendations for business provided.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study reveal the value of social media competitive analysis and show the power of text mining and sentiment analysis in extracting business value and competitive advantage. Suggestions, business and research implications are also provided to help companies in developing a social media competitive analysis strategy.

Originality/value

Twitter analysis of food-based companies has been performed.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. 70 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 March 2022

Meenakshi N.

Food ordering apps have registered phenomenal growth during the pandemic and will continue to register high growth in the years to come. This paper has three objectives: first, to…

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Abstract

Purpose

Food ordering apps have registered phenomenal growth during the pandemic and will continue to register high growth in the years to come. This paper has three objectives: first, to differentiate between the sales funnel of traditional vs platform businesses; second, to understand the sales funnel optimization strategies of a leading food ordering app in India; and third, to draw lessons from these strategies to enable food ordering apps in particular, and platform businesses in general to achieve the goals of customer acquisition and retention in a highly competitive market.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on interviews conducted with company officials of two leading food delivery platforms in India, and a rich qualitative analysis of secondary data sources including news reports, government policies, reports and statistics from global consultancy firms. The interviews were analyzed to understand various stages of the sales funnel for the food ordering apps and the strategies implemented by the companies based on their understanding of the customer journey.

Findings

The findings of the study reveal that the sales funnel of a food ordering platform can be divided into three stages – top of the funnel (ToFu), middle of the funnel (MoFu) and bottom of the funnel. In the ToFu stage, the goal of the food ordering app is to create awareness about their brand and induce app download, which results in customer acquisition. In the MoFu stage, the food ordering app initiates personalized promotion strategies to trigger maximum orders via the app. The customer is then targeted for retention and referrals. Customer app navigation and order data are the most crucial inputs for navigating the sales funnel effectively.

Research limitations/implications

First, app-based service firms, especially food ordering platforms, can understand how the digital sales funnel can be optimized to generate an appropriate customer mix. Second, they need to understand various interventions at different stages of the sales funnel to move the customer from the app download to loyalty. Third, the food ordering platforms and app-based service firms need to understand how to use customer data to design customer relationship management strategies that can convert retention into referral strategies to expand the funnel.

Practical implications

Incumbents in the intensely competitive food ordering industry need to understand the process of customer acquisition and retention. An understanding of the digital sales funnel can enable them to achieve the right mix of customers in their fold. Other companies that offer app-based services can also understand various stages of the digital sales funnel, and how customers can be moved from one stage to the next one by planning appropriate interventions using app data.

Originality/value

The research contributes by offering clear insights on how food delivery platforms in India acquire and retain customers through an understanding of the digital sales funnel. The paper also offers insights on the interventions that are adopted by such firms to move customers from one stage of the sales funnel to the next one. The paper clearly brings out the value of the 3Rs for a food ordering platform – revenue, retention and referral.

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2021

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

This research paper performs a sentiment analysis on the tweets of three food delivery app companies operating in India – UberEats, Zomato, and Swiggy. Most of the incoming tweets from customers concerned ordering and the delivery tracking experience, as well as the quality of the food. The public nature of Twitter means data about competitors can be analyzed to carve out a competitive advantage. Leaders and managers are therefore advised to create a strategy for social media-based competitor monitoring and competitor analysis, and to boost the opportunities for customers to experience positive emotions when interacting with the company on Twitter.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Details

Strategic Direction, vol. 37 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0258-0543

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2022

Nidhi Yadav, Meenakshi N. and Parthasarathi Banerjee

This paper aims to explore the governance of external entities that lie outside the boundaries of digital platform firms by using the theoretical lens of the transaction cost…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the governance of external entities that lie outside the boundaries of digital platform firms by using the theoretical lens of the transaction cost theory (TCT). TCT offers alternative modes of governance for effectively managing transactions in market, hierarchy or hybrid scenarios providing a perfect framework to study platform governance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores governance issues between restaurant partners and online food delivery platforms in India via qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews of various stakeholders, including restaurant partners and platform managers.

Findings

The study reveals that information asymmetry, opportunism, control and trust deficit are the major strategic governance issues in online food delivery platforms.

Research limitations/implications

Though care had been taken to cover all types of restaurants, due to lockdown number of restaurants studied was restricted in number. Despite the restrictions, findings provided valuable insights into the governance issues of the digital platform. Challenging times like Covid-19 make the study even more crucial from the strategic perspective. The study also adds to the literature on platform governance and provides practical implications for account managers and policymakers.

Practical implications

The study uncovers various critical governance issues. These, if resolved using the right combination of governance mechanisms, will lead to increased partner participation and value creation on the platform.

Originality/value

Platforms outsource the value creation to external entities without having any hierarchical control over partners. The paper studies governance outside the boundaries of the firm using TCT. Hence, it helps to extend governance outside the boundaries of the firm.

Details

Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5038

Keywords

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