Swiggy India Admits Food Prices May Be Higher Online Vs At The Restaurant

Food aggregator and delivery apps have come under the lens in the recent past. Be it because of them luring customers through heavy discounts, or the fact that the quality of food is far from ideal. Another incident that has yet again brought food delivery app Swiggy in limelight is about the food prices online, that is, on the app are significantly higher than if had directly at the restaurant. A twitter user took to social media to point out how the prices were much higher on the Swiggy India app. This news comes just a day after Zomato India acquired the business of food aggregator app Uber Eats.

Slowly big discounts are coming down. In fact prices of food items in zomato or swiggy menu are 25 to 50% more than actual price of the same at restaurant. Delivery charges added. Home made food will always prevail.— Raju JVA (@raju_jva) January 20, 2020

The user claimed that there was a difference of at least 25% to 50% on the food aggregator app vis-a-vis the actual restaurant. Further, he alleged that delivery charges were also added to the high prices, which the customer had to bear entirely by himself as big discounts offered by the apps do not exist anymore. The Twitter user then concluded that home-cooked food would always prevail rather than restaurant food solely because of the above-mentioned reasons.

These claims were not left unanswered by the Swiggy India Twitter handle. Swiggy Cares, which is the helpline Twitter handle of food delivery app Swiggy, admitted to pricing differences online vs the food ordered directly from restaurants. The app's handle tweeted that they were trying to maintain transparency in their services, which extended to pricing on the food-ordering platform. They further added that the prices may be different online and offline at the discretion of the restaurant without any input from the app's end. Take a look at their response here:

Hi Raju, we understand your concern, and would like to inform you that we're trying to maintain transparency in our services & that extends to the pricing on the platform. However, the prices might be different online & offline as it is (cont) https://t.co/q3gmXjFAwA— Swiggy Cares (@SwiggyCares) January 20, 2020

But Swiggy Cares' response did not satisfy the consumer. Rather, he accused them of duping their consumers and denied the restaurants being involved in the price increase. To prove that his claims are not unfounded, he asked if he should share screenshots of the price differences. More users joined in the tweet thread and made further similar claims against Swiggy India.

In a world where everything is available at the touch of a button, the old saying 'consumer is king' holds true like never before. Now with just two major players left in the food delivery market making the competition stiffer, it is even more important to build a loyal customer base that stays true to the app. Short-lived discounts and offers would not help the case of these food aggregator apps, at least in the long run.