India is definitely one of those markets where food delivery works differently from the rest of the world.

For example, while advertisement on aggregators is really only getting traction in the West in India, it has been around since the very early days of the food delivery market. Since the basket order value is generally quite small and restaurant competition is very high, platforms quickly realized the real money is actually in charging for customer eyeballs and helping restaurants to convert better.

See, it all starts with attracting customers and both Swiggy and Zomato have never been shy in their marketing campaigns to attract more eyeballs. Zomato has been known for trying out risky approaches towards content marketing, like when it advertised on Pornhub using sexual innuendos, or when it took out billboards that played on word puns that reminded folks of profanities

With hyperlocal delivery proposition that Dunzo had created, the company also came out with Dunzo FoodCourt, adding Restaurant delivery proposition to its customers. But worth mentioning that company is definitely lacking the focus on this side and needs major upgrade in Restaurant positioning and proposition.

Food is a highly visual subject, and appetizing photos have the power to evoke strong emotions. I am sure we have all been through this: whenever we see a mouthwatering image of a food item, our eyes widen and our taste buds tingle with excitement.

For example Zomato, instead of relying solely on professionally taken images, the platform showcases actual meals experienced by customers. These enticing food photos create a visual feast for potential customers, enticing them to try out the featured dishes.

Both companies are constantly working on improving the content featured on their platforms to enhance both UX and the quality of pictures on menus. While working through massive amounts of restaurant pictures is very challenging, companies like OCUS, are helping to optimize their content through the network of its photographers and AI solutions.

“We’ve led globally in sourcing photographers for Food Tech menu photos. Now, we’re using AI to automate partner-submitted photo QA and enhancement, plus offering performance analytics. Our solutions ensure high-quality, conversion-focused images and correlate their impact on revenue.” Thibaud Lemonnier CEO of OCUS.

It’s not only about content but also about data! From a technological perspective, Swiggy recently launched its Network Expansion Launchpad to help restaurants get access to more data to scale while, Zomato introduced its Food Trends platform, which provides insights by analyzing data from millions of transactions across hundreds of cities in India.