Instagram collaborates with Swiggy, Zomato for food ordering via Stories

Instagram has added a customised sticker to its stories that allows viewers to order food from specific restaurants via Swiggy and Zomato.

In an effort to support small businesses as they look to get back to business, Instagram today announced the rollout of the food order sticker in India. The sticker will help businesses from the food industry stay in touch with their customers and allow customers to place an order, directly from an Instagram story. Tapping on the sticker gives a user two options - to add a similar sticker to their own story or to order food from the specific restaurant's Swiggy/Zomato listing.

In a press release, the photo sharing app emphasised that small businesses are an important part of the Facebook and Instagram community. Many are facing immense challenges - including in the food sector - during these times. As the restrictions from the lockdown lessen, the food industry is looking for ways to get back to business, with heightened consumer sensitivity.

The note add that resuming normalcy in these sectors was happening through Instagram, with the use of Live’s for home cooking lessons and by sharing Stories of community relief efforts. Businesses can now share Instagram’s new food order sticker on their Stories, and people can tap to place their order through the Swiggy and Zomato app.

Nitin Chopra, industry head – e-commerce & retail, Facebook India, said, “At Facebook, we understand that small businesses are the backbone of local communities and bring people together. We want to do our part in helping them stay open, keep in touch with customers, and be informed on how to navigate this crisis. For the food industry in particular, we’re rolling out the food order sticker which will aid order discovery and spur engagement, and we’re glad to have partnered with Swiggy and Zomato for the same. We'll continue to work on features that make it easier to support the small businesses you care about.”

Srivats TS, VP - marketing, Swiggy, said, “Supporting the small business ecosystem, especially the restaurant business which is severely affected, is a huge priority for us. As physical distancing continues and businesses innovate with online models, features like the food order sticker from Instagram will aid engagement between customers and their favorite food businesses, and ideally have a positive impact on increasing online food delivery order volumes.”

Sandeep Anand, CMO - Growth Marketing, Zomato, said, “At Zomato, we are focused on the overall development of the food delivery sector and have been working with restaurants to design different growth models. Instagram’s food order sticker will not just help restaurants introduce themselves to more customers, improve their engagement but also add a new growth avenue for their business."

For restaurants, how this works:

• Businesses should have the latest version of the app and use an Instagram business or creator account.

• They can add one of our partner’s links (Zomato or Swiggy) for food orders to their Instagram profile.

• They can then share these links to their followers by using the ‘Food Order’ sticker in Stories, or share on their Instagram Profile with the “Order Food” button.

• For consumers, how this works:

• When people see options for food orders, they can tap to make the purchase through Zomato or Swiggy’s site.

• To spread the word, people can reshare the stickers with their followers.

This new food orders sticker is a part of Instagram’s ongoing efforts to safeguard and support small businesses during COVID-19. Earlier this month, Instagram also launched the Support Small Business sticker to help businesses reach new customers and stay connected to the people that they serve.