Zomato, Swiggy struggle to cope with demand on New Year’s Eve

Indians saw off 2020 with relief—and mountains of biryani and pizza.

Zomato and Swiggy saw record orders as people chose to ring in the New Year at home because of fears about the pandemic. People mostly chose biryanis and pizzas as they bade goodbye to 2020, according to food-delivery platforms and restaurateurs.

Zomato said it hit record gross merchandise value (GMV) on 31 December. The platform hit a peak of 4,254 orders a minute in the evening, co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said. Zomato’s GMV rose 60% from the previous year.

Rival Swiggy hit a peak of 5,500 orders per minute on the 31st evening and its base of new users doubled.