Zomato has partnered with Amazon Pay to offer enhanced rewards on food orders, allowing users who pay via Amazon Pay Balance to earn Zomato Money on every transaction 3% on weekdays and 5% on weekends.The collaboration signals a deeper convergence between food delivery, digital payments, and loyalty ecosystems, as platforms compete for wallet share in India’s everyday digital economy.
Why This Partnership Matters
Food delivery is one of the most frequent digital transactions in India—but also one of the most margin-sensitive.
Key dynamics driving this partnership include:
- Slowing growth in new user acquisition
- Rising focus on repeat usage and transaction stickiness
- Payments emerging as a retention and monetisation lever, not just a checkout option
By integrating rewards directly into payment behaviour, Zomato moves beyond discounts toward habit-forming incentives.
Payments as an Engagement Engine
For Zomato, the tie-up reinforces a clear strategy:
own the post-discount phase through loyalty and payments.
Zomato Money rewards:
- Encourage users to stay within the Zomato ecosystem
- Reduce dependence on deep, margin-eroding discounts
- Incentivise higher-frequency ordering, especially on weekends
Payments-linked rewards shift value creation from price cuts to repeat behaviour, improving long-term unit economics.
Amazon Pay’s Strategic Play: Everyday Relevance
For Amazon Pay, food delivery represents a high-frequency use case something many digital wallets struggle to achieve.
This partnership helps Amazon Pay:
- Increase balance usage and transaction velocity
- Strengthen relevance beyond ecommerce and bill payments
- Embed itself into daily consumption moments
In a crowded UPI-led market, frequency matters more than breadth.
Weekend Economics and Behavioural Design
The higher weekend reward (5%) is not incidental it reflects behavioural nudging.
- Weekends drive higher order volumes and basket sizes
- Rewards reinforce habitual “Friday-to-Sunday” ordering
- Zomato benefits from predictable demand spikes
This is data-informed incentive design, not generic cashback.
Strategic Implications for Platforms and Marketers
1. Payments Are Becoming a Growth Channel
Checkout is no longer the end it’s a retention touchpoint.
2. Loyalty Beats Discounts at Scale
Sustainable rewards outperform one-time offers in mature markets.
3. Partnerships Drive Ecosystem Lock-In
Cross-platform incentives increase switching costs without overt exclusivity.
The Zomato–Amazon Pay partnership reflects a broader shift in India’s digital economy:platforms are competing on ecosystems, not just services.As food delivery matures, growth will come from payments integration, loyalty loops, and behavioural intelligence, not aggressive discounting. For Amazon Pay, embedding into everyday habits strengthens long-term relevance; for Zomato, payments-led engagement offers a path to stickier users and healthier margins.This collaboration isn’t just about rewards it’s about owning frequency in a crowded digital landscape.
