Zomato Founder and Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal on Thursday announced the launch of a new ‘dark mode’ for the food-delivery giant's mobile application. Goyal made the announcement in a social media post.
“Welcome to the dark side,” said Goyal in his post on X. “Being rolled out to everyone over the next few days,” he said.
Zomato Limited shares closed 4.94 per cent higher at ₹254.90 on Thursday, compared to ₹242.90 on Wednesday. The Zomato chief posted the new update after trading hours.
Deepinder Goyal also said the company has launched 30 per cent of the update now, and its 100 per cent rollout will happen on Sunday, September 8.
On Thursday, Zomato's shares surged as the global investment giant JP Morgan raised its target price to ₹261.60 per stock, fueling a 7.7 per cent rise in the early trading hours. This is the second-highest target price for Zomato after CLSA's price revision to ₹353 per share, as the company maintained an “overweight” rating.
The global investment giant cited Zomato's expansion of the Blinkit business, which has been successfully scaled in the majority of metro cities after Delhi NCR.
Blinkit’s expansion scale will boost monetisation through channel margins and advertising revenue. JP Morgan said the improved store-level economics were expected to enhance the company’s EBITDA outlook further. It believes that the brand is poised to make a huge impact on modern trade and the e-commerce business.
On the dark mode front, the company's launch has been well received by netizens, as most of them expressed their views of finally receiving a dark mode from their favourite food delivery business and the bigger picture of how the brand is addressing customer concerns.
“Thank you, Sir. Now, at 11pm when I order the pizza sleeping on my couch with lights off, I don’t have to get blinded by the flashing light on my phone,” said Dinesh, commenting on the executive's post. Many other users also appreciated Zomato's move.
While netizens like Abhishek Baxi thanked the food delivery platform for providing comfort to his eyes, Shreyam Sharma talked about how the move will enhance the user experience. Another user, Abhinav, noted, “If Swiggy doesn’t add this soon, I might have to switch.”
“It's refreshing to see a CEO actively engage with the community and keep them informed about changes. This level of openness fosters trust and excitement for what's to come,” said the handle Dazeinfo, highlighting Zomato CEO's active X profile.
