What is the fuss?
In this digital age, most of us, at least those living in Metros/Tier1 cities, rely on online ordering. Be it ordering for food (Swiggy/Zomato), or groceries (Swiggy Instamart, Zomato’s Blinkit, or BigBasket). While ordering online, we look for discounts, bundles, cashbacks — you name it. Nothing sparkles more than a x% discount coupon on an essential purchase.
This post is to tell you how to avail flat 10% discount on your online orders on Swiggy/Zomato, and other sites such as Bigbasket. Yes, 10% flat discount, no conditions to be met. And this discount is on top of other discounts Swiggy/Zomato may give you. Feels unreal? It is, and yet is real. Lets jump into the goodies.
Step 1: Buy Discounted Gift Cards
This is the meaty step. Let me give some context, then tell you how to act on it.
What is your monthly spend on food/grocery ordering?
First off, you should know ballpark how much you spend monthly on Swiggy or Zomato. If you only order food on weekends, it might be somewhere INR 3–4k per month. If you order dinner daily, then it will be higher . If you use Swiggy/Zomato when you throw in a party, or have guests over, then it will be a little higher.
So, now you know the amount you spend monthly on Swiggy/Zomato. This can also include the food you order for your flatmates, or your family. Now, the part to act, is to go and buy a Gift Card for Swiggy or Zomato.
Buy Gift Card with flat cashback
What is a Gift Card you ask? It is a online digital money. You can redeem Gift Cards on the corresponding app, and the money associated with Gift Card will be transferred to the respective app. Below are snapshots of Digital Money via Gift Cards available on Zomato, Swiggy, and Bigbasket (right to left).
To promote digital spending, these apps, in partnership with Amazon and other sellers run various discount offers. Two such offers are shown below — 8% cashback on Swiggy Gift Card, and 9% cashback on Zomato Gift Card.
In this first step, you buy Gift Cards on Amazon, or other sites which offer discount or cashback. On Amazon, this cashback will be credited to your Amazon Pay Balance, and can be used to make purchases on Amazon, and other apps such as Uber/Ola etc. Interestingly, Amazon Pay Balance can also be used to pay on Swiggy/Zomato. So voila, you can get back flat 8% to 9%, and use it back on these food delivery sites.
Website link of 9% off on Zomato Gift Card is here.
Website link of 8% off on Swiggy Gift Card is here.
These links are live in May 2023. As the promotions change over time, you may want to search for latest gift card promotions on amazon.
Step 2 — Credit Card Cashbacks/Discounts
In step 1, you availed 8–9% flat cashback on the Gift Cards. In the second step, you use a credit card of your choice to get 2–3% cashback.
My preferred credit card for this purpose is Amazon Pay ICICI credit card, which gives 2% flat cashback on purchase of Gift Cards on Amazon (link here).
Combine Step 1 and Step 2, and you get 10–11% flat cashback on Swiggy and Zomato. Cool! So the next time you order a biryani on Zomato using Zomato Credits, which cost you INR 300, you actually save INR 33 on that order using above two steps!
What about App specific offers?
You can avail app specific offers as well! Zomato and Swiggy give various offers on their app, which is separate and on top of cashbacks mentioned in step 1 and 2 above.
Swiggy and Zomato offer many cashbacks such as ‘TryNew’ when you try a new menu item or restaurant, ‘MissedYou’ when you come back to order from a restaurant after a long time, or special discounts during IPL season etc.
Why should I purchase Gift Card in advance?
Advance planning will save you money, that is why. Remember the exercise we did in Step 1 section, where I asked you to calculate the monthly spends on Swiggy/Zomato? This will help you know how much you will spend in 1–2 months time. And you can purchase just that amount of Gift Card. Lets say you only spend INR 3K per month on food delivery apps, so purchase a Gift Card of value INR 3k to INR 6k, which will be used in 1–2 months time.
Do Gift Cards expire?
Yes, Gift Cards typically expire after one year of redemption. Some gift cards expire in 6 months time after redemption as well. You can check the expiry during / after redemption. It is recommended to buy a gift card which you can use within two months time.
Do other sites sell Gift Cards?
Yes. Many sites and apps nowadays sell branded gift cards. One such example is Onecard gift card store (refer image below).
However, on Onecard, you do not get flat cashback. You get valueback, in terms of Onecard coins. Once you have collected enough coins, you can redeem that at a conversion rate, and then shave off this value against your credit card bill. All this sounds confusing, and is actually slightly confusing, and bit more complex to implement.
Hence, I usually go to amazon to get flat cashback offers. These offers are simple to use, and plan ahead. You get to know what you are getting back instantly. The amazon cashbacks are automatically credited within 2–3 minutes of purchase completion to your amazon pay balance.
Parting Thoughts
You might wonder why will someone give you flat cashback, just like that? Well, it is a win-win game. Amazon and Zomato/Swiggy win by driving online ordering, and digital payment behaviour among you. You win by getting a cashback, and a smooth one click payment experience.
These sort of cashbacks and discounts may not last forever. So, make hay while the sun shines.
Do you know a way to get higher discounts on online ordering? Share in the comments below.
Happy ordering!
