Swiggy, Hotstar come together to offer unique treat for cricket lovers this IPL season

As the cricket frenzy reaches a crescendo this March during the IPL, Swiggy, one of India’s major food ordering and delivery platforms, lives up to its promise of providing unparalleled convenience to its consumers yet again. In what is potentially a global first, Swiggy and Hotstar, India’s largest premium streaming platform, are coming together to allow consumers to order their favourite meal from Swiggy, without taking their eyes off a single ball. Swiggy POP, Swiggy’s curated single-serve meals from top restaurants across the neighbourhood, will be integrated on the Hotstar App making for a pleasurable viewing as well as food ordering experience. 

Commenting on this unique, first of its kind integration, Srivats TS, VP Marketing at Swiggy, said, “Our collaboration with Hotstar aims to satisfy the insatiable love we Indians have for Cricket and Food. We believe a nail biter of a match accompanied with great food is a delicious combination to serve up this cricketing season! We are extremely pleased to present this innovation in association with Hotstar. Through this, we hope to build a deeper bond with our cricket crazy fans by offering them an uninterrupted viewing and extremely convenient food ordering experience.” 

Swiggy’s food ordering analysis from the IPL cricketing season last year indicated an increase in online orders during the period. Considering the sporting event is all about action, suspense, drama and food, last year, Swiggy saw a 25 percent increase in order numbers during the season, compared to pre-season, with the highest number of orders received on the day of the finale.

This integration with Swiggy is part of Hotsar’s bid to provide viewers with an engaging experience for VIVO IPL 2019. With the motto of ‘Koi Yaar Nahi Far’, Hotstar is rolling out a first-ever social cricket-watching experience which will provide viewers the opportunity to invite, chat and compete with their friends and family. On the back of this, the streaming giant expects to reach over 300 million viewers, about 50% more than last year. For Swiggy, which has millions of users itself, this would mean an opportunity to innovatively engage with their existing customers whilst tapping newer ones as well, serving everybody their favourite dishes with absolute ease. 

Some interesting food ordering trends witnessed on Swiggy last year:

• Bengaluru topped the list for pizza orders as supporters watched their team win from losing positions and vice versa
• Chennai celebrated CSK’s return by ordering Chicken and Mutton Biryani which were the most ordered items. The city also ordered a record number of fries during their team’s matches with the one team that made them feel the heat: Sunrisers Hyderabad
• Though not among the qualifying four, the Kings XI was joined by their fans in their celebration with over 100% increase in orders for traditional Punjabi dishes like Kadai Paneer, Dal Makhni and Butter Nan in Chandigarh
• Jaipur too celebrated their team’s royal return to the tournament with a mix of Paneer Butter Masala, Kadai Paneer and Aloo Tikki Burger
• Cheering for Mumbai, cricket fans in the city opted to settle in with Dal Khichdi, making it the highest ordered food item during the IPL in Mumbai
• Finally, consumers in Delhi consoled themselves with a comfortable yet indulgent mix of Butter Nan and Dal Makhni

After achieving immense success last year, this is Swiggy’s second consecutive year as the Associate Sponsor of the sporting extravaganza.