Zomato has officially ended its ‘Legends’ service, a unique offering that aimed to deliver specialty food items from distant cities to customers across the country. The service allowed customers in Delhi, for instance, to order authentic dhoklas from Gujarat. However, despite the company’s efforts to make this ambitious idea work, the service was discontinued due to a lack of “product-market fit.”
Initially launched as ‘Zomato Legends,’ the service was put on hold in April 2024 after struggling to gain traction. It was reintroduced in July 2024 under the name “Intercity Legends,” with an increased minimum order value of ₹5,000 in an attempt to make the venture profitable. However, even this strategic move was not enough to sustain the service.
Update on Zomato Legends – after two years of trying, not finding product market fit, we have decided to shut down the service with immediate effect.
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) August 22, 2024
Zomato CEO made the announcement
Zomato’s CEO, Deepinder Goyal, made the announcement on the social media platform X, stating, “Update on Zomato Legends—after two years of trying, not finding product market fit, we have decided to shut down the service with immediate effect.”
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Following the announcement, the comment section on Goyal’s post was filled with reactions from followers, many of whom were hearing about Zomato Legends for the first time. This lack of awareness highlighted a significant issue with the service’s marketing efforts. One user commented, “I am hearing about Zomato Legends for the first time today through this post… lol. It shows how bad the marketing and service were.” Another echoed this sentiment, saying, “I guess it was not marketed well. Not many people know about Zomato Legends.”
Some users were curious about the challenges the service faced, with one asking, “What was the biggest challenge scaling it?” In response, Vibhor Varshney, a SEBI Registered Research Analyst, offered an analysis, pointing out several factors that contributed to the service’s downfall: “There are many reasons. 1—services were never marketed. 2—who likes stale food like hours-old chole bhature? 3—it was too costly.”
The failure of Zomato Legends is not an isolated incident for the company. In July 2024, Zomato also shut down its ‘Zomato Xtreme’ hyperlocal goods delivery service due to poor demand. Launched a year earlier, Zomato Xtreme was an attempt by the food delivery giant to compete with established players like Shadowfax, Porter, and Loadshare in the intracity package delivery space. The service aimed to offer fast delivery of goods across nearly all of India’s 750-800 cities, but it ultimately failed to carve out a niche in the competitive market.
