The two-month-long Indian Premier League (IPL), which concluded on Sunday, has brought the much-needed cheer to food services majors after a slow January-March period. The March quarter for quick-service restaurants (QSRs) was characterised by either flat, low or declining sales growth as inflationary pressures weighed on the consumer sentiment.
The April-May period, in contrast, has been better from a sales perspective, largely because of the IPL, said sector experts. Interactions with restaurant industry executives and sources across cities reveal that the period has seen online food orders for QSRs increase by at least 15-20% on key match days versus regular days.
Data by mobile app intelligence platform Sensor Tower, sourced from the industry, show that downloads of food apps such as Domino’s, Swiggy and Zomato increased by about 2-4 million in April-May, compared with February-March, as consumers enjoyed IPL matches over food and beverages.
“Restaurants are rapidly seeing the opportunity that food and sports as a combination can provide,” said Karan Taurani, senior vice-president – research at Elara Capital. “The IPL this year was the first one in three years to be held like it used to be before the pandemic at multiple venues across cities. Food services majors have capitalised on the momentum that the return of IPL to its home-and-away format has provided.”
In 2020, the tournament was postponed and then held in the Middle East. In 2021, it was split into two parts, with the second half of the tournament being held in the United Arab Emirates. In 2022, the matches were played in a few venues in Maharashtra, though the playoffs were held in Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The final match was played in Ahmedabad.
This year, not only QSRs, even dine-in restaurants have seen footfalls increase by at least 20% on key match days, with people savouring foods and drinks while watching the game on big screens.
“We put up large screens at two of our outlets in Mumbai – Andheri and Lower Parel – for those wanting to have a big-screen experience of the IPL,” says Anurag Katriar, executive director and CEO, deGustibus Hospitality, which runs the Indigo Deli restaurants in the city. “And the response we received was good,” he said, adding that since the FIFA Football World Cup 2022, eateries have noticed that customers want a community experience of big sporting events. “With community viewing, comes the need for food and drinks, which helps eateries improve footfalls and sales.”
What has also helped, say analysts at Bank of America Securities, is the aggressive discounts offered by delivery apps as well as dine-in restaurants to cash in on the momentum. Swiggy and Zomato have offered users IPL-related discounts (20-30%) as well as in-app score prediction analysis to retain customers. The emergence of ONDC in food delivery, riding on steep discounts (up to 50-60%), has also given a boost to food orders during the IPL season, some experts said.
QSRs such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Domino’s and Pizza Hut have pushed value meals and combo offers to drive up sales during the period. In its latest earnings call, Kapil Grover, chief marketing officer at Restaurants Brands Asia, which runs Burger King outlets, said the company had launched a new value meal option at Rs 99 in nearly 80 stores over the last few months, coinciding with the IPL season.
“We have seen some good early signs of dine-in traffic growing with the new value meal at Rs 99,” Grover said. “Our consumers have really liked the idea of getting a full affordable filling meal at a very attractive price point. We have since scaled up the promotion and will push it aggressively across online and offline channels.”