Deepinder Goyal accepts man’s suggestion for ‘Zomato Mehmaan mode’ to hide menu prices for guests

Deepinder Goyal said on social media that Zomato will roll out a new feature called ‘Mehmaan mode’ after a user pitched the idea on LinkedIn. The customer suggested a feature that would allow hosts to hide menu prices when passing their phone around to guests during group orders.Deepinder Goyal, who co-founded Zomato, is now the vice chairman and non-executive director of its parent company, Eternal. (File Photo)Ayushmaan Agarwalla, a marketing manager, tagged Goyal in a LinkedIn post and wrote, “Mehmaan Mode on Zomato. I have a small feature recommendation.”Also Read: Harshit Mulchandani recalls leaving Toronto job for Deepinder Goyal’s venture: ‘There wasn’t really a job to start’Explaining the idea, he added, “Zomato should have a simple ‘mehmaan mode’ – one that makes prices disappear; then phone can be passed around host without awkwardness to guests to order at ease. The host can then take the phone and make payment. I have witnessed the phone being passed around for orders increasingly.”The customer claimed that such a mode would save both hosts and guests from embarrassment and hesitation, especially during the festive season.Deepinder Goyal was quick to respond to the social media post. He shared, “Thanks for the suggestion. Shipping it this week,” adding, “Wish you the happiest festive season.”This is far from the first time the company’s leaders have acted on direct consumer input on social media to build real-time product features. In 2024, CEO and co-founder of Zomato-based Blinkit, Albinder Dhindsa, who is now the group CEO of Eternal, introduced a feature on the app after an X user named Ankit Sawant tweeted how his mother suggested that vegetable orders from the quick-commerce app should include free dhaniya.“Mom got a mini heart attack because she had to pay for dhaniya on Blinkit. @albinder – mom is suggesting that you should bundle it for free with a certain amount of veggies,” Sawant had tweeted. Within a few hours, Dhindsa responded, “It’s live! Everyone please thank Ankit’s mom. We will polish the feature in the next couple of weeks”. Following this, Zomato-owned Blinkit temporarily rolled out the feature.Also Read: Startup advisor recalls meeting with Deepinder Goyal during Zomato’s early days: ‘Deepi was bubbling with energy’In a separate incident in 2024, Goyal shared that he would love to work with an X user after the user suggested improvements to Zomato’s then-newly rolled-out ‘Food Rescue’ feature.At the time, reacting to the customer’s tweet, Goyal wrote, “All this and more already in place. Good thinking, btw. Who are you and what do you do? Would love to know you more, and see if we can work together?”