Discounts, cashbacks on getting jabbed | Economic Times

Vaccination incentives offered by companies, thus far restricted to staff, have been extended to customers now. From discounts on beer, burgers, tea and cab rides, companies are promoting vaccination-linked incentives for consumers through 15-20% discounts, cashbacks and shopping vouchers.India’s largest organised burger and fries chain McDonald’s is offering 20% discount vouchers with the tagline, “Just another reason to get vaccinated ASAP.” The Beer Cafe is telling consumers that if “You got the jab, we got your tab.” Others like retail centre Select Citywalk are working on various “encouragement packages” for inoculated consumers. “Vaccination is an important step in the fight against the pandemic, one that requires all of us to work together including the consumers we serve,” said Rajeev Ranjan, chief operating officer at Connaught Plaza Restaurants, which operates 150 McDonald’s restaurants in north and east India.The Beer Cafe’s offer gives consumers a 10% discount on the first jab and 20% on second. “This is to tackle vaccine hesitancy and to reward the ones being vaccinated. We are telling our consumers: when there is beer, there should be no fear,” said Rahul Singh, founder of The Beer Cafe, which owns more than 35 outlets across the country.Executives said the latest initiatives are aimed at helping drive both demand and instill consumer confidence in their brands at a time when fear of the virus is stalling recovery, despite the graded easing of curbs in many cities.Upscale retail centre Select Citywalk, which reopened partially on Monday after a two-month gap, is working on multiple vaccination-linked consumer-focused discounts. “We are in the process of implementing encouragement packages for consumers who have been vaccinated. This could include free parking, retail vouchers and discounted foods and beverages for takeaways,” said Select Citywalk executive director Yogeshwar Sharma.The discounts are being offered on companies’ own apps, rather than those of aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato, on deliveries, dine-ins, as well as at retail centres that have started reopening in select cities.“We plan to incentivise vaccination by giving upfront discounts of about 15% to consumers. This will drive both consumer confidence and consumption, and is good for our workforce safety as well,” said Priyank Sukhija, chairman of First Fiddle Hospitality, which owns over a dozen restaurants and bars including Plum By Bent Chair, Lord of the Drinks and Lazeez Affaire.Tiger Global-backed tea cafe chain Chaayos is offering tea on the house for consumers who have got their first jabs. “We want to ensure safe dining experiences for consumers,” said Chaayos founder Nitin Saluja. The Chaayos workforce in Bengaluru is fully vaccinated, while half of those in Delhi and Mumbai have taken their jabs, all at company cost.Financial services platform BharatPe, for example, is running an instant cashback offer for its six million merchant partners if they upload vaccination certificates on the app.Cab-hailing aggregator Uber has told customers they can avail of rides worth Rs 300 to and from vaccination centres, while retail-tech startup Arzooo has rolled out a vaccination drive for electronics shop owners — it pays them Rs 400 for every worker vaccinated.