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District’s new ‘Stores’ section on the app allows users to locate stores dealing in apparel, footwear, accessories, home decor, and more

The company is luring users by giving out discount coupons for shopping at partner brands as well as instant discounts of 10% or up to INR 500

CFO Akshant Goyal said that Eternal expects to incur losses from this business in the near future as it transitions users from different platforms to the new District app

Deepinder Goyal-led Eternal has silently launched listings of retail stores and chains on its ‘Going Out’ business app, District. The new ‘Stores’ section on the app allows users to locate stores dealing in apparel, footwear, accessories, home decor, and more.

Brands like The Souled Store, Adidas, VLCC, Toni & Guy, Heads Up For Tails, Libas, Kazo, BlackBerry, among others, are available on the platform. District is offering additional discounts as well as food and movie vouchers if a customer makes payments using the platform at a store discovered via it.

The discount coupons include vouchers, which can be redeemed at an outlet of the partner brand. Besides, an instant discount of 10% or up to INR 500 is also available for shopping. A user can search for stores in their locality on the basis of the discount offers available there.

Inc42’s detailed questionnaire to Eternal about the offering didn’t elicit any response till the time of publishing this story.

Besides the shopping deals, District has also introduced an ‘Activities’ section which allows users to find games, adventure parks, art and craft and workshops in their vicinity. District has partnered with social media influencers to market this segment.

The new introductions come at a time when the District app is gradually gaining traction. The app, which was unveiled November 2024, has been downloaded over 10 Mn times on the Google Play Store. District started as a ticketing platform, where users can book tickets for movies and events, after Eternal (then Zomato) acquired Paytm Insider last year for INR 2,048 Cr to scale up its ‘Going Out’ business.

Besides the aforementioned segments, users can browse dining options, live events, and book movie tickets via District. While BookMyShow is a leading player in the ticketing segment, District is looking to outdo it with the addition of the shopping section.

With this, District has also entered the realm of magicpin, which is an online location intelligence platform that allows customers to discover retailers in their vicinity and get discounts at their stores. Notably, Zomato invested $50 Mn in magicpin as part of its $60 Mn Series D funding round in 2021, securing a 16% stake in the startup.

On the financial front, Eternal’s ‘Going Out’ vertical’s profitability took a substantial hit in Q4 FY25, which was District’s first full quarter of operation. The vertical clocked an adjusted EBITDA loss of INR 47 Cr, up 327% from INR 11 Cr loss in the year-ago period. However, its revenue more than doubled on a YoY basis to INR 229 Cr but slipped 12% from previous quarter’s INR 259 Cr.

During the quarter, the District app accounted for about a third of the gross order value (GOV) of the ‘Going Out’ vertical. Eternal estimates that it would need two more quarters to completely transition ‘Going Out’ to District, following which it will remove the dining-out option from the Zomato app.

In its Q4 earnings call, Eternal CFO Akshant Goyal said that the company expects to incur losses from this business in the near future as it transitions users from different platforms (Paytm Insider, Zomato) to the new District app.

“And we’re also investing a little bit in supply creation in some parts of the ‘Going Out’ business. So, that investment phase will continue for the next year or so. And hence, we are not expecting this business to become profitable in that time frame. But, at the same time, we don’t expect that losses will go up from here as well,” he added.

Shares of Eternal ended yesterday’s trading session 1.62% higher at INR 253.40 on the BSE.