Archive · 22 Sep 2025
Restaurants Revive Old Tactics Amidst Rising Delivery Costs
Imagine restaurants are like shops that sell food.
They're finding it harder to make money because online delivery services (like Swiggy and Zomato) take a big chunk of the profits.
To deal with this, restaurants are going back to old ways.
They are using flyers, taking phone orders, and having their own delivery services.
This lets them keep more of the money they earn.
Even big companies like Domino's and McDonald's use their own apps to take orders and get a better deal.
A new service, Rapido, is offering lower fees, which could help restaurants too.
Restaurants face declining profit margins due to high commissions from food delivery platforms.
Many restaurants are reviving direct ordering methods to increase profitability, such as flyers and in-house delivery.
Large chains like Domino's and McDonald's focus on their own apps for online orders.
A new delivery service, Rapido, offers lower commission rates to restaurants.
Restaurants struggle with limited bargaining power with existing delivery platforms.
- Who
- Restaurant owners and food delivery platforms.
- What
- Restaurants are reviving direct ordering methods to combat high commissions from food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato.
- When
- Ongoing, with a renewed focus in recent months.
- Where
- Primarily in India, with examples from Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai.
- Why
- To increase profit margins and reduce reliance on aggregators charging high commissions.
Restaurant Concerns
Aggregator Platforms
Commissions
Restaurant Concerns
High commissions from aggregators eat into restaurant profits.
Aggregator Platforms
Commissions are necessary for providing delivery services and customer reach.
Customer Data
Restaurant Concerns
Restaurants lack access to customer data on aggregator platforms.
Aggregator Platforms
Aggregators own customer data due to the service provided.
- Main Aggregators
- Swiggy, Zomato
- Aggregator Commission
- Up to 30%
- Domino's Online Orders
- 72.9% from own app
- McDonald's Online Orders
- 75% from own app/kiosks
- Rapido's "Ownly" Commission
- 8-15%