It turns out, Indian restaurant owners launched an exit (#Logout) platform on Twitter because they were dissatisfied with high commissions such as Zomato and Uber Eats and did not share the cost of offering large discounts. In Mumbai, India, the owner of the vintage restaurant Vahnilla & Company, Akantha Polval, recently signed up for the Zomato takeaway app to promote her vegetarian cheeseburger and Kit Kat chocolate cake to more consumers through online ordering. She also joined Zomato’s Gold program: buy one get two for members who come to the restaurant.
But three months later, after giving away 150 free dishes, Polval ‘woke up’. She said that in addition to the $550 Zomapo Gold program registration fee, the food gift also caused her to lose about 20% of her income. She added that Gold users are often rude and always ask for additional discounts. In addition, Polval’s restaurants pay up to 28% commission to Zomato for each takeaway order.
Now, Indian restaurants are starting to collectively fight against Zomato and other takeaway apps.
Two weeks ago, a group of restaurant owners near New Delhi called for a cessation of large food discounts from applications such as Zomato, Swiggy and Uber Eats. They believe that the cost of providing discounts is borne by the restaurant, and all the benefits are for those applications. The protest was publicly supported by thousands of restaurants, and many restaurants either withdrew from the Gold program or promised to quit.
In fact, restaurants are not satisfied with takeaway applications not only in India. Restaurant owners and food delivery staff around the world are questioning that they have small cakes from Zomato in India, Grubhub and DoorDash in the US, and Deliveroo in Europe.
These apps make it easier for people to take out, and the restaurant can reach more diners. But these platforms also charge high commissions for each order, squeezing the profit margin of the restaurant industry. In the United States, some restaurants have been closed due to the inability to continue to bear the cost of using takeaway applications.
The protests in India underline the tension between the restaurant and the takeaway platform. On Thursday, restaurant owners were in talks with Zomato and Swiggy executives throughout the day, but failed to resolve the differences between the two sides.