Restaurants Challenge Duopoly, Revive Direct Delivery Strategies 🍽️

The Squeeze on Restaurants: With Swiggy and

operating a near-duopoly, many restaurants are struggling with high commissions, which can reach up to 30%. A case study shows a Bengaluru restaurant that earned nearly ₹4 lakh in sales on Zomato but received only ₹1.55 lakh after commissions and charges. This "tough math" is forcing eateries, both large and small, to seek alternative strategies to maintain profitability. Reviving Old-School Methods: In response, restaurants are reviving traditional, low-cost marketing and delivery methods. Examples include Paradise Biryani running its own delivery fleet for bulk orders and offering deep discounts of up to 40% for direct orders. In Mumbai, The Stomach is distributing physical flyers and providing 20-30% discounts to incentivize direct customer calls. A Delhi biryani chain partner noted that a single flyer drop could generate ₹35,000-40,000 in direct sales over a fortnight. Major Chains Prioritize In-House Delivery: This trend is not limited to small, independent outlets. Major chains like Domino's ( ) and McDonald's have long maintained strong in-house delivery models. Domino's, for instance, gets about 72.9% of its online orders through its own app, while McDonald's receives around 75% of its orders via its app and self-order kiosks. This strategy allows them to control their brand experience and avoid the high commissions of aggregators. The Discovery Dilemma: Despite the financial strain, almost all restaurant owners interviewed admit they cannot afford to delist from Swiggy and Zomato. The aggregators remain the primary channels for customer discovery, a service that restaurants have little negotiating power over. While direct orders offer higher margins (20-25%), they are few and far between, making aggregators a necessary, albeit costly, evil for customer reach.