F&B professionals on benefits of direct ordering via restaurants over food aggregators

While food emerged as a vital source of comfort in the past year the folks who whip up our favourite dishes have been struggling to stay afloat With restaurants in the city shutting shop again delivery is the norm of the day Although food aggregator apps help in furthering delivery therersquos been a growing clamour to order directly from restaurants be it through calling DMs or through personalised food ordering systems set up with support from firms like DotPe Thrive and Bro Eat among others The latter in particular are allowing restaurants for the first time to identify their online customers forge better relationships customise their pages and most importantly avoid hefty commissions levied by aggregatorsFrom left Anurag Gupta Karan Chechani Pankil Shah Pawan ShahriMoney mattersTake for instance Bro Eat purportedly Indiarsquos first WhatsAppbased online food ordering platform born in September 2020 Unlike the approximate 22 per cent commission that food aggregator apps demand on orders the platform mdash which enables customers to place and track their orders through a WhatsApp chat system mdash charges a maintenance fee of Rs5 upto an order of Rs300 Rs10 on those below Rs500 and so on shares cofounder Pawan Shahri ldquoThe 22 per cent commission spent on food aggregators comes down to a 3 to 4 per cent margin which is a massive differencerdquo he adds Like Bro Eat Thrive another entity enabling restaurants to set up their independent ordering systems also charges a lower commission prompting establishments including Qualia Woodside Inn The Table and Burma Burma among 1700 others across India to get on it since last yearRiyaaz Amlani MD and CEO Impresario Handmade Restaurants says they have set up their own ordering system for contactless dinein and home delivery He reveals that restaurants spend around 35 to 40 per cent of their delivery revenue on aggregator platforms ldquoThis includes discovery and delivery charges discounts and commissions This is an atrocious amountrdquo he addsOwning dataAmlani adds that food aggregator apps have become like a ldquogreat wall between eateries and customersrdquo as they donrsquot share customer data with them ldquoWe have no idea whorsquos eating the food or whatrsquos their feedback These are important parameters for us If something is messed up by the aggregator the customer thinks itrsquos our fault Moreover in an insidious way businesses are often redirected on aggregator appsrdquo he informs us Karan Chechani cofounder and CMO Thrive adds that eateries are currently spending a lot more marketing money on acquiring or retaining customers ldquoIt doesnrsquot make sense to spend it on these food aggregator apps as yoursquore helping them gain customers not yourselfrdquo he reasonsSharing customer information ordering trends and other data allows restaurants to serve them better mdash something that these platforms offer says Anurag Gupta DotPersquos cofounder and COO ldquoIf one customer is ordering from you for the first time and someone else is ordering for the tenth time both can receive different levels of personalisation We help restaurants make instant changes based on their stock offer discounts etcrdquoWinwin situationThese platforms have also tied up with thirdparty delivery partners for restaurants that donrsquot have inhouse fleet Pankil Shah director and cofounder Neighbourhood Hospitality Pvt Ltd that runs Woodside Inn and The Pantry Cafe notes that if customers order directly it gives restaurants better control over quality and delivery ldquoEating out in our country is an emotional journey This same emotional bond remains while ordering in as well Since deliveries are done by our own team members in direct orders therersquos much more ownership so that our guest can get the best experiencerdquo he addsGupta Chechani and Shahri concur that by freeing themselves from the pressure of hefty commissions and armed with consumer data eateries are incentivised to offer more benefits to consumers ldquoBrands that are doing direct deliveries are innovating a lot in terms of providing free delivery loyalty programmes and bigger offersrdquo Chechani shares Shahri meanwhile points out that ordering directly also amounts to supporting your favourite neighbourhood eateries in these tough times And thatrsquos the least we can doBMCrsquos thumbsupDirect ordering got a boost on Friday as the civic body issued a notification allowing restaurants to undertake not just delivery of online orders but also those placed over call Restaurateurs welcomed the move as this is a relief for eateries that donrsquot have a presence online and will also help save more jobs