Tips2026-04-25

5 Ways to Reduce Zomato & Swiggy Commission Costs

Zomato and Swiggy charge 15-25% commission per order, which can severely impact your restaurant's margins. For a Delhi restaurant doing 2 lakh monthly delivery sales, that's 30,000-50,000 going to platforms. Here are five practical ways to reduce these costs without losing customers.

1. Build Your Direct Ordering Channel

Set up WhatsApp ordering or a simple website where customers can order directly. Offer a 10% discount for direct ordersyou'll still save 5-15% compared to platform fees. Tools like DineCard (dinecard.in) create QR menus in 5 minutes for just 99/month, making it easy to redirect dine-in customers to direct ordering.

2. Negotiate Better Rates

Once you're doing 1.5+ lakh monthly on a platform, request a call with their account manager. Restaurants in Mumbai and Bangalore have negotiated rates down to 12-18% based on volume. It never hurts to ask.

3. Three More Quick Wins

  • Use platform ads sparingly5,000/month in ads often gives better ROI than heavy discounting
  • Create a loyalty program for repeat customers to shift them to direct channels over time
  • List on multiple platforms to compare effective commission rates after all charges

Pro tip: Even shifting 20% of delivery orders to direct channels can increase your monthly profit by 10,000-15,000. Start with your regular customers first.

Create a QR code menu for your restaurant in 5 minutes with DineCard.

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