Zomato pilots Rs 2 platform fee in some markets

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Zomato has introduced a flat Rs 2 platform fee on its food delivery app in certain markets for select users, an experiment likely to be implemented across the board if successful to boost profitability. “This is in an experiment phase right now, and we may or may not scale,” a spokesperson for the Gurgaon-based food delivery company told ET in response to a query.

This follows a similar move taken by its arch rival Swiggy, which started levying a platform fee back in April.Also read | Zomato Delhivers profits, Freshworks en route; and other top tech & startup stories this week Zomato posted its first ever quarterly profit of Rs 2 crore for the June quarter on Thursday, and its management said it expects to sustain the profitability in the quarters going forward. Notably, the introduction of platform fee comes days after Zomato’s chief financial officer Akshant Goyal told analysts during the post-earnings call that the company has not taken a call on such a levy.Also read | At Rs 2 crore, Zomato turns profitable for first time this quarter “So, it’s a business call…we are aware about that and I think we’ll take a call when we think it’s right for business.

At this point, we haven’t done that…there is no platform fee on our platform,” Goyal had said. He was responding to a question on whether Zomato was planning to roll out a platform fee, or had tried it in certain micro markets, considering its rival was doing so.

The company is now levying the platform fee in an experiment stage on users of its loyalty programme Zomato Gold as well. It is expected to bump the company’s take rate up once rolled out fully.