They started off as a directory service for restaurants and listed them. Then they started reviewing them. They slowly ventured into table reservations and asked for a little commission.

The restaurants loved it. Zomato was a friend.

They then came up with a loyalty scheme with the world’s oldest plan that says “buy one and get one free”.

The restaurants loved it even more. Zomato was their best friend.

They decided to advertise these restaurants on their portals and charged huge fees by pitching one restaurant over the others.

Zomato was now a brother and a sister.

They started delivering food and charged a 30% commission without telling you who the customer was.

Zomato now held 30% equity in your restaurant.

They now came up with the concept of “deep discounting” and stripped you to the bone. You thought you had no choice.

Now, they started their own cloud kitchens, gave them preferential listing and rating and sold the same menu items at cheaper prices.

Yes, they not only stepped on your toes, but actually trampled you.

They went public claiming to be worth 12 billion dollars and now the Institutional investors and FPI’s have almost exited, with the retail investor buying the boom. The NRAI went to the CCI in April this year and an investigation has begun.

They pay delivery partners 15 rupees instead of 30 rupees.

They are still valued at 6.7 billion dollars. They’ve not made a single rupee of profit.

Moral 1 – Never let a 3rd party come between your business and your customers.

Moral 2 – Encourage home kitchens for more sustainable delivery and keep aggregators at bay.

Moral 3 – If you feel hungry, reach for your favorite Restaurant (Which you have been visiting since childhood) instead of using an app and ordering unknown kitchens and their cost cutting measured to pay Zomato.

Moral 4 – Invest wisely. Invest in companies that make profits and pay dividends. 🙏

Venturestreets.com, BuySellMergers.com, Janakerala.com, Startupstreets.com

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