In our previous mid-covid report, we wrote about how the food ordering business is making a strong comeback after the initial setback of the ongoing pandemic. As of today, we are at ~110% of pre-covid GMV run rate in our food delivery business.

WHO has said that food delivery is safe and people should not fear food packaging. We have delivered over 13 crore orders since the first lockdown started in March, and there have been zero reported cases of covid transmission through food or its packaging. 

While the above signs have been more than encouraging, we know that: a) this growth has not been uniform, and b) the overall food service industry is still far from full recovery. The sector will continue to need all the help to get back to pre-covid levels. 

Basis these insights, we have been focusing on finding more ways to safely serve our customers while responsibly helping our restaurant partners grow. One common solution that checked all the right boxes was the option for customers to pick up their own orders. 

This addresses multiple issues:

1. There are still millions of customers who haven’t yet ordered since the beginning of the lockdown. We believe a lot of them who are bored with home-cooked food will start consuming restaurant food with a safe and convenient takeaway option 
2. For restaurants that already serve delivery orders, takeaway provides another avenue to access more customers, and further grow their business

Infact, takeaway on our app has witnessed tremendous growth with the order volume increasing by more than 200% in the last few months. 

Therefore, for restaurants to be able to tap into this demand immediately, we are making our takeaway service available for free to our restaurant partners.  We will not be charging any commission, and will also forego the payment gateway charges we incur on all takeaway orders. 

We are already live with 55,000+ restaurants on takeaway across the country and are serving tens of thousands of such orders weekly. This is another step we are taking towards helping the restaurant ecosystem get back on its feet quickly. 

Here’s how our customers can switch to the takeaway option on the restaurant menu page on zomato – 

Customers can also search for all restaurants offering takeaway using relevant filters on our home page – 

Safety remains a top priority for us. We continue to work with our restaurant partners so that they follow all safety measures and encourage our customers to wear masks and practice social distancing when they pick up their orders.

For our restaurant partners interested in signing up for this service, please contact your account manager, or write to us at o2help@zomato.com