The convenience of getting our food delivered to our doorstep is something we all have welcomed with open arms. What makes the experience veritable is that we can now order any food of our liking from any restaurant of our choice at the click of a button. And within minutes, it is there – nice and warm. And somewhere in the excitement of ordering in, we overlook if we are paying the right price for it. A Zomato customer caught sight of it and decided to share it on LinkedIn, which made people take notice.
LinkedIn user Rahul Kabra posted images of a Zomato order bill and the offline bill of the same order, which had a striking difference in the total order amount. The orders were from a restaurant - 'The Momo Factory' - in Mumbai and comprised these items - Veg black pepper sauce, vegetable fried rice, and mushroom momo. Rahul Kabra wrote in the caption, "I am doing an apple to apple comparison to online vs offline order. Here is what I noticed - Cost for offline order - INR 512. Cost for Zomato order - INR 690 (after applied discount of INR 75). Cost escalation 34.76% per order at INR 178 = (690-512)/512."
Here's the post:
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Rahul Kabra added, "Assuming Zomato brings visibility and more orders to the food service provider, should it charge such a high price?"
The post soon caught the eye of many other users who voiced their opinion for and against the pricing practices followed by food aggregators. With more than 10k likes, the post garnered thousands of comments like:
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"It will be better if they keep the menu as same and take their charges separately. At least there will be no grievance with the users."
One user commented, "My experience with Swiggy in Indore. I wanted to order a thaali from a nearby restaurant. Swiggy showed the price as 120 plus delivery charges. I was going towards the restaurant, so I decided to pick it up from the restaurant. To my surprise, the same thaali was available for 99. I would have paid around 140 to Swiggy for the same food that was 40% more."
Another user added, "The difference with US Based food delivery applications like Doordash is that they maintain the same price as restaurants for the food items. However, they charge a separate delivery fee/ delivery and other taxes. That way there is transparency and the customer knows exactly what he is paying more for."
However, many people did not agree with these opinions and spoke in favour of the pricing policy of food delivery apps.
One user commented, "Agreed but.
1. You didn't account for delivery costs. Most restaurants do not deliver anymore.
2. For takeaway, there is a fuel cost.
3. Plus my time, cost to go and pick up food or wait for delivery without any time assurance.
4. Also, it's not always the case. I just bought stuff for INR 930; the store sells it for INR 2100+."
Another user concurred by saying, "Ok! So now you got the proof, you are left with two options. Either you step out and get it from the Momo Factory by yourself as per cost provided by them and the second option to get it delivered at your doorstep (which saves your time, which you can invest in your productiveness somewhere else. Also, the fuel involved and so on)."
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What do you have to say about paying a higher price for food delivery through food apps? Let us know in the comments section.