I don't know how many people remember the 2020 "Takeaway Rider, Trapped in the System"? In the article, the dilemma of the takeaway brother is so vividly presented to our eyes - they all know that retrograde, running red lights, speeding is not to obey traffic rules, and even bring life danger, but if you do not do this, the order in hand will most likely time out, and the ensuing chain reaction will also make a whole day of hard work in vain.
The storm caused by this article is extraordinary. Following a series of apologies, the two major takeaway platforms of Meituan and Ele.me have launched algorithm improvement measures, and the delivery time in extreme environments is more relaxed; at this year's "two sessions", a number of committee members also discussed the algorithm, hoping to discuss a way to achieve a balance between the needs of the platform, riders and users.
In any case, the domestic discussion of the survival status of takeaway riders will continue. Looking overseas, as the gig economy gradually develops, the situation of takeaway riders has begun to receive more attention, and the occasional protest incident will also put the takeaway platforms into a scorched situation - India's emerging takeaway giant Zomato has recently been involved in such a trouble.
"Flying around like a jet"
On March 21, Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted that the company will launch the unprecedented "10-minute food delivery service", Zomato Instant, which will be trial-run at four sites in Gurgaon, India, starting next month. Goyar believes Zomato's 30-minute delivery is too slow and will soon become obsolete, which is why he made such a change. "Innovation and leadership are the only way to survive and thrive in the tech industry."
Perhaps Goyar felt that this move would attract more customers, but the response was very different. After the tweet was sent, a large number of negative comments were received in just a few hours, and almost all of them were calling for the delivery staff to reduce the burden and pay attention to their safety. A town councillor in Tamil Nadu said under the article that the measure was "extremely ridiculous" and would put enormous pressure on delivery personnel; another commentator posted photos of Zomato delivery workers traveling retrograde on the road, saying that Zomato was completely disregarding their safety.
"Almost every delivery man tries to deliver food at the speed of a jet, and they run around desperately." This is how the commenter described the current state of Zomato delivery workers.
In addition, catering operators also expressed concern about the "10-minute food delivery service". Restaurant chain Oh! In an interview with the media, Calcutta Chairman Anjan Chatterjee said that the average cooking time of many dishes has reached 15-20 minutes, and reducing this time will only allow consumers to eat low-quality meals.
Under the impact of public opinion, Goyar had to respond in detail to this. He said that each Zomato Instant site will only work with 25-30 restaurants, and most of the goods involved are dishes that can be cooked in a short period of time, such as bread omelets, Poha (an Indian dish similar to fried rice), coffee, boyani stew (similar to Xinjiang pilaf) and so on. Goyar also claimed that delivery workers "will not be penalized for delaying deliveries for this service, nor will there be an incentive to deliver on time."
"10 minutes delivery is as safe for our delivery staff as 30 minutes." Goyar wrote in a follow-up tweet.
These answers are full of survival, but if Zomato really implements the "after the change" initiative, I am afraid that the so-called 10-minute delivery will not make any sense. Why would Zomato risk being denounced for such a thankless service? That's probably the answer every food and beverage industry observer wants to know.
Why get involved to this extent?
In fact, Zomato's move isn't hard to understand — if it doesn't innovate in these places, it's only a matter of time before it catches up with its competitors. At present, Zomato has two strong enemies in front of him, and each one is not a fuel-saving lamp.
Swigy, a bengaluru-born food delivery platform, is the first enemy Zomato has to face. As of 2020, Swiggy has operated in more than 520 cities in India, with 160,000 cooperative restaurants. In addition, its cumulative financing has exceeded $1.6 billion, and its shareholder list includes tencent, Samsung Venture Capital, and South Africa's Naspers (Tencent's largest shareholder); in addition, Swiggy's business scope is also wider than Zomato, and its distribution categories have expanded to pet food, flowers and health products.
At the same time, Zomato also has to face the attack of outsiders - just in 2019, when the Indian takeaway market is in full swing, Amazon has also taken advantage of the wind to enter this track, and as soon as it comes on, it is subsidized to open the way. A classic example is 2020, when Amazon piloted its food delivery service in Bangalore and charged only about 10 percent for its partner restaurants. At the same time, Amazon also launched a preferential policy of free shipping for Prime members, even if it is not a member, it only charges 19 rupees of shipping.
Research firms RedSeer and GlobalData show that the total value of the Indian takeaway market is currently $4.2 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of about 12.4%. In this small battlefield, Zomato and Swiggy together account for nearly 80% of the share. Still, in the face of the rich Amazon, how long can this pair of wrongdoers persist? You know, Amazon itself has a well-established logistics network in India, if it wants to grab the local market, it can easily do it by launching a large number of subsidies for merchants.
It is not unreasonable to say that in India, there are already many merchants waiting for another spoiler in the takeaway market. The reason is simple – Zomato and Swiggy's service fees are too high, almost every single order is 20%-30%. The two major platforms use this money to subsidize customers, but ignore the feelings of merchants.
"We have a 70% profit margin per dine-in, but on online orders, we only make 30% per order." Kumar, founder of restaurant chain Shake It Off, complained in an interview with the media. "Nowadays, online orders have become a burden."
There is no doubt that Zomato and Swiggy are facing similar dilemmas to Meituan and Hungry. Perhaps the next thing that falls on them is the iron fist of India's regulators, and this is already foreshadowing. Back in 2019, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) had expressed its dissatisfaction with Zomato and Swigy's high commissions on merchants. If that day does come, their prestige in the market will be greatly reduced, and it will also provide more opportunities for outsiders like Amazon.
At present, Zomato is already a public company, and continuing to subsidize like before will obviously not let it win the hearts of investors, but on the other hand, blindly satisfying consumers by sacrificing the interests of merchants and riders is difficult to call a perfect solution. For the current Zomato, thinking about its unique advantages in the case of ensuring safe and compliant operations is undoubtedly a more important task - compared with Amazon's takeaway business, what services can Zomato do not want consumers to do? Seizing on these small advantages may be one way to avoid the "fisherman's profit" ending.
*Author: Spades and the Sword, Image from Yandex, Twitter