How to reduce Zomato and Swiggy commission
You cannot argue an aggregator down to zero, and you should not try to leave them entirely. What you can do is change the mix, so that a smaller share of your sales carries a commission at all.
Here are seven things restaurants in India actually do, in the order of how much they return for the effort.
1. Put a QR code on every table
The customer is already sitting in your restaurant. They found you without any help. If they order through an aggregator's dine-in feature, or if you take the order on paper and re-key it, you are paying for a customer you already had.
A QR code on the table opens your own menu, with your photos and your prices. The order lands on your kitchen screen. Nobody takes a cut. This is the single highest-return change, because the traffic already exists — you are only changing how it is captured.
2. Own the second order, not the first
Accept that the aggregator earns its fee on the first order from a stranger. That is genuinely what it is for.
The mistake is paying it again on order two, five and twenty. Once someone has ordered from you, you need a way to reach them that does not go through a platform. A phone number and a WhatsApp thread is that way — and unlike an app, there is nothing for them to download.
3. Put your own link where they will see it
On the bill. On the packaging. On a card in the delivery bag. In your Google Business Profile. In your Instagram bio.
Aggregator terms restrict what you can print inside their branded packaging, so read yours. But your own bill, your own bag, your own social accounts and your own shopfront are yours.
4. Give a reason to come direct, and make it small
You do not need to beat the aggregator's discount. You are already 20% to 30% better off on a direct order, so you can afford to give away a fraction of that and still be far ahead.
A free sweet, a ₹50 off code, an extra roti. Something concrete, something cheap, something that appears at the moment they are deciding.
5. Stop discounting to buy rank
Aggregator visibility is bought with discounts and ads. Both come out of your margin, and neither is permanent — the day you stop, the rank goes.
Money spent on getting a customer's phone number is spent once. Money spent on rank is spent every month, forever.
6. Take the phone number, every time
A customer list is the only asset in this business that appreciates. It is also the one thing an aggregator will never give you.
Collect it at the point where it is natural — the QR order, the WhatsApp thread, the table booking, the party enquiry. Not with a form, and not by asking twice.
7. Measure the mix, not the total
The number that matters is not monthly sales. It is what share of sales carried a commission.
If 90% of your business goes through aggregators, a 22% commission is really a 20% tax on your whole restaurant. Move that to 60% and the same commission costs you a third less, without selling one rupee more.
Common questions
Will Zomato remove my listing if I take direct orders?
Running your own ordering channel is not a breach of any published aggregator policy in India. What is restricted is putting your own promotions inside their branded packaging or contacting customers using data from their platform. Use your own bill, your own bag and your own channels and you are on solid ground. Read your own contract, since terms differ.
How long does it take to shift orders to a direct channel?
Dine-in shifts fastest, because the customer is already in front of you — most restaurants see the change within days of putting QR codes on the tables. Delivery takes months, because you are changing a habit.
Do I need an app for direct ordering?
No, and an app is usually a waste of money for a single restaurant. Nobody downloads an app for one place they eat at twice a month. A link and a WhatsApp number need no download at all.
Start with the customers already in your restaurant
Waplo puts a QR menu on every table, takes orders on your own WhatsApp number and keeps the customer list. No commission, ever.