Zomato Business Model | How Does Zomato Make Money?

Most food delivery apps compete on speed and restaurant variety. But one company quietly shifted the Zomato business model. And most people didn’t even notice.

In 2010, Zomato started as a restaurant discovery tool. A person could visit the site, browse menus, and check ratings before deciding where to eat. Fast forward to today, and that same company has morphed into something very different. In February 2025, the parent company rebranded to Eternal Limited, signaling a shift far bigger than a name change. The company now operates in over 800 cities across India, but that reach tells only part of the story.

Here’s the thing: Zomato’s food delivery business is no longer the main story. Blinkit, its quick commerce arm, now pulls in 73.5% of total revenue. The company runs through four verticals: food delivery, quick commerce, B2B supply via Hyperpure, and events through District. Leadership changed too, with Deepinder Goyal stepping into a Vice Chairman role while Albinder Dhindsa took over as Group CEO.

So how does this business actually work? What replaced the old model? And where does the money come from? Let’s break it all down.

What Is Zomato?

Zomato is a food delivery and restaurant discovery platform. It operates as a brand under Eternal Limited, the holding company formed after the company’s 2025 rebrand. The zomato business model connects customers, restaurants, and delivery partners in one place.

Users browse menus, read reviews, order food, or book tables at local restaurants. Restaurant partners, in turn, get visibility, direct customer engagement, and a delivery network they can rely on. As of the latest data, the platform serves over 30 million monthly active users and processes more than 2.2 million orders every single day.

The roots go back to 2008. Two IIT graduates, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, launched Foodiebay: a simple online directory that digitized restaurant menus. The idea was straightforward: replace scattered paper menus with a centralized, searchable platform. That concept evolved into Zomato and eventually into a multi-vertical operation spanning food delivery, quick commerce, B2B supply, and events.

How Does Zomato Work?

Zomato runs on a multi-vertical operating model that goes far beyond food delivery. Under its parent company Eternal Limited, the business now spans four distinct verticals. These include Zomato for food delivery, Blinkit for quick commerce, Hyperpure for B2B supply, and District for events and experiences. Each vertical operates with its own revenue mechanics, but they all feed into one consolidated platform.

The food delivery side follows a straightforward flow. Customers browse menus and order through the app. Restaurants receive the request, prepare the food, and hand it off. A delivery partner picks it up and brings it to the customer’s door. Zomato earns a commission of 18-30% on each order. Delivery partners are independent contractors, not employees. They accept or reject jobs based on their availability. Customers pay either during ordering or at delivery, then leave reviews that help improve the service.

Blinkit is where the real growth happens now. It accounts for 73.5% of total revenue. The quick commerce model uses a network of dark stores to deliver everyday essentials within minutes. It’s a fundamentally different operation from food delivery, relying on inventory rather than restaurant partnerships. Hyperpure, meanwhile, supplies ingredients directly to restaurants, turning B2B into a profit center. District handles event ticketing and table reservations, rounding out the four-pillar approach.

Zomato Gold replaced the earlier Zomato Pro subscription. Gold members receive free deliveries on eligible orders, reduced service fees, and additional discounts at partner restaurants. The subscription also includes priority order preparation and delivery, ensuring faster service during peak times. All benefits are automatically applied at checkout, making the experience seamless. It’s a key retention tool that keeps customers locked into the ecosystem across both food delivery and quick commerce.

Zomato’s Key Activities

Zomato’s key activities span seven core areas. Each one drives a specific part of the business: from food delivery and quick commerce to subscriptions and restaurant partnerships. Here’s what keeps the engine running.

Food Delivery

Food delivery remains Zomato’s original business. The platform connects customers with restaurants, handles order processing, and manages last-mile delivery through a network of independent delivery partners. Restaurants list their menus, customers browse and order, and delivery partners pick up and drop off the food.

Zomato charges each restaurant a commission of 18-30% on every order. Delivery partners earn per delivery, with earnings depending on distance and demand. In Q3 FY26, food delivery revenue hit ₹2,676 crore: a 29% jump from the year before. The segment also hit a record EBITDA margin of 5.4%, proving that this older vertical still has room to grow profitably.

Quick Commerce (Blinkit)

Blinkit is the star performer. The quick commerce vertical now contributes 73.5% of total revenue: a number that would have seemed absurd just a few years ago. The model runs on a network of dark stores that stock everyday essentials and deliver them within minutes.

Unlike food delivery, Blinkit operates on an inventory-led model. The company buys products from brands and suppliers, stocks them in micro-warehouses, and fulfills orders directly. In Q3 FY26, Blinkit’s B2C net order value surged 120.9% year-over-year to ₹13,300 crore. Revenue for the vertical stood at ₹12,256 crore, up 75% from the previous year. The shift from a pure food delivery company to a quick commerce powerhouse happened faster than anyone expected.

B2B Restaurant Supply (Hyperpure)

Hyperpure supplies fresh ingredients directly to restaurants. Think vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood, dairy, groceries, and beverages. The vertical works directly with farmers and processors to cut out middlemen and deliver quality produce at better prices.

For restaurants, this means one reliable supplier instead of juggling multiple vendors every morning. For Zomato, it means a sticky B2B relationship that keeps restaurant partners dependent on the ecosystem. Hyperpure turned Adjusted EBITDA-positive for the first time in Q3 FY26. That’s a milestone: it means the vertical is finally making money after years of heavy investment.

Events and Experiences (District)

District handles Zomato’s events and experiences vertical. It grew out of Zomaland, the food festival Zomato launched back in 2018. Today, District covers live events, concerts, comedy shows, and table reservations at restaurants. It’s essentially a ticketing and booking platform that keeps users inside the Zomato ecosystem even when they aren’t ordering food.

The vertical still shows healthy momentum, according to Q3 FY26 earnings. It’s the smallest of the four business lines, but it serves an important role: it keeps Zomato relevant beyond mealtimes. When someone buys concert tickets or reserves a table through District, Zomato earns a cut of that transaction too.

Zomato Gold Subscription

Zomato Gold replaced Zomato Pro as the platform’s subscription product. Members pay a recurring fee and get free delivery on orders above ₹199 from restaurants within 7 km. On top of that, Gold members receive up to 30% extra discount at over 20,000 partner restaurants across India. The benefits stack on top of existing coupons and offers.

The subscription also covers priority order preparation and delivery during peak hours. Surge fees and delivery charges get waived, making the whole experience smoother. It’s a classic retention play: Gold members order more frequently and stick around longer. The program now spans both food delivery and quick commerce, binding users to the wider ecosystem.

Restaurant Partnerships and Discovery

Zomato started as a restaurant discovery platform, and that DNA hasn’t disappeared. Restaurants join the platform for visibility: they appear in search results, category feeds, and personalized recommendations. Zomato charges restaurants for premium placement, promotional banners, and featured spots on the homepage.

Beyond basic listings, restaurants can promote events, special offers, and new menu items directly to Zomato’s user base. The company has data on user preferences across different localities, which helps restaurants target the right audience. This discovery engine feeds both the food delivery and table reservation businesses, making it a foundational activity even as the company has expanded into other areas.

Technology and Logistics Infrastructure

Behind every order, whether it’s a biryani from a local restaurant or groceries from Blinkit, sits a complex tech and logistics stack. Zomato runs AI-driven recommendation systems that personalize what users see on the app. Route optimization algorithms figure out the fastest delivery path. Demand prediction models help Blinkit’s dark stores stock the right products in the right quantities.

The logistics network itself is a massive undertaking. Delivery partners, dark store operations, cold chain management for Hyperpure, and real-time order tracking all require constant engineering work. The company operates across 800+ cities, and the infrastructure needed to support that scale is one of its biggest competitive advantages. It’s not flashy, but it’s what makes everything else possible.

Zomato’s Key Partners

The customer segments of Zomato business model can be categorised as follows:

• Local restaurants: Zomato partners with restaurants and helps them increase their visibility and online presence to draw the target audiences and tap into new potential customer bases.
• Users: Zomato acts like a panacea for users by providing them a platform where they can search, discover and explore different restaurants and eateries and order food or book a table and dine out.
• Delivery personnel: Since Zomato offers doorstep delivery services to its customers, it partners with delivery providers who complete the entire chain by offering their full-time or part-time delivery services.
• Reviewers: Reviewers actively review restaurants, cafes, and other food places and provide relevant information to the users about the cuisine and other aspects of the eatery in a textual or graphical form.

Zomato has also partnered with a lot of other businesses like Uber Taxi, Visa, and Paypal. Its tie up with Uber taxi enabled customers to book a ride to go to the restaurants of their choice. It eliminates the need to access two different apps and brings together a combined solution by enabling customers to book a cab and explore nearby restaurants, all at one place. The different alliances provide assistance in finding set-up locations, hiring and other procedures, market research, accounting, handling political and legal issues and so on.

Zomato’s Key Resources

Zomato has a top-notch repository of databases, meticulous and dedicated employees, a talented set of reviewers and content creators, and a large number of funding partners and financial investors like Sequoia Capital, Ant Financial, Info Edge and so on, as key resources to its efficient working.

Zomato’s Key Channels

Zomato website and app are the key channels that help it deliver its services to its customers. The Zomato mobile app is available on both android and iOS devices and customers can alternatively browse the website to explore restaurants and check their ratings on the platform. These key channels help Zomato to engage with, and build its customer base, drive sales and enhance the user experience of the platform. Zomato has also created a site specifically for posting exclusive photos of exotic foods from around the world.

What Value Does Zomato Provide To Its Customers?

At its core, the zomato business model runs on what you might call the QAA model: Quality, Accessibility, Affordability, and Assortment. Each pillar targets a specific customer pain point. Together, they explain why 30 million monthly active users keep coming back to the platform.

On quality, Zomato leans on Hyperpure to maintain ingredient standards across its restaurant network. Hyperpure supplies fresh produce directly to restaurants, cutting out middlemen and keeping costs down. The vertical turned Adjusted EBITDA-positive for the first time in Q3 FY26, which matters because it means the supply chain now pays for itself while still pushing quality upward. Restaurant partners also earn hygiene ratings on the platform: a visible badge that builds customer trust. When it comes to accessibility, the app works across Android and iOS devices with a clean interface that makes browsing and ordering straightforward. Zomato operates in over 800 cities across India, steadily broadening its footprint without chasing international expansion.

Affordability comes through Zomato Gold, the subscription model that replaced the earlier Zomato Pro program. Gold members get free deliveries, reduced service fees, and extra discounts at partner restaurants. The subscription also unlocks priority preparation and faster delivery during peak hours. It’s a retention tool that pays off for frequent users. On the assortment front, the platform aggregates menus from thousands of restaurants across different cuisines, price ranges, and locations. Customers can filter by ratings, delivery time, or dietary preference before making a choice. Combined with a 24/7 customer support chat and mandatory review system, the platform ensures people have enough information to order with confidence.

How Does Zomato Make Money?

Zomato’s food delivery business gets most of the attention. But look at the actual numbers, and a different picture emerges. In Q3 FY26, the company posted ₹16,315 crore revenue, up 3x year-over-year. Food delivery contributed just 16% of that total. The rest came from quick commerce, B2B supply, and events. The company makes money through seven main streams, and each one operates differently. Let’s walk through them.

Food Delivery Commissions

Every time someone orders food through Zomato, the restaurant pays a commission. That rate sits between 18% and 30% of the order value. The exact percentage depends on location, order volume, and the restaurant’s agreement with Zomato. It’s the oldest revenue model in the playbook, and still a steady earner.

In Q3 FY26, food delivery revenue touched ₹2,676 crore, growing 29% from the previous year. That’s not the big headline number, but it matters. This vertical also hit a record EBITDA margin of 5.4%, proving the commission model can be profitable at scale.

Delivery and Service Fees

Zomato also charges customers directly. Delivery fees get added to orders, along with small platform and handling charges. These fees vary based on distance, demand, and time of day. During peak hours, surge pricing may kick in for non-Gold members.

Think of it this way: the restaurant pays a commission, and the customer pays for the convenience of getting food brought to their door. Both sides fund the delivery network. For Zomato, this creates two revenue taps running on the same order.

In-App Advertising

Restaurants compete for attention on the app. Zomato sells them that attention. Sponsored listings, banner ads, featured placements, and promoted search results all cost money. Restaurants pay Zomato to appear higher in search results and category feeds.

With over 30 million monthly active users browsing the app, the advertising real estate is valuable. Restaurants can target specific localities and user preferences based on Zomato’s data. It’s a high-margin revenue stream: once the platform is built, each additional ad costs almost nothing to serve.

Zomato Gold Subscriptions

Zomato Gold replaced the older Zomato Pro program. Members pay a recurring subscription fee in exchange for benefits that stack across the platform. Free delivery on orders above ₹199 from restaurants within 7 km. Up to 30% extra discount at over 20,000 partner restaurants. Priority order preparation during rush hours.

The subscription covers both food delivery and Blinkit. It creates a lock-in effect: Gold members order more frequently because they feel they’re getting value. That recurring revenue shows up as predictable monthly income, regardless of how many individual orders Zomato processes.

Quick Commerce (Blinkit)

This is where the real money flows now. Blinkit delivers groceries and essentials through a network of dark stores in under 10 minutes. It runs on an inventory-led model: Zomato buys products from brands, stocks them, and sells directly to customers. The revenue comes from product margins, delivery fees, and in-app advertising.

In Q3 FY26, Blinkit posted ₹12,256 crore in revenue, accounting for 73.5% of total revenue. That’s a 75% jump from the previous year. The quick commerce market in India is projected to reach $12.97 billion by 2029, and Blinkit is riding that wave hard. The shift from a food delivery company to a quick commerce giant happened faster than most expected.

B2B Restaurant Supply (Hyperpure)

Hyperpure supplies fresh ingredients directly to restaurants: vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy, and groceries. It cuts out middlemen by sourcing from farmers and processors, then delivers to restaurant kitchens on a regular schedule. The revenue comes from product margins on these bulk supply orders.

In Q3 FY26, Hyperpure turned Adjusted EBITDA-positive for the first time. That’s a key milestone. The vertical had been running at a loss for years while building out supply chains and scaling operations. Now it’s generating profit while growing revenue, and it locks restaurant partners deeper into the Zomato ecosystem.

Together, these six revenue streams explain the zomato business model and how Zomato pulled in ₹16,315 crore in a single quarter. The food delivery commissions that started it all now represent just a slice. Blinkit dominates. Hyperpure is finding its footing. And Gold subscriptions keep the flywheel spinning.

Costs Incurred

Running a multi-vertical operation like Eternal Limited isn’t cheap. Each business line in the zomato business model carries its own cost structure, and the company has to fund all four simultaneously. Here’s where the money goes.

• Platform development: Zomato invests heavily in technology across all verticals. AI-driven recommendation systems, route optimization algorithms, demand prediction models for Blinkit’s dark stores, and real-time order tracking all require constant engineering work. The tech stack supports food delivery, quick commerce, B2B supply, and events under one roof.
• Branding and advertising: Marketing campaigns drive consumer awareness and pull users back to the app. Zomato runs promotions, discount campaigns, and sponsorships to stay top of mind. This spending scales with growth: more cities, more users, more marketing dollars out the door.
• Dark store infrastructure: Blinkit’s quick commerce model depends on a network of micro-warehouses spread across cities. Each dark store needs lease payments, staff, shelving, lighting, refrigeration, and inventory management systems. The company opened hundreds of these stores in FY25 alone, and the real estate costs add up fast.
• Inventory and supply chain: Both Blinkit and Hyperpure run inventory-led models. Blinkit buys groceries and essentials from brands to sell directly to consumers. Hyperpure sources fresh produce from farmers and processors to supply restaurants. The range includes vegetables, fruits, meat, and dairy. Cold storage, warehousing, transportation, and procurement form a significant chunk of operating costs.
• Delivery partner payments: Every food delivery order and Blinkit fulfillment involves paying independent delivery contractors. These partners earn per delivery, with earnings based on distance, demand, and order size. With millions of orders processed daily, delivery payouts represent one of the largest ongoing expenses.
• Office maintenance costs: Zomato operates across 800+ cities in India. Regional offices, hub locations, and dark store sites all require maintenance, utilities, and infrastructure spending. The geographic spread means distributed overhead rather than centralized costs.
• Employee salaries: Eternal’s workforce more than doubled to 16,375 employees in FY25. The growth came mainly from Blinkit and the going-out business. Salaries span different pay scales: from tech engineers and data scientists to operations staff and regional managers.
• Legal and accounting fees: The company pays for regulatory compliance, tax filings, licensing across verticals, and costs tied to mergers and acquisitions. Legal obligations multiply when you’re running four distinct businesses under one parent company.

Bottom-Line?

Zomato began as a restaurant discovery tool. Today, it barely resembles that original idea. Under Eternal Limited, the zomato business model has transformed into a multi-vertical powerhouse: with quick commerce now driving the bulk of its revenue. The ₹16,315 crore posted in Q3 FY26 tells the story: food delivery, which once defined the brand, now contributes just 16% of total income. Blinkit alone pulls in 73.5%.

The four-vertical structure, food delivery, quick commerce, B2B supply via Hyperpure, and events through District, gives Eternal a competitive edge that’s hard to replicate. Each vertical reinforces the others. Hyperpure locks restaurants into the ecosystem. Zomato Gold binds users across platforms. And with Hyperpure turning profitable and food delivery holding a steady 5.4% EBITDA margin, the company is no longer betting on a single revenue stream.

India’s quick commerce market is projected to reach $12.97 billion by 2029. With over 800 cities covered and more than 30 million monthly active users, Eternal is positioned to capture a significant share of that growth. The company that started by listing restaurant menus has become something much bigger. And the trajectory suggests it’s far from done.

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