How does Foodpanda make money?

Foodpanda is an online grocery and food delivery service owned by the European multinational company Delivery Hero.

Foodpanda was started in 2012 by Benjamin Bauer, Christian Mischler, Felix Plog, Kiren Tanna, Ralf Wenzel, Rico Wyder, Rohit Chadda, and Simon Schmincke.

Each of the founders was working for the German incubator Rocket Internet at the time, which was known to take proven business ideas and introduce them to underserved regions.

One such region was Southeast Asia, where it soon became apparent that the food delivery and grocery market was ripe for exploitation.

In April 2012, Foodpanda was launched in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and India, among other countries. Within twelve months, the service had partnered with thousands of restaurants across 27 countries.

Around 2015, Foodpanda changed its restaurant aggregator business model in response to the emergence of smartphones in the Southeast Asian region.

Similar platforms such as DoorDash provided their couriers, allowing many restaurants to offer takeaway but not be required to deliver the food themselves.

By the end of 2016, Rocket Internet sold Foodpanda to Delivery Hero. As a result of the acquisition, Delivery Hero hoped to process over 20 million orders per month in 47 countries.

Further expansion saw the Foodpanda platform offered in Myanmar, Cambodia, Japan, and Laos in 2019 and 2020.

Today, Foodpanda partners with more than 115,000 restaurants around the world in over 400 cities.

Foodpanda revenue generation

Foodpanda has a typical revenue generation strategy for a food delivery business. The company utilizes the marketplace business model, matching riders and restaurants with customer demand.

A more detailed look at revenue generation is provided below.

Commissions

Foodpanda makes most of its money through restaurant commissions. 

When a consumer places a food order, the company charges anywhere from 25 to 30% of the total order amount to restaurants.

Delivery fees

Consumers ordering food also pay delivery fees, with the exact fee depending on the country-specific market.

Fees are also contingent on how close the customer is to the restaurant, with larger distances commanding higher delivery fees. 

Foodpanda also charges delivery fees as part of its Pandago service. Other businesses can utilize its fleet of couriers to make same-day deliveries on food, groceries, documents, and other retail products. 

Because Foodpanda cannot collect a restaurant commission from these orders, the delivery fee is likely to be much higher to compensate.

Subscriptions

Pandapro is the name given to a monthly subscription program for consumers, allowing them to receive exclusive deals and benefits. Such perks include free delivery and access to various discounts and vouchers.

The subscription fee charged depends on the consumer’s country of residence.

Grocery sales

Grocery sales are handled through a service called Pandamart, an on-demand platform selling over 3,500 daily essentials such as fresh produce, household items, beauty products, and medication.

Products are stored and distributed from Foodpanda-owned and operated warehouses. To make a profit, it can be assumed the company is marking up prices on certain items.

Key takeaways:

  • Foodpanda is an online grocery and food delivery service owned by the European multinational company Delivery Hero. The founders of the platform worked for Rocket Internet, a start-up incubator known for replicating successful business models in underserved markets.
  • Foodpanda adheres to a typical revenue generation strategy for a food delivery business. It charges restaurants a commission fee and consumers a delivery fee.
  • Foodpanda also offers a consumer subscription service, giving them access to various discounts and perks. The company also operates an on-demand grocery platform for household staples and other essential items.

Related Business Models

DoorDash Business Model

how-does-doordash-make-money
DoorDash is a platform business model that enables restaurants to set up at-no-cost delivery operations. At the same time, customers get their food at home, and dashers (delivery people) earn some extra money. DoorDash makes money by markup prices through delivery fees, memberships, and advertising for restaurants on the marketplace.


Glovo Business Model

glovo-business-model
Glovo is a Spanish on-demand courier service that purchases and delivers products ordered through a mobile app—founded in 2015 by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud as a way to “uberize” local services. Glovo makes money via delivery fees, mini-supermarkets (fulfillment centers that Glovo operates in partnership with grocery store chains), and dark kitchens (enabling restaurants to increase their capacity).

GrubHub Business Model

grubhub-business-model
Grubhub is an online and mobile platform for restaurant pick-up and delivery orders. In 2018 the company connected 95,000 takeout restaurants in over 1,700 U.S. cities and London. The Grubhub portfolio of brands like Seamless, LevelUp, Eat24, AllMenus, MenuPages, and Tapingo. The company makes money primarily by charging restaurants a pre-order commission, and it generates revenues when diners place an order on its platform. Also, it charges restaurants that use Grubhub delivery services when diners pay for them. 

Instacart Business Model

how-does-instacart-make-money
Instacart’s business model enables an easy setup for grocery stores, the comfort for customers to get their shopping delivered at home, and an additional income stream for personal shoppers. Instacart makes money by charging service fees via memberships and running performance advertising on its platform.

Lyft Business Model

lyft-business-model
Lyft is a transportation-as-a-service marketplace allowing riders to find a driver for a ride. Lyft has also expanded with a multimodal platform that gives more options like bike-sharing or electric scooters. Lyft primarily makes money by collecting fees from drivers who complete rides on the platform.

Uber Business Model

uber-business-model
Uber is a two-sided marketplace, a platform business model that connects drivers and riders, with an interface that has elements of gamification that makes it easy for two sides to connect and transact. Uber makes money by collecting fees from the platform’s gross bookings.

Postmates Business Model

postmates-business-model
Postmates is a food delivery service built as a last-mile delivery service platform connecting locals with shops. Postmates makes money by collecting fees (commission, delivery, service, cart, and cancellation fees). It also makes money via its subscription service (called Unlimted – $9.99/month or $99.99 annually), giving free delivery on orders of more than $12.

Uber Eats Business Model

uber-eats-business-model
Uber Eats is a three-sided marketplace connecting a driver, a restaurant owner, and a customer with the Uber Eats platform at the center. The three-sided marketplace moves around three players: Restaurants pay commission on the orders to Uber Eats; Customers pay small delivery charges and, at times, cancellation fees; Drivers earn through making reliable deliveries on time.

Coupang Business Model

coupang-business-model
Coupang is a South Korean eCommerce company. Coupang makes money by selling consumer items through its desktop and mobile eCommerce platforms. The company also collects fees from its food delivery, video streaming, and advertising services.

Amazon Business Model

how-does-amazon-make-money
Amazon has a diversified business model. Amazon’s primary revenue streams comprise its e-commerce platform, made of Amazon-labeled products and Amazon third-party stores. In addition to that, Amazon makes money via third-party seller services (like those fulfilled by Amazon), advertising on its platform, AWS cloud platform, and Prime membership.

Getir 

getir-business-model
Getir is a Turkish grocery and restaurant food delivery platform founded by Serkan Borancili, Tuncay Tutek, Dogancan Dalyan, and Nazim Salur. Salur got the idea for the company after wondering if food could be delivered nearly as quickly as taxis could be hailed. As a dark supermarket operator, Getir makes money by selling items at a 10% premium to traditional supermarkets and retailers. Margins are higher because the company only leases the dark stores’ warehouses. Getir also charges a flat delivery fee on orders above a certain threshold, with fees varying according to the country served.

About The Author

Scroll to Top
FourWeekMBA