Zomato to share customers' data with restaurants: Here's what it means

Food-delivery platform Zomato is set to share customers' data with restaurants, and other food aggregators are also likely to follow. According to a report from The Economic Times, Zomato is in advanced talks with the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) to start sharing customer information with restaurants.

 

This move may end almost 10 years of disputes, during which restaurants accused food delivery apps of masking customer data.

 

Let's take a look at what data will be shared with the restaurants and how it can impact the customers.

What will happen?

Zomato has already begun testing a new feature that asks users for permission before sharing their phone number with restaurants for marketing and promotional messages. Under the new system, restaurants will get customer details only if the user agrees to share them. 

Why restaurants want this

Restaurants say they need access to customer information to understand who is ordering, how often they order, and what kind of food they prefer. They argue that this helps them spend their marketing money more wisely and send offers or promotions that match customer interests. They believe direct access to customers is essential for building a long-term relationship.

What are the key concerns

However, the food aggregators said that attempts to share customer data in the past led to negative feedback from users, who worried about spam and misuse of information. This time, Zomato and NRAI, which represents half a million restaurants across the country, say the data sharing will have clear limits and will only happen with user consent, according to The Economic Times report.

 

NRAI has also raised other concerns, such as rising commissions, which restaurants say have increased from around 5-7 per cent earlier to nearly 35 per cent, along with issues like deep discounting.

Who else is sharing data?

Zomato is not the only company taking this approach. Rapido’s new food delivery service, Ownly, has already signed an agreement with NRAI to share customer information with restaurants. NRAI says it has also begun similar talks with Swiggy, meaning other platforms may soon adopt the same model, the report said.

Food delivery market set to grow

According to Statista, the revenue in the online food delivery market is projected to reach $54.97 billion in 2025. Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2025-2030) of 13.26 per cent, resulting in a projected market volume of $102.43 billion by 2030.

 

In the meal delivery market, the number of users is expected to amount to 363.4 million by 2030. User penetration in the meal delivery market will be at 20.2 per cent in 2025.