Industries · Restaurant Marketing
One in three rupees from delivery goes to Zomato or Swiggy. We help Kerala restaurants take it back.
Aggregator commissions of 20-35% per order are the single biggest operational cost most Kerala restaurants face after raw materials. Adsomia builds the digital marketing programme that grows direct orders, strengthens the brand customers come back for, and rebalances aggregator dependency without abandoning it. Same playbook hotels use to escape OTA dominance — applied to F&B.
Direct orders cost you a discount. Aggregator orders cost you a third of the bill.
On Zomato or Swiggy, the commission is 20-35% of every order, plus payment gateway, plus visibility-fee priority listings, plus discount-share when the platform runs offers. The aggregator owns the customer relationship, not you. The aggregator owns the data, not you. The aggregator decides who sees you next time. The economics of running a restaurant in Kerala in 2026 say one thing: you have to grow the channels you control. Adsomia builds those channels — direct ordering on WhatsApp + your own site, loyalty programs, Instagram and Reels that earn customers back, local SEO so people find you when they search "best biryani near me" instead of opening the app.
What our restaurant marketing programme covers
Twelve work streams across direct ordering, brand building, and aggregator optimisation. Tuned to single-location restaurants, multi-location chains, cloud kitchens, and café brands.
Direct ordering on WhatsApp + your own site
Menu-driven WhatsApp ordering flow with payment integration, same-day delivery slot booking, repeat-customer loyalty cards. The infrastructure that makes "skip the app" actually possible.
Restaurant schema (Restaurant + Menu + LocalBusiness)
Schema for restaurant type, cuisine, opening hours, menu items, price range, accepted payments. Eligibility for the rich result that puts your menu and rating directly in Google search.
Local SEO + Google Business Profile
"Best biryani near me", "Kerala cuisine restaurant Trivandrum", "café open now Kochi" — the moments customers decide. Optimised GBP with photos, posts, menu, attributes.
Instagram + Reels (visual-first content)
Food photography, behind-the-scenes kitchen reels, signature-dish close-ups, customer reactions. F&B is the most visual category in marketing — Reels drive 3-5× the engagement of any other content type.
Reviews management (Zomato + Google + TripAdvisor)
Strategy to convert satisfied customers into reviews on the platforms that influence purchase: Zomato, Google, TripAdvisor (for tourist-belt restaurants). AggregateRating schema attached.
Loyalty + repeat-customer programs
Direct-channel loyalty cards (5th meal free, birthday discount, referral bonus). The feature aggregators do badly that builds your direct database.
Aggregator optimisation (alongside, not instead)
Zomato + Swiggy listings optimised — better photos, sharper descriptions, strategic discount calendar. We don't promise zero-aggregator; we promise rebalanced economics.
Catering, events, large-group marketing
The high-margin orders aggregators don't take — corporate catering, weddings, party orders, bulk delivery. Different audience, different channel mix, different (better) margins.
NRI nostalgia content (for Kerala-cuisine brands)
Kerala expats in the GCC and elsewhere drive a real food-tourism segment when they visit home. Content that travels well — short videos, traditional-dish history, regional speciality storytelling.
Tourist-belt restaurant marketing (when applicable)
Munnar, Alleppey, Kovalam, Wayanad, Thekkady — restaurant marketing for tourist destinations needs a different playbook than urban dine-in. TripAdvisor optimisation, hotel partnership content, multilingual menus.
Restaurant HEO (AI search visibility)
"Best biryani in Trivandrum", "vegetarian Kerala food restaurant Kochi", "café with WiFi Munnar" — increasingly asked of AI assistants. Adsomia's HEO programme integrates restaurant marketing with AI citation seeding.
Reporting tied to direct-order ratio + per-order economics
Monthly dashboards: direct-order count vs aggregator-order count, average order value by channel, customer lifetime value, repeat-order rate, source attribution. The numbers that make rebalancing decisions data-driven.
Our process — five stages, six months minimum
Restaurant marketing rewards consistency over campaigns. The first 90 days build infrastructure; the next 90 days drive direct orders against the new foundation.
- 01
Audit & economics review (weeks 1-3)
Direct-order ratio measurement (where you are now). Aggregator commission breakdown by platform. Visibility analysis on Google, Zomato, TripAdvisor. Local SEO benchmark. Output: a real "shift aggregator-to-direct" target with sequenced roadmap.
- 02
Foundation (weeks 4-8)
Restaurant schema + menu schema rollout, GBP optimisation, WhatsApp ordering wired up, loyalty program live, food photography brought up to standard. The work that has to land before paid spend ramps.
- 03
Demand generation (months 2-9)
Local SEO content, Instagram + Reels cadence, review acquisition system, aggregator listing optimisation. Demand for the brand specifically, not just for "biryani near me".
- 04
Aggregator rebalance (months 6-12)
As direct-order channels grow, gradually rebalance aggregator spend and discount calendar. Goal: keep the volume aggregators bring while shifting margin-rich orders to direct.
- 05
Optimise + scale (ongoing)
Monthly reviews of direct-order ratio, repeat-order rate, average order value, CAC by channel. Kill underperforming, double down on what works. Annual brand campaign for festivals (Onam, Christmas, Eid).
Why direct-order economics matter
20-35%
Zomato + Swiggy commission per order — the single largest operational cost after raw materials
3-5×
Reels engagement vs static content for F&B brands (industry average)
40% / 60%
realistic 12-month direct/aggregator ratio target for most Kerala restaurants
Frequently asked questions
No. Aggregators bring real volume — especially for new restaurants without an established direct customer base. We don't promise aggregator elimination; we promise rebalance. The realistic 12-month target for most Kerala restaurants is shifting from 15% direct / 85% aggregator (typical starting point) to 40% direct / 60% aggregator. The high-margin orders move first to direct; aggregators stay as the volume layer.
Want to see how much you're losing to commission?
Send us your restaurant name + current Zomato/Swiggy commission percentage — we'll send back a free audit covering your direct-order ratio benchmark, top three commission-saving opportunities, and a realistic 12-month rebalance target. No pitch deck.
