mid-day 42nd anniversary: Biz born amid COVID helps restaurants survive, Thrive

ThriveDhruv Dewan 30 Karan Chechani 31 Krishi Fagwani 30Launched Thrive the online ordering platform that allows restaurants to reduce their dependence on aggregatorsA loyalty programme established by three entrepreneurs from the western suburbs took an unlikely turn last year just as the company was getting its boots off the ground Hashtag Loyalty the brainchild of Dhruv Dewan Karan Chechani and Krishi Fagwani was in danger of shutting shop even before the shutters were lifted all thanks to the pandemic But timely thinking and the lack of an alternative to food delivery apps led the trio to launch Thrive an online ordering platform that allows restaurants to directly reach their customersFagwani said ldquoThe pandemic confined us to our homes Hashtag Loyaltyrsquos business model revolved around brick and mortar stores and offline consumption Our business hit a wall We understood that the reality for our business and the industry we serve was changing rapidly In April 2020 we first deployed Save Local a platform where customers could purchase gift cards of their favourite businesses thereby giving them muchneeded cash flowrdquoldquoWe also went back to the drawing boardrdquo said Dewan ldquoWe spoke to our customers and their customers to understand how this lsquonew normalrsquo would shape uprdquoldquoThe fixed monthly subscription from each store stopped as none of our partners could serve their customers offline Thrive was born out of pure necessity not only for us but also for the FampB industry In July 2020 we had our first restaurant partner in Mumbairdquo Dewan saidChechani said ldquoA key change has been dining out In the new normal restaurants adapted survived and thrived with home deliveryrdquo With only deliveries came another caveat mdash commissions to aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy mdash which went up to 20 per cent to 30 per cent per order excluding discounts ldquoThese commissions are no longer sustainable neither is the duopoly that these apps have on customer datardquo Chechani saidThe trio saw the need for a sustainable food delivery ecosystem that was fair to restaurants and restauranteurs An online ordering platform Thrive fulfils this need and empowers restaurants to reduce their dependence on aggregatorsThrive charges a six per cent commission per order and provides restaurants complete ownership of their customer dataFood outletsrestaurants took to Thrive run by a team of 15 like a moth to a flame ldquoAt Thrive we define success by the value wersquove added to our customers that is restaurants Every direct order completed is a win for us because that means the restaurant has been able to achieve a higher profit control the delivery experience and engage directly with its customersrdquo said Dewan adding ldquoAlthough wersquore the thirdlargest market in the world for food delivery itrsquos still 110th of the market in the US and China Here it is still in its early stages with penetration as low as six per cent Looking at developed markets we definitely foresee huge growth in India especially with increasing digital penetration across tier2 and tier3 citiesrdquoThe trio places emphasis on valuecreation and attributes their initial success to pure focusldquoWersquore a restaurantfirst platform Food delivery is more complex than standard ecommerce with a delivery turnaround time of 30 minutes Each element is dynamic and needs to be controlled in realtime You need a strong focus on the right problems Otherwise you can be obsolete pretty quickrdquo Fagwani saidOver 3400 restaurants use Thrive to deliver directly to their customers and reduce their dependence on aggregators ldquoWersquove helped restaurants save Rs 3 crore so far in commissions They can utilise this money to not just survive but also thriverdquo Chechani saidAlso Read A causedriven narrativeRs 3crAmount Thrive has helped restaurants save in commissions