Yumist is targeting 50% of its revenue to be generated from this business, called Yumist Lunchroom, in the next six to nine months
Corporate meals ordered online on Yumist currently make up 70% of the orders it receives.
New Delhi: Food delivery platform Yumist Foodtech Pvt. Ltd is setting up manned food kiosks at corporate houses such as Apollo Munich Health Insurance Co. Ltd, Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd and Future Retail Ltd in Gurgaon, marking its entry into the offline food business.
Yumist is targeting 50% of its revenue to be generated from this business, called Yumist Lunchroom, in the next six to nine months, according to a top executive. Corporate meals ordered online currently make up 70% of the orders it receives.
“We will stick with corporate lunches for Lunchroom for the next three months. Beyond that we will start looking at other destination verticals. It could be hospitals, gas stations etc. In the next 6-9 months almost half our revenue can come from Lunchroom,” said Alok Jain, founder and chief executive officer.
According to Jain, these manned kiosks would not just reduce Yumist’s overall delivery costs it had to incur on individual corporate orders, but will also provide a strong brand visibility to the company.
To begin with, kiosks are being set up across 25-30 corporate houses, entailing capital expenditure of Rs.30,000 each. The area is around 25 square feet each.
The food is supplied in bulk from the centralized kitchen of Yumist and kept at these kiosks.
It is being run on three models. Under the bill-to-company model, Yumist get a minimum guarantee from the companies that are paying the cost of food on behalf of their employees.
Under the second model, companies subsidize the food and share the cost with employees. This too carries a minimum guarantee.
In the third model, the employees would come to the kiosks and buy the food by themselves. In this model, there is no minimum guarantee.
Jain also said that the move will help Yumist reduce the cost of a meal from Rs.120 to Rs.90 as the orders are in bulk.
The company has been experimenting with the business-to-business model for increasing sales and reducing costs, Mint reported in February. The company halted operations in Bangalore, citing problems in operating out of a rental kitchen.
Yumist raised $2 million from investors led by Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures in December.
In the last couple of years, many e-tailers, including fashion e-commerce portal FabAlley, online furniture marketplace Pepperfry and eyewear portal Lenskart have launched offline stores to enhance brand visibility and boost sales. While some only allow customers to touch and feel the product, some sell through these stores as well.
