The same is a Chinese fast -food company, why is a takeaway commission 4%and a 25%?

Author / Jin Delu

The pictures of this article are from the Internet

This year, Chinese catering companies ushered in the tide of IPO.

The first is that at the beginning of the year, the rural foundation (Mr. Mi) submitted an IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; then in May, the chicken of the villagers submitted a prospectus to the Shanghai Stock Exchange; then in July, the old lady submitted the prospectus to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

In the current environment, catering companies themselves are not very concerned about market attention. But with the disclosure of the prospectus, a data indicator has attracted a lot of controversy.

The root cause of the controversy lies in the takeaway cost of catering companies. The prospectus shows that some catering companies takeaway costs less than 5%, while some companies exceed 25%.

The market is curious, why is it also for takeaway and why is there such a huge gap in takeaway costs?

01 What does the takeaway service fee refer to?

For the three companies, the takeaway business is crucial. We mainly compare the takeaway business through the prospectus data of the rural base and the old mother.

According to the prospectus of rural bases, from 2019 to 2021, the revenue of rural base takeaway business was 845 million yuan, 1.137 billion yuan, and 1.539 billion yuan, respectively, and the proportion of the company's operating income was 25.95%, 35.98%, and 33.33%, respectively.

Obviously, the takeaway business supports the income of one -third of the rural foundation.

At the same time, the prospectus showed that the company's takeaway service fee was 195 million yuan, 292 million yuan, and 382 million yuan, respectively, accounting for 23.02%, 25.67%, and 24.81%of the income of takeaway business.

In other words, about 25%of the rural radical income given the takeaway platform through takeaway service fees.

Source: rural base prospectus

Compared with the prospectus of Lao Niangyu, from 2019 to 2021, corporate takeaway revenue was 493 million yuan, 574 million yuan, and 70 billion yuan, respectively; takeaway revenue accounted for 41.38%, 49.10%, and 47.30%, respectively.

The revenue of the old lady's takeaway business accounted for a higher proportion, supporting the income of nearly half of the old lady.

At the same time, the prospectus showed that the company's platform service fee was 23.787 million yuan, 26.1619 million yuan, and 32.2248 million yuan, respectively; 4.82%, 4.56%, and 4.60%of the income of takeaway business, respectively.

Source: Lao Niang's Prosperity Book

In other words, about 5%of the takeaway income of Lao Niangyu gave the takeaway platform through the form of platform service fees.

The dispute point comes from this. After all, it is also a "service fee". The old lady is only about 5%, and the rural law is as high as 25%.

But in fact, the takeaway service fee mentioned in the rural foundation contains both platform service fees and rider fees, not simply platform commissions.

The rider's delivery service fee is often the cost of the food merchant takeaway business.

Back to the old mother's prospectus, the business cost of "rider's delivery fee and transportation fee" was also mentioned in the prospectus.

Although the cost of sending the rider's delivery fee and the transportation fee is integrated, it can also be seen that the amount of this fee is also large. In 2021, the "rider's delivery fee and transportation fee" reached 122 million yuan.

Source: Lao Niang's Prosperity Book

In fact, the data from the platform can also "demonstrate" the rider's delivery cost is often large.

According to Meituan's 2020 financial report, the annual commission revenue was 58.592 billion yuan, of which the cost paid to the riders was 48.692 billion yuan; the two were divided, and the cost of the rider accounted for 83%of the commission. In other words, the commission income of most platforms has actually flowed to the riders. Looking at the data of the 2021 financial report, the annual catering and takeaway delivery revenue was 54.2 billion, while the distribution cost of the year reached 68.1 billion, and the delivery and expenditure were still negative.

The "misunderstanding" of the market's commission on the market has always been related to the platform "itself".

Before 2020, Meituan's disclosure of the revenue of catering and takeaway business was mainly commission and online marketing services. It did not remove the delivery fee paid for the riders. All of them are classified as commissions. Therefore, this has the impression that Meituan takeaway is drawn up to 20 %.

The cost of takeaway costs caused by the prospectus of the listed company is that the statistical standards of catering companies are different. The one is only calculated that the platform collects commissions, and the other is to calculate the delivery fee cost.

What is the real commission rate of the 02 platform?

The operation of the takeaway platform is more special, and the platform needs to maintain the balance between merchants, riders, and consumers; this makes the platform operating mechanism more complicated.

In order to increase the transparency of merchant commissions, starting from May 1, 2021, Meituan adjusts takeaway commissions and adopts flexible and transparent "step -type charges".

That is, Meituan separates platform commission and delivery service fee. The commission mainly includes the costs of merchant information display services, transaction services, business service and customer service services, IT operation and maintenance services, and collect it at a fixed proportion.

The delivery service fee is mainly used to pay the rider's salary, subsidy, personnel training management and other expenses. The delivery service fee is only incurred on the premise of selecting platform distribution, and a stepped fee will be carried out according to different distances, prices, and time periods, similar to the "watch" of taxis.

In this way, the proportion of real commission drawing is clearly visible.

According to the financial report, in 2021, the amount of takeaway transactions of Meituan was 702.1 billion yuan. At the same time, the commission revenue obtained by the Merchant Takeaway through the merchant in 2021 was 28.5 billion yuan. Compared with the annual transaction amount, the commission rate of takeaway platform is about 4.1 %. Compared with the commission rate of 20 % of the platform that has always been widely circulated, the 4.1 % commission rate is significantly lower; and this data is also consistent with the data in the promotional book of the old lady.

Source: Lao Niang's Prosperity Book

It is worth mentioning that the platform's 4.1 % commission rate is relatively low compared with the commission ratio of other domestic industries.

According to public data, the current domestic taxi platform is between 18%and 30%. The proportion of live broadcast platform commission is higher. Taking Huya as an example, Huya gifts are divided into guardian gifts and reward gifts. The live broadcast platforms also basically take 50 % to 60 % of commission charges.

Compared with foreign takeaway platforms, the current domestic takeaway platforms are also low. Public information shows that the commission of the US takeaway platform DOORDASH has reached 30%, and the proportion of UBEREATS's self -order commission is 15%.

In general, after the transparent reform of the US group's commission in 2021, the real commission rate of the platform is obviously visible. Although there are differences in different regions, the average commission level of 4.1%in 2021 is not high.

According to the "2021 Catering Takeaway Merchants Research Report" just released by Aurora Big Data Agency, more than 90%of merchants pay less than 8%; 4.5%of merchant commission rates are less than 3%.

03 Is transparency a new trend in future billing?

For merchants, in addition to paying attention to the fees, they will also pay attention to the transparency and rationality of charges. In the previous packed charging model, the commission and the delivery service fee are charged together, and it is difficult for merchants to distinguish the delivery costs paid by each order. Through the transparent billing method, the delivery service fee and distance, time period and price are related to the delivery. Merchants can subdivide the order with higher distribution costs to optimize the operating structure.

For example, in the early morning, the number of delivery riders is small, the incentive subsidies for the riders will be increased accordingly, and the performance cost of the corresponding order may be higher. Therefore, not all merchant orders are suitable for setting up the range of long -distance distribution and late night scene service periods. If a rice noodle worth 15 yuan, the order distribution distance is far away, and it is delivered in the early morning. The cost of paying for rider only exceeds ten yuan, which is not cost -effective for merchant's profit structure.

Therefore, the adjusted takeaway rate model gave the merchants the right to know and choose. It helps merchants to further research the levy rate rules, reduce their costs, maintain the market within the "three kilometers", and provide takeaway users with a better dining experience. For merchants, it also helps its own business forward.

In addition, the transparent rate model also makes small and medium merchants feel "affordable."

According to Tianfeng Securities Research Report, taking Shenzhen as an example, taking the order price of 48 yuan as an example, the order commission of 48 yuan in unit price of 3 kilometers fell by 5.02%, so the structured adjustment of the dependent distribution merchants has benefited relatively.

Within three kilometers, the proportion of all takeaway orders is the largest. According to surging news, the proportion of orders within 3 kilometers accounted for more than 75%. In addition, within three kilometers is the main position of most small and medium businesses.

Catering vertical media catering owners have conducted merchant surveys for the new rate of takeaway. The survey data shows that 65%of the merchants participating in the rate adjustment have clear perception of the rate adjustment. Nearly 70%of the merchants believe that to the platform to the platform The payment is reduced compared to before.

Therefore, overall, under the rules of new takeaway billing, most small and medium -sized catering merchants will benefit and achieve different degrees of fees.

In addition, for merchants, takeaway costs are elastic costs, which is different from the rigid cost of rent. In other words, the increase in takeaway orders will increase the increase in merchant revenue, and the overall profit of merchants will increase.

Especially under the repeated influence of the epidemic, takeaway business is also the main way for many small and medium businesses to "overcome difficulties"; and takeaway platforms are also continuously supporting small and medium merchants. The 2022 phase assistance measures launched in March this year mainly include commissions reduction in difficult merchants in the epidemic areas, commissions for small and medium -sized merchants in difficulties, and providing online services and tools for free.

Catering listed enterprises takeaway commissions have caused market controversy. The main reason is derived from accounting caliber statistics. Whether the cost of take-out rider has become a source of differences, and the real platform duration rate is still at a low level of 6%-8%.

As far as the ecological environment of my country's takeaway industry is concerned, in fact, the platform has maintained the balance of three times the effect of riders, merchants, and users to a certain extent. Rider has a relatively free and worker job; merchants have an important way to touch consumers, and users can enjoy food without leaving home.

At least, from the true commission rate of takeaway platforms, it should not be "demonized".

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