Yumist Launches Offline Kiosks To Supplement Revenue

Yumist, the online food delivery platform, has launched manned offline kiosks in leading corporate offices in a bid to increase its revenue. The new initiative called the Yumist Lunchroom, will be setup in corporates such as Apollo Munich Health Insurance, Ericsson India and Future Retail Ltd in Gurugram, according to Livemint. The offline business model is a step in a new direction for the company which recently shut its Bengaluru operations. 

‘Yumist Lunchroom’

With the launch of offline food kiosks, Yumist is targeting 50 percent of its total revenue to be generated from this new venture. Yumist Lunchroom will be setup in several corporate offices over the course of next six to nine months, according to an executive speaking to Livemint. Speaking about the new venture, Alok Jain, founder and chief executive office of Yumist, said, “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.” 

Reducing Delivery Costs

Jain also noted that the setup of these offline kiosks will reduce the delivery costs pertaining to each order and a reduction of nearly Rs. 30 per order in the cost of each meal due to bulk ordering. The kiosks will cost around Rs. 30,000 each and with the total area of a kiosk to be marked around 25 square feet. The food at these kiosks will be supplied by the Yumist’s central kitchen and will be sold under three models; food subsidised by the company, food subsidised by the company and the share of cost to be paid by the employees and individual sale to the employees.  

Online vs Offline

Setting up shop in corporate offices and tech parks provide an valuable alternative to the online based model for food-tech startups such as Yumist due to the high number of guaranteed footfall. Offline kiosks and stores builds brand recognition by building a direct relationship with the customer. Even if the online-based model provides a cheap alternative, offline kiosks helps in adding revenue by providing better customer service.