Helping Local Restaurants Beat Swiggy's Commission — With Their Own Online Store.
Delinow is a zero-commission ecommerce platform we built for local restaurants and retailers in India's tier-2 and tier-3 cities. QR code onboarding, direct payments, full inventory control — no middlemen.
The Commission Trap Killing Local Business Margins
Local restaurants and kirana stores in India's smaller cities were stuck in a painful dilemma. List on Swiggy or Zomato and pay 20–30% commission on every order — losing the thin margins that keep small businesses alive. Or stay offline and miss the growing wave of customers who order online.
They also had no way to own their customer relationships. Platforms kept the customer data, not the merchant. A restaurant could have 500 regular customers and know none of their names, preferences, or contact details.
Delinow was built to change that — giving local businesses their own branded digital presence, direct orders, and full control over their customer base without paying a rupee in commission.
On a ₹200 order, a restaurant on Swiggy or Zomato nets as little as ₹140 — before ingredient costs, rent, and staff wages.
Aggregator platforms retain all customer contact data. Merchants can't run loyalty programmes, push offers, or re-engage their best customers.
Asking customers to download an app before ordering adds friction — especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities where mobile data and storage are constraints.
We Started on the Ground, Not in a Boardroom
Before writing a line of code, we spent time with real merchants. Understanding the daily grind of running a small restaurant is the only way to build something they'll actually use.
Field Research with Real Merchants
Visited 12 local restaurants and 8 retail shops across Howrah and Kolkata. Mapped every pain point with Swiggy and Zomato and documented every manual step in their current ordering and billing process — in their own words.
Mobile-First for Both Sides of the Market
Built mobile-first for both the merchant (React Native app) and the customer (web + PWA). The QR code onboarding flow was tested with actual restaurant customers before development even began.
5-Month End-to-End Development
Five months of focused development — store builder, ordering engine, payment integration (Razorpay same-day settlements), delivery module, multi-language support across Bengali, Hindi, English, and Marathi.
Piloted in Howrah, Iterated Fast
Onboarded the first 20 restaurants in Howrah. Watched real usage, gathered feedback on the QR onboarding flow and billing UX, and shipped rapid iterations before rolling out to more vendors.
Chosen for the Reality of Tier-2 India
Every technology choice was made with the actual user in mind — merchants with mid-range Android phones, customers on patchy mobile data, and a need for same-day payment settlements. Speed, reliability, and offline resilience weren't nice-to-haves.
We used Next.js for the vendor dashboard and customer-facing stores so pages load fast on slow connections. React Native gave us a single codebase for the merchant's iOS and Android app. Razorpay handles payments with same-day settlement to vendor accounts — no float held by the platform.
Real Numbers from Real Merchants
These aren't projections. They're what's actually happening on the platform today.
Restaurants and local retailers across Howrah and expanding cities, running their full operations on Delinow daily.
Gross merchandise value flowing directly to vendors — zero commission deducted. Every rupee goes to the business that earned it.
Daily order volume across the platform, covering online orders, takeaway, and counter billing sessions.
Vendors on Delinow keep their full margin on every single order. On aggregator platforms, they'd lose ₹20–₹30 on every ₹100 in revenue.
QR code onboarding cut the time for a new customer to place their first order from 3+ minutes (app download + signup) to 15 seconds — scan, browse, order.
Full UI localisation means customers can order in their own language — critical for adoption in tier-2 and tier-3 cities where English fluency can't be assumed.
With Swiggy, we were losing ₹8 on every ₹100 order. With Delinow, we keep everything and we know our customers by name. It changed how we run the business.
The Roadmap Is Built on What Merchants Keep Asking For
Delinow's next phase is about deepening the platform's value for existing vendors while expanding the geographic footprint. Every item on the roadmap came directly from merchant feedback.
The ONDC integration is particularly significant — it opens Delinow vendors to the national Open Network for Digital Commerce, giving small local businesses access to a government-backed discovery network without any additional setup.
Rolling out to more tier-2 cities beyond Howrah — with localised onboarding and language support ready from day one.
Real-time order alerts and status updates sent directly to customers via WhatsApp — no app required, meets customers where they already are.
Built-in loyalty and repeat-customer rewards — letting vendors run their own retention programmes without needing a separate tool.
Joining India's Open Network for Digital Commerce — giving Delinow vendors national discovery on a government-backed open protocol, without extra setup or commission.
A dedicated bulk-order module for catering businesses and event orders — larger order sizes, flexible scheduling, and invoice-based payment options.
Building a Marketplace, Local Commerce Platform, or Any B2C Product?
We've built multi-sided platforms, QR-based onboarding flows, multi-language commerce apps, and payment-integrated SaaS products. If you're solving a similar problem, let's talk — Vikash personally reviews every new enquiry and responds within 4 hours.
Or reach us directly: [email protected] · WhatsApp +91 844 844 2020