Rappi to launch (zero fee) platform for restaurants. But, is it really free?

Contxto – Colombian Rappi wants to take its relationship with restaurants to a new level. Yesterday (23), the startup announced the launch of “Propio,” a platform for eating establishments to manage their sales and deliveries. 

“We’ve taken our technology and placed it at the service of large and small-sized restaurants so they can have their own online sales funnel and a system for receiving orders,” said Simón Borrero, co-Founder and CEO at Rappi on social media.

If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking, “sounds great, but what will it cost restaurants?”

And to a degree, Borrero also shed some light on that matter.

“They’ll pay a zero percent (yes, zero) fee throughout 2020,” said the Executive.

This new product will reportedly be launched within a few weeks in all markets where Rappi operates… so basically nine Latam countries (Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Costa Rica).

• Related article: Rappi Founder and Softbank Partner join with entrepreneurs for Latam Covid-19 fund, IMPACTO

If you’re still thinking this freebie product sounds too good to be true, your skepticism is (somewhat) justified. But we’ll get to that in a sec.

Rappi restaurant platform perks

The startup states that this system is a way of helping restaurants pull through the pandemic using digital tools.

Besides the aforementioned services, the “Propio” platform can also enable restaurants to launch an online store, access logistics, and marketing services, as well as process electronic payments. 

But it’s not all free ya know.

Only the system for receiving orders will be fee-free throughout the year. 

The other perks are arranged into modules. According to the startup’s website, a vendor will pay a rate over the sales generated for the module they’ve chosen. So essentially the more you sell, the more you pay.

As usual, not everything that glitters is gold.

[wd_hustle id=”InArticleOptin” type=”embedded”/]

Rappi commission complaints

Moreover, a common complaint among restaurants is that Rappi’s commission for being hosted on its platform is steep. So will the unicorn ever consider changing its rates for partnering restaurants? 

We’ve reached out to the startup to learn more and will keep you posted on that front.

Nonetheless, it would seem that this new “free” endeavor through the Propio platform appears as a way for Rappi to extend an olive branch to vendors.

Still, I’m sure there’s more than one restaurant out there in need of tech to manage their delivery workloads. So the Propio platform is a welcome sight in that sense.

If you happen to be interested or know of someone who might benefit from Rappi’s restaurant platform, you can sign up here.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Colombia!

-ML