Gross sales on Swiggy and Zomato: why packing charges belong in the number
· 5 min read
Every percentage in a delivery report is a share of something, and the something matters. Measure a month against the item total alone and every cost reads a little high; leave packing out of the average order and the average reads a little low. Including packing charges fixes both.
What gross sales includes
Gross sales is the item total plus the packing charges on completed orders — what customers paid for the food and its packaging. Packing is charged to the customer alongside the food, and it is part of what the restaurant sells.
How it changes the percentages
Take a month with ₹1,00,000 of item sales, ₹5,000 of packing charges and ₹22,050 of platform fees:
| Measured against | Base | Platform fees as a share |
|---|---|---|
| Item total alone | ₹1,00,000 | 22.05% |
| Gross sales (item total + packing) | ₹1,05,000 | 21.0% |
The fees are the same rupees either way. Only the base moved — but it moved for every line at once, so discounts, ads and the bottom line all read against the same, complete figure.
The average order
The same goes for the average order value. With 400 orders, the item total alone gives ₹250 an order; item total plus packing gives ₹262.50, which is what the average customer actually paid. Reading the two figures side by side is also why it helps to show packing collected just before the average order in a report.
Average order value = (item total + packing collected) ÷ completed orders
The all-in cost of selling on an app
With gross sales as the base, one figure sums up the month: the share of gross sales that did not reach the restaurant as money received, once advertising is accounted for. It brings fees, discounts and ads into a single number that can be compared month to month and outlet to outlet.
All-in cost = (gross sales − money received after advertising) ÷ gross sales
Not the same as the platforms' business-metrics figure
The platforms' business-metrics reports use “gross sales” for something else: sales plus the discount the restaurant funded, which is the right base for measuring ads and offers. Both are useful. Just be clear which one a percentage is of before comparing it with another.
MenuMetrics states every share in its brand reports, profit calculator, Trends and Outlet trends against item total plus packing, and its average order is the whole basket — so every figure is read against the same base.
Reconcile every payout, not a sample
MenuMetricsreads the Swiggy and Zomato reports you already download and checks every order against what settled. Start with last month’s file.