Covid 19 coronavirus: Zomato, Menulog and Beam e-scooters offer struggling hospitality businesses a helping hand

New opportunities are presenting themselves to hospitality businesses struggling financially as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

Restaurants, cafes, and takeaways were given the all-clear to reopen under alert level 3, through contactless delivery or pick up only.

It was not all good news, many had spent the past month without any cashflow and reopening would not be in the best interest for all.

Due to the impact of Covid-19, 20 per cent of the industry in New Zealand may never reopen. Photo / 123RF

Customers would not be allowed inside shopfronts and some businesses were not set up for delivery and/or pick up options altogether.

Meanwhile, the major player in the food delivery sector, Uber Eats, also took a significant bite out of a business' pay cheque.

It charged 30-35 per cent commission on all orders, prompting the Restaurant Association of New Zealand to call on the Government to enforce a cap.

A spokesperson for Uber Eats earlier this week told the Herald it had no plans to change its commission rate.

However, other companies were extending a helping hand to struggling businesses.

Food aggregator Zomato was launching a two-month commission-free takeaway option on their app.

In three days, more than 320 venues across Auckland had signed up for the service.

The end-to-end contactless takeaway service enabled users to support their favourite restaurants with in-app ordering, payment and collection.

The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown had been significant and Zomato was adapting to help those struggling, regional director Adam Muirson said.

"We view it as our responsibility to speed up the path to recovery and help as many businesses and employees make it through, without compromising the safety of Kiwis."

Elsewhere, e-scooter company Beam was providing free transportation options for businesses to support home deliveries.

Launching in Auckland and Christchurch, The Beam Shuttle Program was not charging any fees - no commissions and no lock-in contacts.

Businesses would register online, be trained by Beam staff to use the scooters safely and then have scooters, maintenance and helmets provided by Beam.

Meanwhile, Menulog NZ announced it would halve its food delivery commission rate from 14 per cent to 7 per cent until June 1.

The Menulog app and website would be reopening at 7am on Tuesday, April 28, following the decision to head to alert level 3.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called on Kiwis to shop and dine local after the nation entered alert level 3 at 11.59pm on Monday.

The Government would not be acting on calls for third-party delivery services' commission rates to be capped.

"I would just encourage consumers, all New Zealanders who may be looking forward next week to accessing takeaway food ... to look at your favourite local eatery," Ardern said.

"And I do encourage you to support local businesses – and just look at whether or not they offer delivery directly themselves."

The Restaurant Association said 20 per cent of businesses in the hospitality industry were not expecting to reopen following the pandemic.