Take rate

The share of transaction value a platform keeps as its own revenue.

A marketplace taking ₹680 crore on ₹8,500 crore of gross merchandise value has an 8% take rate.

Its direction is the clearest signal of a platform's bargaining position. A rising take rate on stable volume means sellers have nowhere else to go. A falling one means competition, or that sellers are transacting off-platform once they have found the buyer, which is the failure mode called disintermediation.

Take rates also mix. Advertising revenue carries a much higher effective rate than commission, so a shift toward advertising raises the blended figure without any change in commission terms.

Decompose before celebrating.

Watch what happens to it as a platform matures. Early on it is held low to build liquidity, then raised once sellers have no alternative, which is the point at which the business either demonstrates pricing power or discovers it has none. A take rate that has never been tested is not evidence of anything.