Restaurant online ordering: cut delivery-app commission with your own site

If you run a restaurant or pizza shop in the UAE or UK, delivery apps probably bring you a steady stream of orders. They also keep a slice of every one. This guide shows how that slice adds up, what direct online ordering on your own website involves, and how to decide whether a mix of both suits you.

Fee figures in this article are typical, check your own contract. Results vary and nothing here is a promise.

1. Why commission hurts more than it looks

A delivery app charges a percentage of each order's value. Marketplace commission is often quoted at approx. 15-30% of order value (typical, check your own contract), plus optional advertising and delivery fees. On a thin-margin menu, that can be the difference between a profitable order and a break-even one.

The other cost is less visible. The app owns the customer relationship. You usually do not get the phone number or order history in a form you can use, so you cannot bring a customer back with a message of your own.

2. What direct online ordering means

Direct ordering means customers browse your menu on your own website, build a basket and pay there. You keep the order data. The costs are different: card-processing fees (approx. 2-3%; check your own provider) plus the cost of the site and tools.

If you take orders by WhatsApp or phone today, an ordering page gives customers a cleaner route and gives you fewer mistakes to fix.

3. What a good ordering site includes

• A clear menu with prices, photos and allergen notes.
• A basket and checkout that work well on a phone, since most customers order from one.
• Card payment, plus cash on delivery or collection if you offer it.
• Delivery area, minimum order and opening hours shown before checkout.
• Order confirmation and a way to reach you if something goes wrong.

A simple, fast page beats a complicated one. If your menu is small, start small. Our e-commerce service covers building this kind of ordering page.

4. Back-end automation: from order to kitchen

Taking the order is half the job. The rest should happen without someone retyping it:

• Orders to the kitchen: each new order can print on a kitchen printer, arrive as a WhatsApp message to the team, or be logged in a CRM.
• Automatic confirmations: the customer gets a confirmation by SMS, WhatsApp or email as soon as they pay.
• Menu and stock sync: when an item sells out, it is switched off on the site so customers cannot order it.

Tools such as Make.com can connect these steps where your setup supports it; which tool fits depends on your site, printer and CRM. Our scripting and automation service can set this up.

5. Winning customers back

Because you keep the customer's phone number and order history, you can contact people who have ordered from you and agreed to hear from you. A short WhatsApp, SMS or email can say you have a new dish, a quiet-day offer or simply that ordering direct is open.

Only message customers who have agreed to be contacted, and follow the rules that apply where you trade. Our email and SMS campaigns service can help you plan this.

6. A worked example

These figures are illustrations built on assumptions, not promises. Replace them with your own.

Assumptions: 200 orders a month, average basket 60, app commission approx. 25-30%, card fees approx. 2-3%, tools and site cost approx. 500 a month. Amounts are in your local currency.

• Monthly sales: 200 x 60 = 12,000.
• Through an app: 25-30% of 12,000 = 3,000-3,600.
• Direct: card fees 240-360 plus tools and site 500 = 740-860.
• Difference if every order moved: about 2,140-2,860 a month.

In practice not every order will move, so treat this as the ceiling.

The 50-order case: sales are 50 x 60 = 3,000. Through an app the cost is 750-900. Direct, card fees of 60-90 plus 500 for tools and site gives 560-590. The gap is much smaller because the fixed cost weighs more.

Results vary and nothing is promised.

7. Direct ordering vs delivery apps

Apps are good at finding new customers. A direct site is good at keeping them. Many restaurants use both.

8. How to start without a big risk

1. 1
   Check your current app contracts and note the real commission you pay.
2. 2
   Count monthly orders and your average basket, then rerun the example above with your numbers.
3. 3
   Launch a simple ordering page and keep the apps running alongside it.
4. 4
   Tell regulars about it: a card in each bag, a link on your WhatsApp status, a note on your Google listing.
5. 5
   Automate kitchen alerts and confirmations once orders start to flow.
6. 6
   Review after a few weeks and adjust.

Never promise customers a discount you cannot afford or that an app's terms forbid. Check your agreements first.

9. Next step

Direct ordering will not suit every restaurant, and it takes some set-up. If you want to see what it would cost and save for your own menu, contact MonsterForTech to start the conversation.