Online Ordering System for Restaurants: Your Own App Versus Marketplace Commission

Delivery platforms bring orders. They also keep a large share of each one. The major US marketplaces typically charge restaurants 15 to 30 percent commission, and marketing and processing fees can push the real figure higher. On an industry where net margins are often in single digits, that is the whole profit on the order.

Your own ordering app changes the math. It does not replace the aggregators. It moves your regulars off them.

The math on one restaurant

Take a restaurant doing USD 20,000 a month in delivery and pickup orders through marketplaces at a 25 percent commission.

Moving half your orders saves USD 30,000 a year in this example. A custom ordering app typically costs USD 5,000 to 15,000 to build. Payment processing still applies at around 3 percent, and delivery needs a plan, but the gap is wide.

Who should build one

A direct app pays off when you have repeat customers. Neighbourhood pizzerias, lunch spots near offices, restaurant groups with several branches. If most of your delivery orders come from people who already know you, you are paying commission on customers you already own.

It pays off less for a new restaurant with no following. Marketplaces are a discovery channel. Use them for that, then convert.

What the app needs

• Menu with photos, options and extras
• Pickup and delivery with time slots
• Card payment, Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Order status notifications
• Reorder in one tap
• Loyalty points or stamps
• An admin panel to update menu, prices, hours and view orders
• Order printing or a kitchen screen

Reorder and loyalty matter most. They are the reasons a customer opens your app over a marketplace.

What about delivery

Three options. Use your own drivers if you have them. Offer pickup only through the app, which is commission-free and simple. Or connect a delivery-as-a-service provider, where a courier network delivers for a flat fee per order without owning your customer.

How to move customers across

An app nobody downloads saves nothing. What works:

1. A card in every marketplace bag offering 10 percent off the first direct order
2. A QR code on tables, menus, receipts and the front window
3. Slightly better prices in your own app, since you are not paying commission
4. A loyalty reward that only exists in the app

You are giving the customer part of what you used to give the platform. Both of you come out ahead.

App, website ordering or both

Web ordering is cheaper and needs no download. An app keeps you on the customer's phone and lets you send notifications. For a single location, start with web ordering. For a group or a restaurant with strong repeat business, build both from one system so the menu and orders stay in sync.

What restaurant groups need

Multi-location brands need one menu system with prices and availability per branch. Orders must reach the right kitchen. The app must connect to the point-of-sale system so nothing is entered twice. Head office needs consolidated reporting across locations. Franchise groups also need control over what each franchisee can change.

You keep the data

Marketplaces do not share who your customers are. With your own app you know who orders, what, and how often. That lets you bring back someone who has not ordered in a month. That alone can justify the build.

Frequently asked questions