More online sales
Online ordering that doesn't cost you a commission
Every order through a delivery app leaves part of the sale behind and keeps the customer. Here's what the other road looks like: the order comes to you, at full margin, and the customer becomes yours.
What an app order really costs
The commission is the visible part, and it isn't the expensive one. The real cost is that you're paying to serve a customer you'll never be able to reach yourself. You're renting access to your own clientele, one order at a time, forever.
| App order | Direct order | |
|---|---|---|
| What's left for you | The sale minus the commission | The sale |
| Who has the customer's email | The app | You |
| Who sets the listed prices | You, under commission pressure | You |
| Who can bring them back | The app | You |
| Who they think they chose | The app | Your restaurant |
That last line is the one people forget. A customer loyal to a delivery app isn't loyal to your restaurant: they're loyal to the app, which will offer them your neighbour next week.
How the order reaches you
Without touching your point of sale. That's the constraint we set ourselves: nobody relearns a system on a Friday night. The order lands on a dedicated screen, prints if you want paper, and makes a sound so it doesn't sit unseen for five minutes.
The customer downloads nothing: they order from your site, on their phone, and pay online. The ones who come back often will end up installing your app: that's the other piece of the platform.
The cart that raises the bill
A well-built online order sells more than a phone call, and it isn't magic: the screen offers what nobody has time to offer on the phone with three calls on hold.
- The extras at the right moment: the sauce, the add-on, the bigger size.
- The dish that goes with it, suggested before checkout rather than after.
- The previous order brought back in one tap: that's the shortcut that keeps regulars coming.
What you get back, and apps keep
Every direct order leaves you something no app will ever hand over: who ordered, what, and when. That list is what feeds the follow-ups, and it's what's worth the most over time. Without it, you start from zero every service.
What it asks of you
Worth saying up front, because this is where it goes wrong when it goes wrong.
- Someone watches the screen. An online order sitting unaccepted for ten minutes does more damage than a badly written menu.
- Hours and sold-out items kept current. Selling a dish that ran out tonight costs you a customer, not just an order.
- A little patience at the start. Your regulars are used to the phone. The switch happens over weeks, with a sign, a note on the receipt, a QR code on the table.
Questions about online ordering
Do I have to close my delivery accounts?
No, and we won't tell you to right away. They're still a source of orders. The goal is that they stop being the only one, and that your regulars come through you.
Does anything change in the kitchen?
One more screen, and that's it. Your point of sale doesn't change, and neither do your habits. The order prints if that's what your staff prefers.
How is this different from DoorDash or Uber Eats?
On those platforms, a cut of every order goes to commission and the customer belongs to the app. With us, the order goes through your own site and your own app: the customer is yours, and so is the money.
Do you handle delivery?
We connect the ordering, not the drivers. Plenty of restaurants keep their own delivery or offer pickup only: that's often where the margin is best.
What are your commissions costing you this year?
Thirty minutes, your numbers in hand, and we look together at what direct ordering would change.