How to take restaurant orders without delivery-app commission
Short answer
Keep delivery apps for guests who do not know you yet, and give regular guests a direct way to order: your own website, app or WhatsApp. Start with a simple ordering website, then invite regulars to it with every order they receive.
Delivery apps are not the enemy
Delivery apps bring guests who have never heard of you. That is worth paying for.
The problem starts when a guest who orders every week still orders through the app. You pay a commission on a customer you already won, and the app keeps their contact details.
So the goal is not to leave delivery apps. It is to make sure your regular guests order directly.
Which direct channel to start with
- Ordering website
Menu with photos, cart, payment, delivery or pickup. Works on any phone, nothing to install. Live in 1–2 weeks.
- Orders in WhatsApp
Many guests already message you. An AI assistant takes the order, answers questions about the menu and confirms the time, day and night.
- Your own app
Worth it when you have many regulars: saved addresses, repeat orders in one tap, points and offers. The first version takes 4–6 weeks.
Most restaurants start with the website, add WhatsApp, and build an app once regulars ask for it.
How to move regular guests to your own channel
- Put a QR code on every bag and receipt that opens your ordering page.
- Give a reason to order directly: a free dessert, points or a lower delivery fee.
- Remember the guest’s address and last order, so the next order takes seconds.
- Reply fast. A guest who waits for an answer goes back to the app.
Make sure the kitchen sees every order
Direct orders should land where the kitchen already looks: a printed ticket, a kitchen screen or your POS, if it allows connections. Otherwise someone retypes orders by hand and mistakes creep in.
Before launch, place a test order and follow it from the guest’s phone to the kitchen ticket.
What to measure after launch
- The share of orders that come directly.
- How many direct guests order again within a month.
- The average order on each channel.
- The time from order to confirmation.
