Direct Ordering vs Deliveroo: Which Is Better for Restaurants?
Direct ordering vs Deliveroo: the short answer
Direct ordering makes you more money per order. Deliveroo gets you in front of people who've never heard of you.
Most restaurants should use both. Deliveroo to find new customers, direct ordering to keep them and keep the margin. Where restaurants go wrong is leaving Deliveroo as their main channel for good, when it's really a way to pick up new customers.
What is direct ordering?
Direct ordering means the customer orders through something you own - your website, your branded app or your phone line - instead of a marketplace like Deliveroo.
The customer is yours. So is the order value, less your own processing costs. You get their details and you can contact them again.
Platforms like Flipdish handle the same things a marketplace does - the menu, payments, getting the order to the kitchen - without taking a commission on each order.
How Deliveroo makes money from your restaurant
Deliveroo takes a commission on every order that comes through its platform. The rate depends on your contract and has changed over the years, but it's a percentage of the order value, every single time.
Commission isn't the only cost:
- Deliveroo has the customer data, not you
- You can't market to people who ordered through Deliveroo
- Your listing sits right next to your competitors'
- Deliveroo's algorithm decides how often you get seen
Commission comparison: direct ordering vs Deliveroo
| Channel | Typical cost per order | Customer data | Repeat marketing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliveroo | ~25-30% commission | Deliveroo owns it | Not possible |
| Direct ordering (own website) | Payment processing + platform fee | You own it | Email, push notifications, SMS |
| Direct ordering (branded app) | Payment processing + platform fee | You own it | Push notifications, loyalty programme |
Commission rates vary, so check current rates with Deliveroo.
On a £30 order at 28% commission, Deliveroo takes about £8.40. The same order placed directly might cost £1-£3 in payment processing and platform fees, depending on your provider.
That's a gap of roughly £5-£7 per order. At 300 orders a week it's somewhere between £1,600 and £2,200.
What Deliveroo does well
Deliveroo isn't useless. It finds you customers who'd never have come across you otherwise. It has the riders, so you don't need your own drivers. For some customers, just being on Deliveroo makes a restaurant look legitimate. And its promoted placements and marketing campaigns can push extra orders your way.
If you're a new restaurant, or opening in a new area, Deliveroo can bring in orders early on that would take months to build up through your own channels.
What direct ordering does better
| Metric | Direct ordering | Deliveroo |
|---|---|---|
| Profit per order | Higher | Lower (after commission) |
| Customer data | Yours | Deliveroo's |
| Repeat purchase marketing | Full access | None |
| Loyalty programmes | Available | Not available |
| Brand experience | Your brand | Deliveroo brand |
| Menu control | Complete | Within Deliveroo's limits |
| Pricing flexibility | Full | Limited |
The customer lifetime value argument
Someone might order from you through Deliveroo dozens of times. Deliveroo still has their details, not you. If they stop using Deliveroo, they're gone, and you never had a way to reach them.
Someone who orders through your own app or website is yours. You can give them a reward after their fifth order. Tell them about a new dish. Send a discount on a quiet Tuesday night. You can't do any of that with Deliveroo customers because you don't have their contact details.
So a direct customer is worth more to you over time, and that's before you count the commission you're not paying.
How to reduce Deliveroo dependency without losing revenue
You don't have to switch everything over at once. It usually goes something like this:
- Set up a direct ordering channel - a restaurant website or branded app with online ordering switched on.
- Give customers a reason to place their first direct order. A discount, or a loyalty perk.
- Get staff to mention it at collection and at the till. Put it on the packaging too.
- Put your ordering link everywhere: social media, your Google Business Profile, emails.
- Make ordering direct the better option - faster, more choice, rewards they can't get on Deliveroo.
- Pull back from Deliveroo as direct orders grow, either by lowering your visibility there or charging more on Deliveroo.
Most restaurants don't need to leave Deliveroo completely. They need direct orders, where they keep most of the money, to make up the bulk of their revenue.
How Flipdish helps restaurants grow direct orders
Flipdish gives restaurants what they need to take orders directly: branded websites, mobile apps, loyalty tools, AI marketing and reporting. It all connects to the same POS system you use for in-store orders.
So the kitchen works from one queue. A direct online order, a Deliveroo order coming in through the integration and a walk-in all show up in the same place.
If you want fewer marketplace orders and more customers of your own, Flipdish does it without you running a separate system for each channel.