Why take orders on your own website at all
Third-party apps put your restaurant in front of hungry customers, but they take a heavy cut for the privilege, often 15% to 30% of each order, plus their own delivery fees. On a tight food-business margin, that commission is frequently the difference between a profitable order and a break-even one. Taking orders directly through your own restaurant online ordering website lets you keep that money in the business.
There is more to it than commission. When a customer orders through an app, the app owns the relationship and the data. You never learn who they are, so you cannot bring them back. Order through your own site and you own the customer: their email, their order history, and the chance to win their repeat custom directly rather than renting it back from a marketplace every time.
Your options for adding online ordering
There are three broad routes, and the right one depends on your volume and how hands-on you want to be. Each trades cost against convenience differently, so it is worth understanding all three before committing.
Most independent restaurants do well with a commission-free ordering platform that integrates into their existing site, giving app-like functionality without the app-sized fees. The key is to keep ordering on your own domain so customers stay in your brand and you keep the relationship.
- check_circleA commission-free ordering plugin or platform that bolts onto your existing website, typically a flat monthly fee rather than a per-order cut
- check_circleA full custom build with a payment gateway, giving total control over the experience but a higher upfront cost
- check_circleA hybrid where you list on the big apps for discovery but actively steer regulars to your own site for repeat orders
The numbers: weighing fees against control
Run the maths on your own order volume before deciding. A commission-free platform might charge a flat monthly fee in the region of £50 to £150, plus standard card processing of roughly 1.5% to 2.5% per transaction. Compare that to a third-party app taking 15% to 30% of every order, and the break-even point arrives surprisingly quickly once you are doing steady direct volume.
A custom-built ordering system costs more upfront, often several thousand pounds depending on complexity, but carries no per-order commission and is yours to keep. For a busy restaurant, that investment can pay back within months. The honest answer depends on your volume, so do the calculation with your real average order value and weekly order count rather than guessing.
Designing a menu people can actually order from
The online menu is the heart of the system, and it is where most restaurant ordering experiences fall down. A photographed PDF of your printed menu is the cardinal sin: it does not work on phones, cannot be ordered from and is invisible to search engines. Build the menu as proper, structured web content with each item as its own selectable element.
Good menu design makes ordering effortless. Group items into clear sections, show prices plainly, and use real photos of your actual dishes where you can, since appetising images lift order values. Handle options, sizes, extras and dietary tags cleanly so a customer can build their order without confusion. Every moment of friction at this stage is an order that drifts back to the app you were trying to escape.
Mobile speed is everything for food orders
Almost all food ordering happens on a phone, often by someone who is hungry, impatient and possibly on the move. If your site is slow to load or fiddly to tap, they will give up and open an app instead. Speed and thumb-friendly design are not nice-to-haves here; they are the whole game.
Keep images optimised, keep the ordering flow to as few taps as possible, and make buttons large and easy to hit. Test the entire journey on a real phone, ideally one a few years old over mobile data, because that is closer to your average customer's experience than a brand-new handset on office wi-fi. Every extra second and every extra tap costs you orders.
A checkout that actually fills order tickets
The checkout is where the order becomes real, and it has two jobs: make paying painless for the customer, and get the order onto your kitchen pass cleanly. On the customer side, allow guest checkout, support the wallets people actually use such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, and be upfront about delivery or collection times so there are no nasty surprises.
On your side, the order has to land somewhere your kitchen will reliably see it, whether that is a printed ticket, a tablet alert or an email to the right address. An order that gets taken but never reaches the kitchen is worse than no order at all. Test this loop relentlessly before launch, and make sure someone is always responsible for watching incoming orders during service.
Collection, delivery and keeping promises
Decide early how fulfilment works and build the site around it honestly. If you offer collection only, make that crystal clear so nobody expects delivery. If you deliver, set realistic radius and timing expectations, and consider a third-party delivery driver service for the last mile while still keeping the order and payment on your own site.
The fastest way to lose a customer you have just won is to overpromise on timing. Build in sensible preparation times, especially at peak, and update them when the kitchen is slammed. A customer who is told forty minutes and waits forty minutes is happy; one told twenty and waiting fifty will leave a review you cannot delete. Underpromise, overdeliver, and the direct relationship pays off in repeat orders.
Bringing customers back to order again
The real prize of owning your ordering is the repeat business. Because you now hold the customer relationship, you can encourage a second order in ways the apps never let you. A simple email after their first order, a loyalty offer, or a well-timed message about a new dish costs little and keeps regulars coming back to you directly rather than to a marketplace.
Make it easy to reorder, save favourites and check out faster the second time. The more frictionless the repeat order, the more it becomes a habit. This is where the economics really shift in your favour: the first order might cost you something to win, but every commission-free repeat order after that is pure benefit to your bottom line.
Frequently asked questions
How much commission do the big food apps actually take?expand_more
It varies, but the major marketplaces typically take somewhere between 15% and 30% of each order, plus delivery and service fees. On thin restaurant margins that is a substantial slice. Taking orders directly through your own website usually costs a flat monthly fee plus standard card processing, which works out far cheaper at volume.
Should I leave the delivery apps entirely?expand_more
Not necessarily. Many restaurants stay on the apps for the discovery they provide, while actively steering regular customers to their own site for repeat orders. The apps are good at finding you new diners; your own ordering is where you keep the relationship and the margin. A hybrid approach often makes the most sense.
Can I just put my menu up as a PDF?expand_more
Please don't. A PDF menu cannot be ordered from, works poorly on phones and is invisible to search engines. Build the menu as proper structured web content where each item is selectable, with clear sections, prices and options. This is the single biggest factor in whether people complete an order or give up.
How do orders reach my kitchen?expand_more
Through whatever method your setup supports: a printed ticket, a tablet alert during service, or an email to a monitored address. The crucial thing is that someone reliably sees every order in real time. Test this loop thoroughly before launch, because an order taken but never seen is worse than no order at all.
Is online ordering worth it for a small independent?expand_more
Often, yes, especially if you already get steady orders through the apps and are losing a big slice to commission. Do the maths with your real order volume and average value. If a flat-fee, commission-free system would cost less than the cut you currently pay, it usually pays for itself quickly.