The first order stays as it is
A new customer finds you on the app, orders, and you pay the usual commission. That introduction fee is fair. Nothing about this changes it.
What the appsactually cost you.
Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat commission is a finder's fee. Fair on the first order from a new customer, and still charged on the fiftieth. Put your own turnover in below and see the number.
The problem
Order one and order twelve cost you the same commission
When a new customer finds you through a delivery app, the commission is arguably a fair price for the introduction. They found you someone. But when that same person orders again next month, and the month after, you pay it again. For a customer you already have, who already knows your food, who was always going to order from you again.
On a typical UK independent's rates, once commission, VAT on that commission and service fees are counted, the effective deduction runs to around 32% of the order value. Keep the apps and that never changes. Every repeat order leaks the same amount, forever.
The fix
01 / KEEP THE APPS
02 / CARD IN THE BAG
03 / THEY ORDER DIRECT
Keep the apps. Change what happens on order two.
Nobody is suggesting you leave Deliveroo. It genuinely finds you people, and that is worth paying for once. What changes is what happens after.
A card goes in every delivery bag
Order direct next time, 10% off. You are giving the customer 10%, once, instead of giving a platform 32%, every time. It only works if the card actually goes in the bag.
From then on, they are yours
Card processing in the UK runs about 1.5% plus 20p. Once a customer switches, you keep roughly 98% of every order instead of 68%, order after order.
Your numbers
Put your own figure in
Roughly what do you turn over on the delivery apps in a month? The figures below use your number, not an example.
Commission calculator
£
Commission you lose a year
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Recovered if a quarter goes direct
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Recovered if half goes direct
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Build pays for itself in
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Assumes a 32% effective deduction on app orders and card fees of about 1.5% plus 20p. The 10% offer is treated as a one-off on the switching order, so it is not in the ongoing figures. Payback is a £1,000 starter build, counting the £50 monthly care plan as a cost against the recovery, with a quarter of orders moving across. Move more and it lands sooner.
Straight with you
What this will not do
It will not replace the apps, and we would not try. They find you people you would never reach on your own. It only works if the switch cards actually go in the bags, every single time, so if that is not going to happen, this is not worth your money and we will say so. And if you do not do enough delivery volume for the numbers above to add up, we will tell you that too and suggest something simpler instead.
Next step
Let us run this with your real numbers
Not the examples on this page. Your actual turnover, your actual menu, and what you currently show up for in search. We will record a short video audit showing where your website and your Google presence are costing you covers, and what we would fix first. Free, no obligation, and useful even if you never hire us.
Ready when you are
One form, one honest reply
The form on our homepage is short, and the reply comes from a person, not a sequence. See the full build, including table booking and the switch cards, on our restaurants page.
Get a free audit