Owner economics
Restaurant ordering costs: direct versus delivery apps
Calculate the real cost of restaurant and takeaway orders across delivery apps and direct ordering, using your own fees, refunds and fulfilment costs.
The short answer
Short answer
A direct order can remove marketplace commission from that food sale, but it is not free. Compare the restaurant’s actual marketplace charge with direct payment processing, software, delivery, promotions, refunds and extra labour. The useful number is contribution per completed order—not a generic commission headline.
What the owner needs to know
- Use the percentage and fixed charges in your own signed marketplace agreement.
- Separate food-order costs from delivery costs so the comparison is like for like.
- Include refunds, failed deliveries, discounts and staff time.
- Measure new and repeat customers separately; marketplaces may still earn their keep for discovery.
Try your numbers.
Keep more from every order. See how much you can save every month
Your figures stay in this browser.
How much could you keep each month? Enter three numbers to see what direct orders could save you.
Orders you could move from apps.
Before delivery and discounts.
Your actual app fee.
Where do I find my app rate?
For the same orders: app charges ÷ food sales × 100. For example, £300 of charges on £1,000 of food sales is 30%. Keep separate fixed fees out if you add them below. Count only charges you would avoid.
What you pay the apps each month
/ month
See what you could keep after direct-order costs.
Calculate my savings
Fuudster: £147/month + £497 setup. No food commission. Use your quote below.
No offer? Leave at 0. A 10% offer has a real cost.
1.5% is an example. Use your provider's rate.
20p is an example. Use your provider's fixed fee.
Assumes all direct orders are paid by card. Card fees include delivery charges and reflect any collection discount.
Other costs or a different quote
Use the cost from your quote.
Counted once in the first-year figure.
Only if not already in your app rate above.
Do not count subscriptions or advertising you keep.
Extra marketing, packaging, refunds or staff. Keep offers already counted above out.
Estimated monthly saving
After the direct costs and offers entered above. Setup is counted separately.
- App costs avoided
- £1,875.00
- Fuudster monthly fee
- £147.00
- Card processing
- £143.75
- Collection discounts
- £0.00
- Total direct costs
- £290.75
Show the maths and first year
Monthly difference: £1,875.00 − £290.75 = £1,584.25.
First year after setup: £1,584.25 × 12 − £497.00 = £18,514.00. Assumes the same order level each month.
App costs = orders × (food value × app rate + fixed fee) + app costs stopped. Direct costs = Fuudster + card processing + collection offers + courier costs − customer delivery charges + other direct costs.
Collection offers round to a penny per average order. Card and delivery estimates use your average order and order mix, then round monthly totals. Actual transaction rounding and your mix of cards can change the bill.
Same food prices and kitchen costs assumed. Add any extra operating costs above. This is an estimate of costs avoided, not guaranteed profit or a forecast of new customers.
Use a consistent VAT basis for both sides: include VAT you cannot reclaim and leave out VAT you reclaim. The calculator does not work out your VAT return or changes in VAT on sales.
Card defaults are an example, not a Fuudster payment quote. Check card rates. VAT guidance.
Use costs after any VAT you reclaim, on both sides. No customer growth or food-cost savings are assumed.
The marketplace-order calculation
Start with the gross food sale, then subtract every charge that applies to that order: percentage commission, payment or service charges, funded discounts, advertising attribution, delivery contribution and tax treatment. Do not borrow a competitor’s quoted rate; use your own current statement and contract.
The direct-order calculation
For a direct order, include payment processing, Fuudster or other software cost, any courier quote, promotions, support and additional labour. Collection has no courier trip, but it can still carry payment, packaging, support and operational costs.
Use one contribution formula for every channel
Start with the amount the restaurant actually receives for the food order, then subtract every channel-specific cost. Keep food ingredients, kitchen wages and general overhead separate if they are broadly the same whichever channel takes the order.
- Marketplace contribution = food sale minus marketplace charges, restaurant-funded discount, delivery contribution, refund and channel-specific support cost.
- Direct collection contribution = food sale minus card processing, software allocation, direct promotion, refund and channel-specific support cost.
- Direct delivery contribution = direct collection contribution plus customer delivery fee minus courier or own-driver cost.
- Record value-added tax treatment exactly as your accountant advises; do not mix gross and net figures across channels.
A fair test for repeat customers
Choose a defined cohort of customers reached through your own channels. Compare successfully completed orders over the same period and meal times. Track net contribution, repeat rate, average order value, refunds, cancellations and service failures.
- Do not count an abandoned basket as a saved commission.
- Do not treat the whole courier quote as a restaurant cost if the customer pays a clearly disclosed delivery fee.
- Do include discounts the restaurant funds and the cost of resolving failures.
- Do keep marketplace-acquired new customers separate from established repeat demand.
What Fuudster’s calculator shows
The quick view sizes the marketplace cost attached to the repeat orders you could realistically move. The detailed view then subtracts card fees, Fuudster, the restaurant-funded part of delivery and other channel costs. It reports an estimated contribution difference, per-order result and break-even—not guaranteed profit.
Three examples that expose bad comparisons
These are methods, not market-rate claims. Replace every illustrative input with the figures from your own contracts and settlement statements.
- Collection: on a £25 order at an assumed 30% marketplace charge, the percentage line is £7.50. A direct comparison must still subtract the actual card fee, software allocation, promotion and support.
- Courier delivery: if the direct courier quote is £6 and the customer pays a clearly disclosed £3 delivery fee, the restaurant’s delivery contribution is £3 before refunds or support—not the full £6.
- Failure: a £30 direct order that is fully refunded after food preparation can contribute less than a successfully completed marketplace order. Track completion and recovery, not checkout starts.
Build a four-week evidence sheet
Use one row per completed, cancelled or refunded order. Record the originating channel and whether the customer was new or repeat. Allocate monthly software cost consistently rather than assigning all of it to a small pilot sample.
- Order date, channel, gross food sale and customer-paid delivery fee.
- Percentage and fixed charges, payment processing and restaurant-funded discount.
- Courier or own-driver cost, software allocation, refund or credit and support minutes.
- Completed, cancelled or refunded status and a short reason code.
- Contribution per completed order and the total by channel after the same four-week period.
Turn reading into action
What to do on Monday morning.
- 01Download the comparison worksheet and use four recent settlement statements—not an advertised headline rate.
- 02Enter one row for every completed, cancelled and refunded order in the comparison period.
- 03Separate new-customer discovery from repeat demand before judging a marketplace’s value.
- 04Use the calculator below to compare your app costs with your real card, Fuudster and delivery costs.
- 05Review the result with your accountant before making a contract, tax or channel decision.
Owner questions
Quick answers.
How much does a restaurant online ordering system cost?
There is no useful universal figure. Compare subscription, transaction, payment, courier, onboarding, hardware, marketing, support and exit costs using the same completed-order period.
What commission percentage should I enter?
Use the effective rate from your own current contract or settlement statement. Fuudster does not publish a universal marketplace rate.
Is Uber Direct cheaper than Uber Eats?
They are different products. Uber Direct quotes a courier trip for an own-channel order; Uber Eats combines marketplace services under merchant-specific terms. Compare your actual full costs.
Does a direct order always make more money?
No. It may improve contribution, but only if the payment, delivery, promotion, support and operating costs are lower than the value retained.
Checked against
Primary sources accessed 31 August 2026. Provider terms, coverage and regulation can change; check the current source and your signed agreement before acting.
Fuudster is independent of Uber, Just Eat and Deliveroo. This guide is general information for UK restaurant and takeaway operators, not legal, tax or financial advice. Food-law details cited here apply to the stated jurisdiction; Scottish operators should also check Food Standards Scotland and local-authority guidance.