Should Your Restaurant Be on Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog?
The delivery apps are a double-edged sword. Here's an honest look at the pros, cons and the smart way to use them.
The big delivery platforms can add a meaningful revenue stream — or quietly erode your margins to nothing. The honest answer to "should I be on them?" is usually "yes, but strategically." This guide gives you a clear-eyed look at the pros, the cons, and exactly how to use the apps without letting them use you.
The case for being on the apps
- Reach and discovery: millions of hungry users who'd never have found you otherwise. For a new or lesser-known venue, this exposure is genuinely valuable.
- Incremental orders: especially on quiet nights, and from customers who'd never visit in person.
- No upfront cost: you only pay when you actually sell.
- Convenience infrastructure: they handle the drivers, the app, the payments.
The catch (and it's a big one)
- High commission: typically 20–30% per order, which can wipe out your margin entirely on lower-priced items.
- They own the customer: the data and the relationship belong to the app, not you. You can't market to those customers directly.
- Price and brand pressure: you're listed next to competitors, often nudged into discounts and "deals" that erode margin further.
- Dependency risk: build your business on their platform and you're exposed to every change in their terms.
The smart strategy: discovery, then conversion
Use the apps for what they're genuinely good at — getting found — while building your own direct channel alongside:
- Be on them to capture new customers and quiet-night demand.
- Price for the commission so delivery orders stay profitable (many venues run a slightly higher delivery menu/price to protect margin).
- Convert app customers into direct ones — bag inserts offering a discount on the next direct order, branded packaging, and your own ordering site.
- Promote direct ordering everywhere so your best, most frequent customers come straight to you, commission-free.
Run the maths for your venue
Calculate your actual margin on a typical order after commission, food cost and packaging. If it's healthy, the apps are adding profit. If it's wafer-thin or negative, you need to either raise your delivery prices, push harder on direct ordering, or reconsider which items you offer through the platforms.
Common mistakes
- Treating the apps as your whole delivery strategy.
- Not pricing for commission, so orders run at a loss.
- Never trying to convert app customers to direct.
- Letting the apps pressure you into margin-killing discounts.
Your delivery-app action plan
- Join the apps for discovery and quiet-night demand.
- Price your delivery menu to stay profitable after commission.
- Put a "switch and save" insert in every delivery bag.
- Build and promote your own direct ordering channel.
- Capture customer details wherever you can and market to them.
The bottom line
The apps are a tool, not a strategy. Use them to get found, then build your own direct channel to keep the relationship and the margin. Done right, you get the best of both: the reach of the platforms and the profit of direct.
Want help building a direct-ordering channel that reduces your reliance on the apps? Let's talk.
