Online ordering system for restaurants
An online ordering system for a restaurant lets you take collection orders directly on your own site, with no per-order commission. You keep the whole ticket, you keep the customer relationship, and there is no extra tablet to watch during service.
What changes when you go direct
| Through a platform | Direct on your site | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission per order | 25 – 35% | None |
| Whose customer it is | The platform’s | Yours: name, phone, history |
| Your prices | Often marked up to absorb commission | Your real prices |
| Hardware | One tablet per platform | None |
| New customers | Yes — that is what you pay for | No: that part is on you |
That last row is the one people forget. A platform isn’t only an ordering system: it’s a marketplace, and much of its commission is a customer-acquisition cost. Going direct doesn’t replace that — it stops you paying it again on every order from a customer you already have.
How it works during service
- The customer orders on your site and picks a collection slot.
- The order reaches you, with no dedicated tablet to watch.
- You confirm, or push the time back if the kitchen is slammed.
- They pay online or on collection, depending on what you switched on.
You can close online ordering in one tap when the kitchen is saturated — which in practice is the most useful control there is, and the one platforms don’t let you work nearly as finely.
Should you offer delivery?
Not necessarily, and rarely at first. Collection captures most of the economics: on an order the customer picks up themselves, a platform takes the same cut as on a delivery. Start there, and treat delivery as a separate decision — it commits you to a driver, insurance and a zone.