What is direct online ordering? A guide for takeaways and restaurants
Direct online ordering means customers order and pay on your own website and app, instead of going through a marketplace such as Just Eat or Deliveroo. You take the order, you keep the customer relationship, and you don’t pay a commission on every order.
In this guide7 sections
What is direct online ordering?
With direct online ordering, your business has its own branded ordering channel. A customer finds your menu on Google, your website, your app or a QR code, chooses what they want, and pays upfront. The order arrives on a tablet or printer in your kitchen.
The difference from a marketplace is who owns the relationship. On a marketplace, the platform owns the customer and charges you a percentage of each order. With direct ordering, the customer is yours, and you pay a flat plan instead.
How does direct online ordering work?
A direct ordering system usually has four parts:
- A menu and website that customers can find and use on their phone. See how a takeaway website with local SEO helps people find you.
- Ordering for collection and delivery. Online ordering covers both from one menu.
- Payments that go straight to your bank. Hungrrr Pay handles card, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- Tools to bring customers back, such as a loyalty scheme and automatic remarketing.
How much does direct online ordering cost?
Costs vary by provider. With Hungrrr, it’s £99 a month plus a small fee on each online order. There is no set-up fee, no long contract and no marketplace commission. Our pricing page lists exactly what’s included.
The comparison that matters is with commission. If a marketplace takes 30% of a £25 order, that’s £7.50 on a single order. On 500 orders a month, that’s £3,750. You can run your own numbers in the savings calculator.
Is direct ordering better than using the apps?
It depends what you need. Marketplace apps are good for being found by new customers. Direct ordering is better for keeping the customers you already have and for protecting your margin.
Many takeaways use both: the apps for discovery, and direct ordering for regulars. Read more in our guide to taking orders direct instead of through Just Eat or Deliveroo.
What do I need to get started?
You need a menu, your opening hours, and a way to receive orders, such as a tablet or a phone. A good provider will do the set-up for you. At Hungrrr, we load your menu, build your website and ordering, and connect your payments, and most takeaways are taking orders within days.
Who is direct online ordering for?
It works for any food business that wants to keep more of every order:
- Takeaways, including fish and chip shops, curry houses, pizzerias, kebab shops and fried chicken shops
- Restaurants and pubs and bars adding takeaway and delivery
- Cafés offering order-ahead and loyalty
The short version
Direct online ordering puts your business, not a marketplace, between you and your customers. It costs a flat monthly fee rather than a share of every order, and it gives you the data and the relationship to bring customers back. If you’d like to see how it would work for your place, get started.