Direct Ordering vs Deliveroo: Which Is Better for Restaurants?
The short answer
Deliveroo generates orders, but takes 25–35% of the revenue from each one. A direct ordering channel keeps that margin in your business and builds customer loyalty you own rather than renting it from a third party.
For most UK restaurants, the ideal position is not one or the other — it is a deliberate mix with a strategy to grow the direct share over time.
What each model actually costs
Deliveroo
Deliveroo charges restaurants a commission on every order. Rates vary by contract, volume and location, but typically fall in the range of 25–35% of the order value.
Additional costs:
- Packaging requirements (Deliveroo-compliant bags and stickers)
- Occasional marketing contribution for visibility
- No customer data access — you do not own the relationship
On a £25 order at 30% commission, you receive £17.50. The delivery is handled by Deliveroo riders, which justifies part of that fee.
Direct ordering
A direct ordering channel — typically a restaurant website, branded app or ordering page — takes payment directly from the customer with no commission deducted.
Costs involved:
- Platform subscription (typically £100–400/month depending on provider and features)
- Payment processing fee (typically 1.5–2.5% per transaction)
- Your own delivery costs if you offer delivery (driver wages or a delivery partner fee)
On the same £25 order through a direct channel, at 2% payment processing, you receive £24.50 minus platform cost per order.
The unit economics
Here is a simple comparison on 200 orders per month at £25 average order value:
| Channel | Gross revenue | Fees deducted | Net to restaurant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliveroo (30% commission) | £5,000 | £1,500 | £3,500 |
| Direct ordering (2% processing) | £5,000 | £100 | £4,900 |
The £1,400/month difference funds a direct ordering platform many times over.
The maths only improve as order volume increases. At 500 orders/month at the same values, the commission gap is £3,500/month — £42,000/year.
Where Deliveroo has the advantage
New customer discovery
Deliveroo's strength is its ability to put your restaurant in front of people who have never heard of you. A customer browsing Deliveroo at 7pm is already in buying mode.
If your restaurant is new, in a competitive area, or trying to reach customers outside your existing base, Deliveroo provides discovery that direct ordering does not.
Delivery logistics
Deliveroo handles the driver network. If you do not have your own delivery capability, Deliveroo's riders solve a real logistical problem — at a price.
No upfront marketing cost
You do not need to advertise to get Deliveroo orders. The marketplace brings the customer to you, albeit at a high ongoing cost.
Where direct ordering has the advantage
Margin
The unit economics are straightforward. More of each order goes to the restaurant.
Customer ownership
On Deliveroo, the customer belongs to Deliveroo. You do not get their email address, order history or the ability to market to them directly.
On a direct channel, you build a customer database you own. You can email them offers, invite them to loyalty programmes, and bring them back without paying Deliveroo again.
Loyalty
Customers who order through your own app or website can be enrolled in a loyalty programme. Repeat customers through direct channels are worth significantly more than one-off Deliveroo orders.
Brand presentation
On Deliveroo, your restaurant appears among dozens of competitors on a generic interface. On your direct channel, the experience is entirely yours.
Data
Every direct order generates customer data — what they ordered, when, how frequently, their average spend. This data is usable for re-engagement campaigns. Deliveroo does not share this.
The hybrid strategy most UK restaurants use
The most effective approach for restaurants already using Deliveroo is not to leave it immediately, but to run a deliberate strategy to grow the direct share:
- Keep Deliveroo for discovery — it continues to bring new customers
- Convert those customers to direct — use packaging inserts, promotional codes and loyalty offers that only work on your direct channel
- Measure the shift — track what percentage of orders come from direct channels each month
- Reduce Deliveroo dependency as direct grows — once a customer has ordered directly twice, the Deliveroo relationship becomes less important
A restaurant doing 70% of its orders through Deliveroo and 30% direct can realistically shift to 40% direct within 12 months with an active conversion strategy.
Setting up a direct ordering channel
The core requirement is a restaurant online ordering platform that:
- Has your branding, not a generic interface
- Works on mobile (most direct orders come from phones)
- Supports loyalty and offers
- Accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay and saved cards
- Integrates with your POS so orders go directly to the kitchen
Flipdish provides this for UK and Irish restaurants — including branded websites, mobile apps, loyalty and AI marketing to help restaurants grow their direct order revenue actively.
For pricing, see Flipdish online ordering pricing.
Direct ordering vs Deliveroo: the full picture
| Deliveroo | Direct ordering | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission per order | 25–35% | 1.5–2.5% (processing only) |
| Customer discovery | Strong | Requires your own marketing |
| Customer data | None | Full ownership |
| Loyalty | Deliveroo's programme | Your own |
| Brand experience | Generic | Fully branded |
| Delivery logistics | Handled | Your responsibility or third party |
| Best for | New customers, convenience | Repeat customers, margin, loyalty |
The bottom line
Deliveroo is a useful tool for restaurant discovery. It is a poor long-term strategy for building a profitable, customer-owned business.
Direct ordering, powered by a platform like Flipdish, gives restaurants the margin, data and customer relationships that marketplaces cannot.
The restaurants winning on direct ordering are not those who abandoned Deliveroo overnight. They are the ones who used Deliveroo to find customers and then built a system to bring those customers back without paying 30% to do it.