Ask a takeaway owner their biggest marketing cost and they'll name their ads or their printer. It's usually neither. For most delivery-led venues, the biggest controllable line is platform commission — and because it's deducted before the money lands, it never feels like a bill.
| Platform | Typical commission |
|---|---|
| Just Eat | ~14% + order fees (delivery services cost more) |
| Uber Eats | Up to 30% depending on plan |
| Deliveroo | 20–35% depending on model |
For a venue doing £3,000–£8,000 a month through the apps, that's £500–£2,500 a month in commission — every month, forever, for customers who often ordered from you before the apps existed.
Every £1,000 of monthly order value moved from a 14–35% platform to your own commission-free ordering saves £140–£350 a month. Move £3,500 and you've covered a £599/month system that also runs your booking, reviews, socials and dead-night offers. Move more, and the apps become what they should always have been: an acquisition channel, not a landlord.
Owners try a "order direct" sticker and give up. What works is systematic: capture every customer into a database you own (QR on the bag, WiFi capture, booking data), give a direct-order incentive the commission saving funds ten times over, then automate the reminders — birthday offers, regular-customer nudges, Monday–Wednesday campaigns to fill the shifts the apps never fill. Keep the apps for strangers; own the regulars.
One compliance note: your own ordering site must carry full allergen information (Natasha's Law), and SMS/WhatsApp offers need marketing consent under PECR — capture it at first order and the database is an asset, not a liability.