Ordering software
Online ordering systems that keep the commission
Every order that goes through a delivery app costs you a slice of the bill and, worse, the customer. You never learn who they are, so you cannot bring them back without paying again. Your own ordering system changes both of those things.
Orders - Friday, 19:42
Collection 20 min · Delivery 45 min
An illustration of the sort of screen this builds towards - yours is built around how you actually work.
The problem
The maths nobody does out loud
Take a shop doing four hundred pounds a night through a delivery app. At around thirty per cent commission that is a hundred and twenty pounds a night gone, before you have paid for a single box of chicken. Over a year, on six nights a week, that is somewhere north of thirty-seven thousand pounds. It is usually the largest single cost in the business after wages and stock, and it is the one nobody puts on a spreadsheet.
The commission is only half of it. The bigger loss is that the customer belongs to the app. They ordered from you, but the app knows their name, their address, their order history and how often they eat. You know none of it. When they fancy a curry next Friday they open the app, not your website, and whoever is paying for the top spot that week gets the order.
The answer is not to walk away from the apps overnight - for a lot of shops they still bring in new customers. It is to have somewhere of your own to send people once they have found you, so the second, fifth and fiftieth order comes direct.
What it does
Built around the jobs you do every day
Full menu with options
Sizes, bases, toppings, sides, meal deals, extras with their own prices. The awkward stuff - half and half, swap the chips, no onions - handled properly.
Collection and delivery
Separate opening hours, lead times and minimum spends for each, so collection can carry on when delivery is backed up.
Postcode-based delivery zones
Draw your delivery area and set the fee and minimum spend per zone. Out-of-area orders are stopped before they are taken, not after.
Card payment and cash on collection
Take payment through Stripe, or let people pay at the counter. Paid-up-front orders are far less likely to be walked away from.
Kitchen order screen or printer
Orders land on a tablet in the kitchen with an audible alert, or straight onto a receipt printer. No shouting the order across the shop.
Scheduled and pre-orders
Let customers order at four in the afternoon for eight o'clock, which flattens the peak and gives the kitchen a running order.
Your customer list
Every order builds a database you own - names, numbers, addresses, what they order, how often. Yours to use.
Offers and loyalty
Discount codes, a tenth-order-free scheme, quiet-Tuesday deals. Aimed at the people already on your list rather than at strangers.
What changes
The difference it makes
- You keep the commission - on a busy shop that is often five figures a year
- The customer list becomes yours, so you can bring people back without paying for them twice
- Order accuracy goes up because the customer types it, not somebody on a phone mid-rush
- The phone stops ringing constantly during service, so staff can cook and serve
- Average order value rises when upsells are offered on screen instead of remembered by staff
Worked example
A worked example: moving off the apps gradually
A takeaway doing most of its volume through two delivery apps did not want to switch off overnight, and they were right not to. The apps were still bringing in people who had never heard of them. What they wanted was somewhere to put the regulars.
We built ordering on their own site and then did the unglamorous work of moving people across: a printed card in every app delivery bag offering ten per cent off the first direct order, the web address on every receipt, and a sign by the counter. Nothing clever, just consistent.
Within a few months roughly half the repeat orders were coming direct. The apps still handle discovery, which is what they are genuinely good at, and the regulars - the people who order every Friday without thinking about it - now come straight to the shop. That half is worth about thirty per cent more per order, because none of it is going in commission.
How it works
From first conversation to live
01
Get the menu right
The menu is the hard part. We go through every item, option and price properly, because a menu that half works is worse than no menu at all.
02
Build ordering and payments
The order flow, delivery zones, opening hours and Stripe payments, all built around how your kitchen actually runs during service.
03
Test through a real service
We put orders through on a live night, on real hardware, and fix anything that gets in the way of a busy Friday.
04
Launch and move customers over
It goes live, and we get your existing customers using it - flyers in the app bags, a note on the receipt, a sign at the counter.
Not sure whether this is the right fit? Arrange a quick chat and I'll tell you honestly.
Who it suits
Where this works well
Takeaways
Your own ordering system with no commission, your delivery zones, and the customer list that the apps currently keep from you.
Restaurants
Tables booked against real capacity, deposits on the parties that hurt when they no-show, and collection orders that pay no commission.
Pizza Shops
A pizza builder that prices properly, half and half handled, meal deals that make sense, and Friday night order flow that does not break.
Cafes
Pre-orders that beat the morning queue, loyalty without the cardboard card, and catering enquiries that stop being a phone call.
Questions
Online Ordering Systems - the common questions
Do I have to come off Just Eat and Uber Eats?
No, and I would not advise switching off on day one. The apps are genuinely good at putting you in front of people who have never heard of you. What they are not good at is being the place your regulars order from every week, because that costs you thirty per cent forever. Run both, and put your effort into moving repeat customers direct.
How do I actually get customers to order direct?
By asking them, over and over, in the places they already see you. A card in every delivery bag with a first-order discount. The web address on receipts and menus. A sign at the counter. Staff mentioning it on collection. None of it is exciting, but it is what works - the customers are already yours, they just need a reason and a reminder.
What does it cost to run once it is built?
Hosting, a domain, and card processing fees - which are around 1.5% plus 20p on a UK card through Stripe. There is no commission on the order value. Compare that with roughly thirty per cent and the system usually pays for itself inside a few months on any decent volume.
How do orders reach the kitchen during a rush?
Whichever way suits your setup. Most shops use a tablet on the wall with a loud alert and a simple screen for marking orders as cooking and ready. Others prefer a receipt printer that just spits the ticket out like a phone order. Both work; the tablet gives you the order history and status, the printer needs no training at all.
Can it handle complicated menus - half and half, meal deals, swaps?
Yes, and this is where most off-the-shelf systems fall down. Half-and-half pizzas priced on the dearer half, meal deals that let you swap the drink, toppings that cost more on a large than a medium - all of that gets built to match how you actually price it, rather than you bending your menu to fit the software.
What about VAT, allergens and the legal side?
Allergen information can be attached to each item so it shows before the customer orders, which is what Natasha's Law expects of you. Prices are shown inclusive of VAT as they must be for consumers, and the order confirmation doubles as the customer's receipt. If you have specific requirements from your local authority, tell me and we will build to them.
Related solutions
Most businesses end up needing more than one of these. They're built to work together rather than as separate systems bolted side by side.
Ecommerce Solutions
Sell online properly: a catalogue that is easy to manage, secure payments, stock that stays accurate, click and collect and delivery.
Booking Systems
Take appointments day and night, hold deposits up front, keep every staff calendar straight and cut no-shows with automatic reminders.
Want to see what this would look like for you?
Tell me how your business runs day to day and I'll come back with a clear, fixed quote - and an honest view on whether it's worth doing.