How to Reduce Delivery-App Commission Dependency

Most restaurant and café owners never fully drop delivery apps, and this is not a pitch to do that. Apps bring new customers who would never have found you otherwise. The problem starts when every order, including those from people who already know you and would happily order directly, has to travel through a platform and pay a commission.

This guide explains what those orders really cost, who is worth moving to your own channel, and how to do it without upsetting the apps that still bring you business.

What an order through a delivery app actually costs

Every order placed through a delivery platform pays a commission before you see the money. Rates differ by platform, city and contract, so read your own agreement rather than relying on a general number. As an example, take a 25 percent commission. On a $20 order you keep $15, and that $15 still has to cover the ingredients, the packaging, the cook's time and the rent.

Now compare it with a $20 order that has a food cost of $6.50. In your shop you keep $13.50 before labor and overhead. Through the app, with a bag and box that cost you another dollar, you keep $7.50. The same food leaves you roughly half as much. That is why a menu that looks healthy in-store can quietly lose money on a delivery platform.

There is a second cost that is easy to miss. The customer relationship stays with the platform. You do not get to say thank you, announce a new dish, or remind someone who loved last week's order that you are open on Sunday.

Step 1: Measure how much you pay today

Before changing anything, add up a month. For each platform, note the number of orders, the sales, and the commission and fees deducted. Then compare the share of your revenue that comes through apps with the share of your profit. Many owners are surprised that apps are a fifth of revenue and a much smaller part of profit.

A delivery app commission calculator makes this quick: enter your average order, food cost and commission rate and it shows what you keep per order. If you record app orders at the POS as their own channel, a finance report can split revenue and commission by platform, which helps in later months. In Epidom that channel breakdown is part of the Operations plan. Epidom does not connect directly to delivery-app systems, so app orders are entered by hand at the cashier.

Step 2: Decide who belongs on your own channel

Not every customer should be moved. Apps are great at discovery, so a first-time customer who found you on a platform is exactly what you are paying for. The ones worth moving are the people who already know you:

• Regulars who order every week from the same app
• People who follow you on Instagram or TikTok
• Office groups and neighbors who order for a team
• Customers who walk in, like it, and would reorder from home

These customers are the ones paying commission on a relationship you built yourself.

Step 3: Build a direct channel that is easy to use

A direct channel does not need to be complicated. It needs a link a customer can open on a phone, a menu that is readable and current, and a clear way to get in touch. The simplest version is a storefront page with your menu, photos, opening hours and WhatsApp button. With Epidom, that page is free forever.

If you also want customers to place orders on that page, online ordering (dine-in with a table number, takeaway, and delivery by your own staff) is part of the POS plan, which starts with a 14-day free trial. Orders from the page are paid at the cashier: the POS is alerted, and you mark the order as paid when the customer pays. There is no online payment on the page today, so a customer ordering for delivery needs a way to pay you on handover.

Owning the channel also means owning the delivery. If you do not have a rider, start with takeaway and dine-in, or limit delivery to a short radius you can cover yourself. A direct channel that promises delivery you cannot deliver damages your reputation faster than a commission ever would.

Step 4: Put the link where customers already look

• Your Instagram and TikTok bio
• A QR code on the table, the counter and the takeaway bag
• A WhatsApp broadcast or status message when you have a new item
• A small card in every delivery bag that says you also take orders directly
• Your Google Maps listing

The card in the bag is one of the most effective moves because it reaches the exact people who already ordered from you. Keep the wording friendly and honest: order direct next time, and here is the link. Check the terms of your platform agreement first, as some contracts restrict how you promote other channels.

Step 5: Give people a reason to switch

Saving you the commission is a reason for you, not for them. Give the customer something too. A small extra, a free drink on the third order, or a loyalty stamp costs far less than the commission you would have paid. If you keep the same prices on your channel as on the app, the customer notices nothing but a smoother experience. If you list app prices slightly higher than in-store prices, your own link becomes the cheaper option on its own.

A realistic example

A café gets 40 app orders a week at an average of $18. With a 25 percent commission, that is $180 a week in commission, or about $780 a month. The owner puts a card in every bag and a link in the Instagram bio. After a couple of months, say 10 of those weekly orders move to direct. That is $45 a week the café keeps, roughly $195 a month, with no change to how the food is made. These figures are an illustration, not a forecast. Your numbers will depend on your regulars and your area.

The goal isn't to beat delivery apps. It's to stop depending on them entirely for customers who already know you.

Mistakes to avoid

• Switching off the apps in anger. You lose discovery along with the commission.
• Launching a direct channel with no plan to deliver or serve those orders
• Never telling anyone it exists
• Forgetting that your own channel still has costs: packaging, staff time, a rider
• Comparing commission alone and ignoring the extra customers an app brings

Where to start this week

Add up last month's app orders and commission. Publish a storefront page with your menu and WhatsApp button. Print a card with the link and put it in every delivery bag. After a month, look at how many orders moved, and decide whether the ordering link in the POS plan is worth turning on. Keep both channels running side by side, and let the numbers tell you how much weight each one deserves.