What Delivery Apps Really Cost You, and How to Own the Customer Again

The delivery apps brought you orders you might not have gotten otherwise. They also take a cut that can quietly erase the profit on every plate. Before deciding whether they are worth it, you need the real number, not the one the sales rep quotes.

The commission math, honestly

Published commissions run roughly 15 to 30 percent per order. The basic tier is cheapest but buries you in search, so most independents end up on the 25 to 30 percent tiers to get seen. On a $40 order at 30 percent, the platform keeps about $12 and you get $28. Take 30 percent food cost out of that $28 and your contribution is around $20, versus $28 on the same order placed directly with you. Once you add fees beyond the headline rate, the all-in cost on some orders reaches the 30s.

That does not automatically mean quit. It means know which orders are profitable. A kitchen running tight can still clear a few points at 25 percent. At 30 percent on a small ticket, you may be working for free.

The data you are giving away

The harder cost is invisible: the apps own the customer relationship, not you. You rarely get the diner's name, email, or order history in a usable form. So a customer who orders from you twice a month through an app is, to you, a stranger every time. You paid 30 percent and got no way to bring them back directly.

Steering regulars to direct ordering

• Put a direct online-ordering link everywhere: your site, your Google profile, the bag insert, the receipt.
• Give a small reason to switch: a free side or a dollar off when they order direct. You are spending a fraction of a 30 percent commission to keep the relationship.
• Capture an email or phone at direct checkout so a regular is someone you can actually reach again.
• Keep the apps for discovery, then convert the repeat orders to direct. Use them as a billboard, not as your whole storefront.

The honest limit

You will not move everyone off the apps, and you should not try. Some customers only live inside DoorDash. The win is converting the regulars, the people already choosing you, onto a channel you control and own.

How we help

Studio builds you a direct online-ordering page that lives on your own site and Google listing, with checkout that captures the customer so a repeat order is a relationship, not another commission. The apps keep sending discovery traffic. You stop renting back your own regulars.