The restaurant online ordering guide
Online ordering is no longer optional — but how you do it decides whether it grows your business or quietly erodes your margins. Here's how to set it up well.
Online ordering · 6 min read
Direct vs. third-party
Third-party apps bring reach but charge commissions and keep the guest relationship. Direct ordering — through your own QR menu or site — keeps your margin and your data. The smart play is usually both: use the apps for discovery, and push regulars to order directly.
Mind the commissions
- Model your true margin per channel after commissions and packaging.
- Promote direct ordering where you can, especially to repeat guests.
- Treat third-party apps as one channel among several, not the whole strategy.
Own the guest relationship
Every direct order builds a first-party guest database you own — the foundation for loyalty and win-back. Orders that only ever happen inside a third-party app leave you renting access to your own customers.
Keep it simple to run
Bring every channel — dine-in, takeaway, delivery, and direct online — into one order queue so staff aren't juggling tablets and re-keying. One system, one menu, one set of numbers.
Key takeaways
The short version
- Use third-party apps for reach, direct ordering for margin
- Model true margin per channel after commissions
- Push regulars toward direct ordering
- Build a first-party guest database you own
- Unify every channel into one order queue
FAQ
Questions, answered
Usually both: third-party apps for discovery, and your own direct ordering for margin and guest data. Push repeat guests toward direct ordering.
They can significantly erode margin. Model your true profit per channel after commissions and packaging, and lean on direct ordering where you can.
Direct orders build a first-party database you own — the basis for loyalty and win-back. Third-party-only orders leave you renting access to your own customers.
Put it into practice
Menulisa brings ordering, POS, kitchen, inventory, and reporting together so the ideas in this guide are easy to act on.