Online Ordering
Restaurant Online Ordering: How Direct Ordering Works
Direct online ordering means guests order from the restaurant's own menu — on its website, its own link or its own domain — instead of through a delivery app. The order goes straight to the restaurant, the restaurant keeps the guest relationship, and it avoids the marketplace's per-order commission. In exchange, the restaurant handles what the marketplace would: bringing guests to its menu and, for delivery, the delivery itself.
How a direct order works
- The guest opens the restaurant's menu link — from its website, its map listing, social profile or a flyer.
- They choose pickup or delivery; for delivery they give a name, phone number and address.
- They choose "as soon as possible" or a later time, if the restaurant allows ordering ahead.
- They pay online, or — for pickup, where the restaurant allows it — when they collect.
- The restaurant accepts the order, prepares it and either hands it over or sends its own courier.
- The guest follows the order's status on the menu page.
Direct ordering compared with a delivery app
| Direct ordering | Delivery app | |
|---|---|---|
| Where guests order | Your own menu link or website | The marketplace's app |
| Who finds the guest | You — your listings, website, regulars | The marketplace, among competitors |
| Per-order cost | Card processing, plus any fee your ordering tool charges | A marketplace fee on each order, on top of card processing |
| Who delivers | Your own staff, or pickup only | Usually the marketplace's couriers |
| Guest contact details | Yours | Often held by the marketplace |
Commission-based delivery apps publish their marketplace fees on their merchant pages, usually as a percentage of each order that depends on the package the restaurant chooses, with a lower fee for pickup orders. Fees differ by platform and country.
When direct ordering works best
- You have regular guests who already know you and would order from you directly.
- Pickup is a large share of your takeaway, so you do not need couriers.
- You have, or can arrange, your own delivery for a small area.
- You can keep the menu, prices and availability current yourself.
Many restaurants use both: a marketplace for reach, and direct ordering for regulars, with the direct menu link on everything they control.
Setting it up
- Put the menu online at an address you control.
- Decide the channels: pickup only, or pickup and delivery.
- For delivery, set a delivery fee and a minimum order, and decide the area you can actually cover.
- Decide how guests pay; paying online in advance avoids orders nobody collects.
- Make sure someone sees new orders during service, and that tickets reach the kitchen.
- Put the ordering link everywhere: your website, your map listing, your social profiles, packaging and receipts.
For the menu itself, see how to put your restaurant menu online.
Direct ordering with Thmenu
In Thmenu, pickup and delivery each have a switch in Settings, both off for a new restaurant. Guests order from your menu link; for delivery they enter their name, phone number and address, and you set one flat delivery fee and a minimum order. You can allow ordering ahead. Delivery can be switched on once in-app card payment is on, so delivery orders are paid before they are prepared, and Thmenu has no couriers — delivery is done by your own staff. Orders appear in your orders dashboard with the channel, the guest's phone number and the address, and receipt printers print the same. Guests follow the order on the menu page; Thmenu sends no SMS or email.