Online Ordering
Direct Restaurant Ordering vs Third-Party Delivery Apps
Third-party delivery apps bring you guests who would not otherwise find you, and couriers, in exchange for a commission on each order and less contact with the guest. Direct ordering — from your own menu link — keeps more of each order and the relationship with the guest, but you have to bring the guests yourself and, for delivery, arrange the delivery. Many restaurants use both: the apps for discovery, and direct ordering for the guests who already know them.
Side by side
| Delivery app | Direct ordering | |
|---|---|---|
| Who finds the guest | The app, from its own audience | You — your website, your Google profile, your regulars |
| Cost per order | A commission on each order | Card processing, plus your own delivery costs |
| Couriers | Usually provided | Your own staff, or pickup only |
| Guest contact details | Held by the app | Yours, with the guest's consent |
| Menu and prices | Kept up to date in the app | Your own menu |
| Reviews | On the app | On your own channels |
What the commission means
Marketplace fees are a percentage of each order, which makes them easy to underestimate. Commission-based delivery apps commonly offer several packages at different percentages, with a lower fee for pickup orders than for delivery; check the fee page of each app in your country. A larger order means a larger fee; it does not shrink because the order was easy to make.
What the apps do well
- Reach: guests browsing the app who have never heard of you.
- Delivery: couriers, tracking and support for the guest.
- Convenience for guests who use one app for everything.
What direct ordering does well
- You keep more of each order.
- The guest relationship is yours: you can invite guests back, with their consent.
- Your menu, your prices, your photos — and a change shows up at once.
- Regulars who already know you do not need an app to find you.
Why the guest relationship matters: first-party guest data.
Turn delivery guests into direct guests
A guest who ordered through an app already knows your food. What they usually lack is a quick way to order from you directly next time. A small printed card or fridge magnet in the bag, with a QR code that opens your own menu, gives them one, and a magnet can stay on the fridge after the receipt is gone.
- Use a code that will not change: one that opens your menu even if you later rename the restaurant or change its web address.
- Say what the code does in a few words, such as "Scan to order from us directly", and whether you offer pickup, delivery or both.
- Print a batch and add one to every takeaway and delivery bag, as part of packing the order.
- Read your agreement with each delivery app before you add anything to the orders it brings you.
- Keep the offer honest. The magnet is an invitation, and an invitation does not have to come with a discount; do not promise what you cannot keep.
You will not know at once how many guests come back this way. Watch your direct orders over the following weeks, alongside the orders from each app.
Printable layouts for table cards, posters and stickers: QR menu templates.
Using both
- Put your direct ordering link where regulars look: your website, your Google profile, and your social profiles.
- Keep the menu consistent across channels, and read each app's terms before setting different prices there.
- Watch the share of orders that comes through each channel, and what each one costs you.
- Offer pickup directly, even if you deliver only through apps.
How a direct order works, step by step: restaurant online ordering.
Direct ordering with Thmenu
Thmenu lets guests order from your own menu link for pickup, or for delivery by your own staff, with a flat delivery fee, a minimum order and — if you allow it — orders scheduled for later. Delivery orders are paid online when they are placed, so delivery needs in-app card payment, which depends on your country and payment provider. Thmenu does not dispatch couriers or connect to courier services, and it does not check addresses against a delivery zone. Orders arrive in your orders dashboard and on your ESC/POS receipt printer, with the channel and the address.
For the bag insert, the Tables page in the Thmenu dashboard shows your restaurant's permanent menu code and opens the fridge-magnet template (85 × 55 mm) already filled in with it. The template prints only that code, which opens your current menu in the guest's language on every scan, so a magnet printed today keeps working if you change your restaurant's name. You print the magnets or cards yourself.