How to reduce delivery app commissions: 8 practical strategies

To reduce delivery app commissions, you rarely win by haggling over the rate itself. What works is changing where your orders come from: price each channel so it pays its way, give regulars an easy direct ordering option, reward pickup and use marketplaces mainly to be discovered. This guide explains how commission models generally work and gives you a 30-day plan to move more orders to channels you control.

How do delivery app commissions work?

Every delivery platform writes its own contract, and terms differ by country, city and plan. In general, the platform keeps a percentage of each order in return for visibility, the ordering app and, often, the courier. The percentage is usually higher when the platform delivers and lower when you use your own drivers.

The headline rate is rarely the whole cost. Read your contract and your monthly statements line by line and look for items like these:

• A percentage commission on the order value, sometimes calculated before and sometimes after discounts.
• Payment processing or service fees charged per order.
• Paid visibility: sponsored placement, featured listings or promotion packages.
• Discounts you fund yourself when you join a platform campaign.
• Refunds and adjustments for missing items or late orders.

Add all of these up for one month and divide the total by your marketplace sales. That effective rate is the number that matters, and it is often higher than the rate on the first page of the contract.

What does a commission really cost? A hypothetical example

The numbers below are invented to show the method; they are not real platform rates. Imagine a basket of 50. Your food cost is 15, packaging is 3, and we assume a total commission of 30 percent, so 15. After commission, food and packaging, the marketplace order leaves you 17 to cover staff, rent, energy and profit.

Now take the same basket ordered directly on your own website for pickup. Assume a card payment fee of 2. The order leaves 50 minus 2, 15 and 3, which is 30. In this example, the gap is 13 per order. If you deliver direct orders yourself, subtract your courier cost, and remember that your website, hosting and any welcome discount also cost something.

8 ways to reduce delivery app commissions

1. Price your menu per channel

Many restaurants set slightly higher prices on marketplaces to absorb the commission, or run fewer promotions there. Before you do this, check your platform contract: some agreements contain price parity clauses or other conditions on how you set prices, and the rules differ between countries. If in doubt, ask the platform or a local adviser. Where it is allowed, keep the difference modest and easy to explain, and treat your own menu as the reference price.

2. Build your own direct ordering channel

A direct channel is a menu on your own website where guests can order and pay. It does not have to be complicated, but it must load fast on a phone, show real photos and keep checkout short. QR Menu Manager, for example, runs inside your own WordPress with WooCommerce handling cart, checkout and orders, so the order data stays in your own database instead of on someone else’s platform.

3. Reward pickup orders

Pickup has no courier cost and no marketplace commission, so it is usually your most profitable takeaway order. Give guests a reason to choose it: a small pickup discount, a free drink above a minimum order or a reliable ready time. Keep the pickup point clear and quick, because a long wait at the counter cancels the benefit.

4. Put an insert in every delivery bag

A marketplace order may be the first time a guest tastes your food. A small printed card in the bag can turn that into a direct relationship: a thank-you, your website name, a QR code to your menu and a reason to order direct next time. Read your contract first, because some platforms set rules on marketing to the customers they bring you.

5. Add a QR code to receipts and packaging

Print the same QR code on receipts, takeaway bags, cup sleeves and stickers. A guest who scans it at home lands directly on your menu, with no app to download. Use one stable QR code that always opens your current menu, so you never have to reprint when prices change.

6. Offer coupons that only work on direct orders

A welcome coupon helps people break a habit. Keep it simple and limited: one use per guest, a sensible minimum order and a clear end date. The coupon costs you once, while the commission you save repeats on every future order. Coupon and campaign tools are built into QR Menu Manager, so you can create codes for bag inserts or tables without extra software.

7. Use marketplaces for discovery, not as your only channel

Marketplaces are good at putting you in front of people who have never heard of you. Treat them like a paid shop window: keep a focused menu there, let your best dishes shine and use every order as a chance to invite the guest to your own channel next time.

8. Review your contract and plan regularly

Platforms often offer different plans, for example with or without their own delivery. Once a year, compare your effective rate on each plan with your real courier costs. Switching plans, dropping paid visibility that does not pay back or leaving campaigns you fund yourself can lower your costs without touching a single price.

How to track the profitability of each channel

You cannot reduce what you do not measure. A simple spreadsheet, updated once a month, is enough. For each channel, whether marketplace, direct delivery, direct pickup or dine-in, track:

• Number of orders and total sales.
• Average order value.
• All fees: commission, payment fees, paid visibility and refunds.
• Food and packaging cost as a share of sales.
• Delivery cost if you use your own couriers.
• What is left per order after all direct costs.

Marketplace vs direct ordering: a quick comparison

• Reach: marketplaces bring new guests; your direct channel mostly serves people who already know you.
• Cost per order: marketplaces take a commission and fees; direct orders mostly cost payment fees and your own setup.
• Guest data: on marketplaces the platform usually keeps the relationship; on your own channel you see order history and can reward regulars.
• Delivery: marketplaces can handle couriers for you; direct delivery needs your own drivers, or you offer pickup only.

A 30-day plan to cut delivery app commissions

1. Days 1–3: export last month’s statements and calculate your effective commission rate per platform.
2. Days 4–7: work out what each channel leaves per order, using the example above as a template.
3. Days 8–12: set up or tidy your direct ordering menu, test checkout on a phone and add a pickup option.
4. Days 13–15: check your platform contract for pricing and marketing rules, then decide on channel prices.
5. Days 16–20: print bag inserts and receipt QR codes with a one-time welcome coupon for direct orders.
6. Days 21–25: brief staff to mention direct ordering at the counter and on the phone.
7. Days 26–30: compare the share of direct orders with the start of the month and adjust the coupon or inserts.

Frequently asked questions

Start with the numbers: work out your effective commission this week, then pick two or three strategies from this guide and test them for 30 days. If you want a direct ordering channel on your own website, QR Menu Manager is coming soon to WordPress.org and gives you a menu, checkout, coupons and orders that stay in your own database.