Delivery apps take 15–30% of every order. Here's the math on going direct.

If you run a restaurant, you already feel this one in your gut: the delivery apps bring orders, and then they take a slice that looks a lot like your entire margin. This article puts real numbers on that feeling — every one of them from a linkable source, listed at the bottom — and walks through what moving even part of your volume to direct ordering does to the math.

What the apps actually charge

Marketplace commission rates are public: DoorDash's plans charge restaurants roughly 15% to 30% per delivery order depending on tier, and Uber Eats sits in the 20% to 30% range. Some platforms run higher with added fees.

Now put that next to what an independent restaurant keeps. Industry analyses consistently put average independent-restaurant net margins around 3% to 5%. A 25% commission doesn't shrink the margin on those orders — it erases it. Many restaurants are effectively running delivery-app tickets at break-even or a loss, and treating it as a marketing expense.

The part most owners don't know: customers prefer ordering direct

This is the stat that should change your week: surveys repeatedly find that about two-thirds of consumers — 67% in Lightspeed's roundup — prefer to order directly from a restaurant's own website or app rather than through a third-party marketplace. A majority say they do it specifically to support the business.

Your customers aren't loyal to the apps. They're using the apps because that's the button you gave them. If your website has its own ordering page, a meaningful share of your regulars will use it — and every one of those orders keeps the commission in your pocket.

The realistic play (nobody quits the apps cold-turkey)

The goal isn't deleting DoorDash. The apps are real discovery — new customers find you there. The goal is migration: let the apps introduce you, then move repeat customers to direct.

• •Put an Order Online button on your own site that goes to YOUR ordering page — not a marketplace
• •Put the direct link everywhere the app isn't: the bag stuffer, the counter sign, the Instagram bio, the Google Business Profile
• •Price identically or slightly better direct — customers notice, and 61% already want a reason to support you
• •Watch the mix shift over months, not days. Every migrated regular is 15–30% back on every future order

A worked example

Say you do $8,000/month through the apps at an effective 25% commission — $2,000/month in fees. Migrate just a third of that volume to direct ordering and you've recovered roughly $660 a month, about $8,000 a year. That's real money for a neighborhood restaurant — more than most spend on their entire web presence.

This is exactly the setup we build at Catamaran Studios: a fast website with commission-free ordering wired straight into your Square or Clover point of sale, for a flat monthly rate. If you want to see what yours would look like, we'll build the preview free before you decide anything.