How to move off delivery apps without losing sales

The mistake is to quit the apps overnight. The apps cost you 15–30% a order, but they also bring customers who'd never have found you, and cutting them cold can drop real sales. The smart move is a sequence: measure what the apps truly cost and truly bring, build a cheaper channel you own, shift your repeat customers to it, and only then decide what, if anything, to cut. This guide is the decision behind it; the day-to-day tactics for winning customers over are in a companion guide.

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Step 1: Should you move off the apps at all?

Run this quick test:

Most restaurants land in the middle: apps bring some genuinely new customers, but a lot of commission is paid on regulars who'd order direct if asked. Those regulars are the win.

Step 2: Measure the real cost

Pull a month of app statements and work out:

• Commission paid (often 15–30%, or 6–7% for pickup-only).
• What it brought: total app sales, and roughly how many customers were new vs repeat.
• Your cost to serve those orders anyway (food, packaging, labour).

A worked example. A restaurant does $12,000 a month on a 25% app, so pays $3,000 in commission. If 40% of those orders are repeat customers ($4,800), the commission on just the repeats is $1,200 a month, money you could largely keep by moving those regulars to your own link. See the real rates on our DoorDash and Uber Eats pages.

Step 3: Build the channel you own

Before you cut anything, stand up a cheaper channel:

1. A commission-free ordering link. You keep the order minus the card fee (about 2.9% + 30¢); see commission-free online ordering and the commission-free food delivery app angle.
2. Pickup, and your own delivery if you can. Set a delivery radius and fee, run your own driver or book a courier; see in-house delivery for restaurants.
3. Put the link everywhere: your Google Business Profile, Instagram bio, a QR code at the counter and on every bag.

The full landing setup is on online ordering for restaurants.

Step 4: Shift repeat customers over

This is where the companion guide, move delivery-app customers to direct ordering, goes deep. The short version:

• Put a flyer in every app bag with your direct link and a first-order offer.
• Beat the app's price slightly on your own link, since you're saving the commission.
• Tell regulars at the counter and reward them for ordering direct.
• Use loyalty so repeat direct orders earn something.

The goal isn't to trick customers off the apps; it's to give your regulars a cheaper, faster way to order the same food.

Step 5: Decide what to cut, if anything

Once a healthy share of orders is direct, look again:

• If the apps still bring genuinely new customers, keep the listings, even at a cost; treat them as paid marketing.
• If app orders are now mostly regulars you also serve direct, consider pickup-only on the apps (6–7% instead of 15–30%) to keep discovery cheaply.
• Only go fully off the apps when your direct channel reliably replaces the orders. Many restaurants never fully leave, and that's fine; the win is paying commission on fewer orders.

Honest risks

• Leaving too early loses sales. Cut the apps before your direct channel is strong and the new-customer orders vanish.
• You take on the work. Direct orders mean you do the marketing, the pickup/delivery and the support the app used to handle.
• Discovery is the apps' real value. A direct link doesn't put you in front of someone browsing for dinner nearby; that's what you're giving up if you leave entirely.
• No ready-made POS link. Direct orders arrive in your ordering dashboard, not automatically in Square, Toast or Clover.

Move off delivery apps without losing sales

1. Run the "should you move" test on your app orders.
2. Measure the real commission and the new-vs-repeat split from a month of statements.
3. Build a commission-free channel you own (link, pickup, your own delivery).
4. Put the link everywhere customers see you.
5. Shift repeat customers with bag flyers, a small price edge and loyalty.
6. Keep the apps for discovery, or move to pickup-only to cut the rate.
7. Only cut fully when direct orders reliably replace app orders.

build the channel you own first. 0% commission.

Create your free ordering pageSee pricing