Online ordering for cloud kitchens: take direct orders, keep the margin

A cloud kitchen has no dining room and no walk-in trade, so every order is delivery, and every delivery-app order loses 15–30% to commission. The way out is to take as many orders as you can on your own commission-free link. With Menuthere you get an ordering page for your brand, deliver with your own driver or a courier you book, and keep 0% commission on direct orders. The money lands in your own Stripe account. This page is honest about the one thing that trips cloud kitchens up: running several virtual brands means several storefronts.

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Why direct orders matter most to a cloud kitchen

A dine-in restaurant can soak up app commission because walk-ins and drinks carry the margin. A cloud kitchen can't. It's 100% delivery, often on packaging and courier costs that are already high, so the app's cut comes straight off a thin margin.

The fix isn't to leave the apps, at least not at first; it's to win back every order you can to your own link. The apps find new customers. Your job is to convert them to direct orders on the second visit: a flyer in every bag, a loyalty nudge, an Instagram link. Each order that moves from a 25% app to your own link is roughly a quarter of that order's value back in your pocket.

Commission vs direct, on a real order

A kitchen does 900 orders a month at an average of $30, so $27,000.

Moving even a third of orders (300 a month, $9,000) off a 25% app to your own link saves about $2,250 a month in commission, before your own delivery cost. Those app rates are on our DoorDash and Uber Eats pages, and the broader case is on commission-free online ordering.

Delivery, your way

• Your own driver. Set a delivery radius on a map and a delivery fee (flat or by distance). Orders show the address; your rider delivers.
• A courier you book. If you don't run drivers, book a third-party courier yourself and treat it as pickup from the kitchen's side.
• Pickup for nearby regulars. Some cloud kitchens let customers collect from a hatch; turn on pickup as an order type.

See in-house delivery for restaurants for how own-delivery compares to the apps.

The multi-brand reality (read this)

Many cloud kitchens run several virtual brands from one kitchen: a burger brand, a wings brand, a salad brand, each with its own listing. Here's the honest picture with Menuthere:

• Each brand is its own storefront with its own menu, link and branding. That keeps the brands clean for customers.
• Several outlets or brands under one account are a Pro feature; each extra outlet is billed. Menuthere is not a marketplace, so you can't run one storefront that lets a customer shop across unrelated brands in a single basket.
• If you run one brand, one storefront on Free or Lite is all you need.

Decide up front how many brands you're taking direct, and plan the plan around it.

In the kitchen

• New orders ring on the Menuthere app on a phone or counter tablet until accepted; keep it open on the pass.
• Auto-accept and auto-print mean a busy kitchen never misses an order; the ticket lists items, choices and the customer note.
• Pre-orders let customers book for later, useful for lunch rushes you prep ahead.
• Stock toggles let you switch a dish or option off the moment you run out, and back on when you restock.

Allergens and local rules

Mark each dish's allergens so customers see them before ordering. If your brand operates 20 or more locations under the same name, US menu-labeling rules cover online menus too; check before you scale. Delivery packaging, food-safety and any ghost-kitchen licensing are local; see how to start a ghost kitchen and what is a ghost kitchen.

Honest limits

• Not a marketplace. You can't sell several unrelated brands from one basket; each brand is its own storefront, and multi-outlet is on Pro.
• No built-in courier network. Menuthere doesn't dispatch couriers for you; you run your own driver or book a courier yourself.
• No ready-made Square, Toast or Clover link. Orders arrive in the Menuthere dashboard and print from there.
• Discovery still comes from the apps. If nobody knows your brand yet, keep the app listings and convert those customers to direct orders over time.

Regulars who message you can reorder on WhatsApp; see WhatsApp ordering for cloud kitchens. If you want your own-branded app later, that's covered on restaurant delivery app for cloud kitchens.

Set up direct ordering for a cloud kitchen

1. Create a storefront per brand you're taking direct, with its own menu.
2. Set delivery with a radius and a fee, plus pickup if you offer it.
3. Connect Stripe so card payments land in your own account.
4. Turn on auto-accept and auto-print so orders never slip during a rush.
5. Mark allergens and set stock toggles for sell-outs.
6. Put the link everywhere: every bag, flyer, Google profile and social bio.
7. Place a test order end to end, then refund it.

Direct orders, 0% commission, your drivers or a courier.

Create your free ordering pageSee pricing