Two customers order the same €20 dish on the same night. Same ingredients, same cook, same packaging. One orders through a marketplace, the other through your own site. To your kitchen they look identical. To your bank account, they don't.
Understanding that difference is not about choosing a winner. It is about knowing what each channel costs you, so you can give each one the right job.
The same sale, two results
Let's use simple, made-up numbers. Say a €20 order costs you €12 to produce: ingredients, packaging, a share of staff and energy. That leaves €8 to cover rent and everything else, and to become profit.
Through a marketplace. Say your contract takes 25% of the order:
- Sale: €20
- Commission: -€5
- Costs: -€12
- Left: €3
Through your own channel. Say the card payment fee is around €0.50:
- Sale: €20
- Card fee: -€0.50
- Costs: -€12
- Left: €7.50
Same dish, same work, and more than twice as much left over. Your own numbers will differ, so swap in your contract's rate and your real costs.
Why commission hurts more than it looks
Commission is charged on the full price, but it comes out of the thin slice that is left after costs. In the example, 25% of revenue swallows over half of the margin. That is why a percentage that sounds modest can make a big difference at the end of the month.
The costs on the direct side
Being fair means counting both sides. A direct order isn't free:
- Card fees. The payment processor charges a fee on each card payment, as in any shop.
- Delivery. If you deliver, you pay for your own fleet or a delivery partner where available. Many direct orders are collection or table orders, with no delivery cost at all.
- Your tools. An ordering system usually has a fixed monthly fee. The more direct orders you take, the less it weighs on each one.
The marketplace is doing a job
The sum above compares identical orders, but the two customers didn't arrive the same way. The marketplace customer might never have found you otherwise. Part of what the commission pays for is visibility, a new customer and often the delivery.
So the honest conclusion isn't "marketplace bad, direct good". It is:
- Marketplaces are a good way to meet new customers. That's worth paying for.
- Your own channel serves the customers who are already yours, without paying again to reach them.
Where each order should happen
- Someone who discovers you on a marketplace: that's their journey, and they should keep ordering there if they want to.
- Someone who finds you on Google, Instagram or walking past: can order directly on your channel.
- The regular who phones or messages you: is naturally a customer of your own channel.
- A guest in the dining room: a QR code on the table opens your own menu.
How to set up the direct side
- Create your own ordering site, with your brand.
- Show it where your customers already are: tables, counter, window, Instagram and your Google profile.
- Give people a reason to use it, like cashback on their next order.
- Keep in touch so they come back.
The sum that matters
Take your average order, your contract's commission and your costs. Work out what is left per order in each channel. Then count how many of your orders come from people who already knew you: phone, counter, social media, Google. That's the margin at stake on those orders.
GetFoodies is built for that direct side: your own branded ordering site with no commission per order, payments into your own Stripe account and cashback to bring customers back. It runs alongside the marketplaces, which keep bringing you new faces. You can create your free site and see it for yourself.