Many owners say "I'm already online". Ask where, and the answer is "on the marketplaces". A page on a delivery app is useful, but it isn't the same as an online presence of your own. They are two different things and both have value.
A stall in a market and your own shop
Your marketplace page is like a stall in a huge market: lots of people walk by, which is great for being discovered. In return, the rules are the market's, there is a commission on every sale, the customer data stays with the platform and your brand sits next to many others.
Your own website is your shop. You decide the look and the experience, there is no GetFoodies commission per order, and customers who order there leave their contact and history on your side.
"But the apps have more traffic"
They do, which is why they are a great source of new customers. The point isn't to pick one instead of the other, it is to understand each one's role. Marketplaces bring new people. Your site serves people who already know you and find you directly: Google, social media, QR codes, regulars. Having both means more customers and more control.
What your own website gives you
- Margin: no GetFoodies commission per order.
- Customer data: who buys, what, when.
- A direct relationship: you can send news and offers and win back people who went quiet.
- Your brand: colours, photos, tone, with no other restaurants alongside.
- Loyalty: cashback and points that are yours and that customers recognise.
How to decide where to invest
- Keep the marketplaces to be discovered by new customers.
- Invest in your site for customers who already know you.
- Measure the share: what percentage of orders is direct? As it rises you get more margin and more data of your own.
The costly mistake is postponing the site "because the apps already bring orders". Every month without a channel of your own is a month without the data and relationship of customers who are already yours.
An honest note on costs
"No commission" means no GetFoodies commission. Card payments carry the processor's fee, and some POS systems charge for connecting to other software. Even so, the sum is usually very different from a per-order commission.
How GetFoodies gives you the site
A mobile-first ordering website with your brand, the data of each customer and loyalty included. It is your shop, ready to open, without building it from scratch.
The question
Where do your direct customers order when they want to repeat? If you don't have a place of your own yet, you know where the growth you haven't collected is.