Direct Online Ordering vs Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats: A Guide for UK Restaurants

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Online food delivery platforms have changed how customers discover and order from restaurants.

Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats can place your menu in front of thousands of hungry customers. They provide convenient ordering, payment and delivery options through apps that many people already use.

However, marketplace orders also come with fees, competition and limited control over the customer relationship.

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Direct online orderingoffers a different approach. Customers place orders through your own branded restaurant website or mobile app rather than through a third-party marketplace.

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So, which option is better for your restaurant?

For many UK restaurants, the best answer is not choosing one and completely abandoning the other. A stronger strategy is to use delivery marketplaces for customer discovery while building a direct ordering channel for repeat business.

This guide explains the differences, advantages, costs and practical considerations.

What Is Direct Online Ordering?

Direct online ordering means customers order food through a digital channel controlled by your restaurant.

This could be:

• Your restaurant website

• Your branded mobile app

• A QR code at the table

• A collection-ordering page

• A link from your Google Business Profile

• A link from Instagram, Facebook or email campaigns

The ordering experience uses your restaurant’s name, logo, colours, menu and promotions.

OrderApps, for example, gives UK food businesses a branded ordering website, mobile apps and tools for delivery, collection, table reservations, loyalty and customer marketing. Restaurants can manage menus, prices, promotions and orders through the platform.

The customer is ordering from your business rather than finding you inside a list of competing restaurants.

How Do Food Delivery Marketplaces Work?

Food delivery marketplaces bring many restaurants together inside one app or website.

Customers can search by location, cuisine, price, rating or delivery time. They select a restaurant, place their order and pay through the platform.

The marketplace may then:

• Send the order to the restaurant

• Process the customer’s payment

• Provide delivery drivers

• Manage customer support

• Offer advertising and promotional tools

• Recommend the restaurant to app users

Just Eat allows restaurants to use their own couriers or select a service where Just Eat manages delivery. Its partner information states that restaurants using their own couriers pay a reduced commission on delivery orders.

Deliveroo describes its service fee as a percentage of the order’s gross merchandise value, with the exact commercial terms determined by the restaurant’s agreement.

Uber Eats also uses percentage-based marketplace fees. Its UK merchant pricing page lists different arrangements depending on whether the restaurant uses Uber delivery, self-delivery or pickup.

These platforms can provide valuable reach, but the restaurant normally pays for access to that reach through commissions, service fees, promotional spending or a combination of charges.

Direct Ordering vs Delivery Apps at a Glance

Direct online ordering

With direct ordering, your restaurant controls the customer experience.

You decide:

• How your website looks

• Which products appear

• How items are described

• What prices customers see

• Which delivery areas you serve

• What promotions you offer

• How you reward regular customers

• How you communicate with customers

The customer sees your restaurant’s brand throughout the ordering process.

Delivery marketplaces

Marketplaces provide access to customers who are already searching for food.

They may be particularly useful when:

• Your restaurant is new

• You have limited local awareness

• You do not have delivery drivers

• You want to reach customers outside your existing audience

• You want additional orders during quieter periods

The trade-off is that your restaurant appears beside many competitors, and the platform controls much of the customer journey.

1. Customer Reach and Discovery

Delivery apps are powerful discovery platforms.

Someone may open Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats without knowing which restaurant they want. They browse available options and choose based on cuisine, price, reviews, photographs, promotions or delivery time.

This gives restaurants access to customers who might never have visited their website.

Deliveroo promotes its marketplace as a way for restaurants to reach new and exclusive customers, while Uber Eats presents its service as a way to increase reach and connect with local customers.

Direct ordering works differently.

Customers normally need to know your restaurant, discover it through Google, follow a social media link or receive a recommendation before reaching your ordering page.

This means marketplaces often have an advantage in first-time discovery.

However, once a customer already knows and trusts your restaurant, paying a marketplace fee every time that person returns may be less attractive than encouraging them to order directly.

Marketplace advantage: New customer discovery.

Direct ordering advantage: Repeat orders from customers who already know your business.

2. Fees and Order Profitability

Fees are one of the biggest differences between direct ordering and marketplace ordering.

Marketplace fees usually depend on:

• Whether the platform supplies a courier

• Whether you use your own drivers

• Your restaurant agreement

• Order type

• Promotional arrangements

• Additional advertising

• VAT and other applicable charges

Restaurants should request a complete written fee breakdown from each provider rather than relying on a general percentage found online.

Direct ordering also has costs. It should not automatically be described as completely free.

As of July 2026, OrderApps publishes three plans:

• Starter: £19 per month with a 3.9% transaction charge

• Growth: £29.99 per month with a 1.9% transaction charge

• Premium: £39.99 per month with a 1.49% transaction charge

A one-time £99 setup fee is also listed. The plans include different combinations of branded online ordering, mobile apps, reservations, QR ordering and automated marketing.

Payment-processing, delivery, VAT and other operating costs should also be confirmed before making a final comparison.

The important question is not whether one option is technically free. The better question is:

How much profit remains after every cost connected to the order?

How to Compare Your Real Cost per Order

Use this simple calculation:

Order value − food cost − packaging − delivery cost − platform charges − payment charges − discounts = estimated contribution from the order

Run this calculation separately for:

1. A marketplace delivery order

1. A marketplace collection order

1. A direct delivery order

1. A direct collection order

This gives you a more realistic comparison than looking at commission alone.

For example, direct collection may produce a strong margin because you do not need a marketplace courier. Direct delivery may still involve driver wages or a third-party delivery charge.

The best option depends on your order value, location, menu margins and delivery model.

3. Control Over Your Brand

On a delivery marketplace, customers are primarily using the marketplace’s app.

Your logo, menu and food photographs appear inside a platform designed and controlled by another company. Customers can quickly compare your restaurant with nearby alternatives.

Direct ordering creates a more focused experience.

Your website can use:

• Your restaurant logo

• Your colours

• Your photography

• Your tone of voice

• Your story

• Your own promotional banners

• Your loyalty programme

OrderApps provides an own-branded ordering website and, on applicable plans, branded iOS and Android apps. Restaurants can manage menus, pricing, design and promotions through their own system.

This helps customers remember the restaurant they ordered from rather than only remembering the delivery app.

Brand recognition matters because customers who remember your name are more likely to search for you directly in the future.

4. Ownership of the Customer Relationship

A direct order creates an opportunity to build a long-term relationship with the customer.

With appropriate consent and privacy controls, you may be able to use customer information to:

• Send relevant offers

• Announce new menu items

• Promote quieter days

• Reward regular customers

• Remind inactive customers

• Encourage app downloads

• Request feedback

OrderApps states that its direct system allows restaurants to retain customer data and use built-in loyalty, push-notification and marketing tools to encourage repeat orders.

On a marketplace, the platform usually manages the main customer account and controls how customer information can be accessed or used.

You can fulfil the order, but you may have fewer opportunities to turn that customer into part of your own marketing audience.

Any direct marketing must still follow UK data-protection and electronic-marketing requirements. Customers should understand what they are agreeing to receive, and unsubscribing should be simple.

5. Competition During Checkout

A customer visiting your own ordering website has already selected your restaurant.

They are not being shown dozens of nearby competitors while browsing your menu.

On a marketplace, your listing may appear beside restaurants offering:

• Lower prices

• Faster delivery

• Free delivery

• Large discounts

• Sponsored placement

• Different cuisines

• Higher review scores

This creates constant comparison.

A customer may begin by looking at your restaurant and then move to another option before placing the order.

Direct ordering removes most of this distraction. The entire experience is focused on your menu and your offers.

However, your website still needs to be easy to use. A slow, confusing or poorly designed ordering page can push customers back to a familiar marketplace app.

6. Menu and Pricing Control

A direct ordering platform gives you greater control over how your menu is presented.

You can decide:

• Which products appear first

• How categories are organised

• Which add-ons are available

• When an item becomes unavailable

• Which delivery zones are active

• What minimum order applies

• Whether customers can schedule an order

• Which discount codes are accepted

OrderApps includes menu customisation, delivery-zone controls, order scheduling, promotional codes and the ability to update products and pricing.

Marketplaces also provide menu-management tools. For example, Just Eat allows partners to edit menu items, variations and pricing through its Partner Hub.

The key difference is where the menu appears and who controls the overall customer experience.

7. Delivery Management

Marketplace delivery can be useful for restaurants without their own courier team.

The platform may handle:

• Driver recruitment

• Driver availability

• Delivery tracking

• Courier payments

• Customer delivery updates

• Delivery support

This can reduce the operational work required to launch delivery.

Direct ordering does not always include delivery drivers. Your restaurant may need to:

• Employ drivers

• Use independent couriers

• Connect to a third-party delivery service

• Set delivery zones

• Calculate delivery charges

• Manage driver availability

For some restaurants, this is manageable and cost-effective. For others, marketplace delivery may be more convenient.

A restaurant should separate two decisions:

1. Where will the customer place the order?

1. Who will deliver the food?

Customers can order directly while delivery is completed by your own driver or a separate delivery provider.

8. Loyalty and Repeat Orders

Marketplaces may offer their own promotions and loyalty features, but these usually keep the customer active within the marketplace ecosystem.