How to Build a Restaurant App Without Paying Deliveroo Commission

Delivery platforms can bring restaurants customers. But they can also make it difficult to build a direct relationship with those customers.

For restaurants, platforms such as Deliveroo provide something valuable: demand.

Customers can discover restaurants, browse menus and place orders through a familiar marketplace. Deliveroo describes its platform as a way for restaurants to reach customers and unlock an additional revenue stream.

But there is another side to marketplace dependency. The restaurant may fulfil the order while the platform owns much of the customer relationship.

For a growing restaurant brand, that raises a question:

What would happen if more customers ordered directly?

Direct Ordering Changes the Economics

Imagine a customer orders from your restaurant three times. If all three orders happen through a marketplace, the restaurant is repeatedly paying for access to that transaction.

With a direct ordering system, the economics can be different. The restaurant can own the customer relationship, collect first-party information with appropriate consent, build loyalty and communicate directly with customers.

This doesn't mean abandoning delivery marketplaces altogether. A better strategy for many restaurants is marketplace + direct ordering.

Use marketplaces for discovery and reach. Build your own channel for customers who already know and like the brand.

That is essentially the approach used by businesses such as Domino's, which has historically invested heavily in its own digital ordering relationship while also operating within the broader delivery ecosystem.

What Does a Restaurant App Actually Need?

You don't need to build the next Deliveroo. Your app or direct-ordering platform only needs to solve your customers' core needs.

A basic restaurant ordering app might include:

The exact feature set depends on the restaurant. A single-location restaurant doesn't need the same infrastructure as a 200-location QSR.

The Real Value Is What Happens After the First Order

Building an ordering app isn't valuable simply because it replaces a marketplace. The bigger opportunity is what you can do after someone becomes a direct customer.

Suppose a customer orders a particular meal every Friday. Instead of waiting for them to remember the restaurant next Friday, your system could use their previous behaviour to create a relevant communication.

A customer who hasn't ordered for 60 days might enter a win-back campaign. A regular customer might receive a loyalty reward. Someone who repeatedly orders delivery could receive a reason to try another part of the menu.

This turns an ordering system into a customer retention platform.

Don't Build a Separate System for Everything

This is where restaurant technology can become unnecessarily complicated.

Your ordering platform doesn't need to exist in isolation. It can connect with your CRM, loyalty programme, payment provider, POS, inventory system and marketing platforms.

For example:

Customer places order → order data enters CRM → customer behaviour is recorded → relevant segment is updated → appropriate communication is triggered.

The restaurant isn't just processing another transaction.

It's learning more about the customer and building a relationship that can generate future revenue.

What About Delivery?

You don't necessarily need to build your own delivery fleet. The restaurant can build the ordering experience while using third-party logistics providers where appropriate.

This creates an important distinction. You're not trying to recreate every component of Deliveroo. You're trying to own the customer-facing ordering relationship. That can include your website, app, loyalty programme, customer data and communication.

How Much Does a Restaurant App Cost?

The cost depends heavily on what you're building.

A simple ordering web app with payments and an admin dashboard is very different from a multi-location platform with real-time delivery tracking, loyalty, subscriptions, multiple user roles and sophisticated integrations.

The biggest cost drivers are usually:

• Number of platforms
• Number of user roles
• Payment integrations
• POS integration
• Delivery integration
• Loyalty functionality
• Mobile app requirements
• Admin and reporting requirements

That's why it's usually better to start with the core ordering journey and add functionality based on actual business requirements.

You Don't Have to Replace Your Existing Technology

If the restaurant already uses a POS, CRM or ordering platform, the first question shouldn't be:

"What do we replace?"

It should be:

"What can we connect?"

A restaurant may already have valuable customer and transaction data. A new digital ordering layer can be built around those systems rather than forcing the business to start again. That approach can make the project faster, less disruptive and more useful.

The Goal Isn't to Stop Using Deliveroo

For most restaurants, that shouldn't be the goal. The goal is to reduce dependency.

Use marketplaces to reach customers who haven't discovered you yet. Use your own digital channel to retain customers who already have.

The difference is significant. One channel helps you acquire demand. The other helps you build an asset.

At Tcipher, we help businesses build connected digital platforms that bring ordering, customer data, payments and other systems together. For restaurants, that can mean creating a direct ordering experience designed around the business, without trying to rebuild an entire marketplace. The objective isn't simply to take an order. It's to turn that order into a customer relationship.

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