{"id":5776,"date":"2026-10-02T07:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/?p=5776"},"modified":"2026-10-23T10:57:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T10:57:51","slug":"how-to-make-online-ordering-more-profitable-for-your-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/how-to-make-online-ordering-more-profitable-for-your-restaurant\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>How to Make Online Ordering More Profitable for Your Restaurant<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/uk\/products\/online-ordering\">Online ordering<\/a> has become a major revenue stream for restaurants, but more orders don&#8217;t automatically mean more profit. Between third-party commissions, packaging costs, delivery expenses, and extra kitchen pressure, it&#8217;s surprisingly easy for online orders to bring in sales while quietly eroding margins. The good news is that with the right strategy, online ordering can become one of the most profitable parts of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are practical ways to boost the profitability of your restaurant&#8217;s online ordering, without simply working harder or discounting your way to volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>1. Shift Orders to Your Own Channels<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The single biggest drain on online ordering profitable is commission. Third-party delivery marketplaces commonly charge in the region of 20-30% per order, which can wipe out the margin on a typical meal entirely. Every order you can move from a marketplace to your own website or app is money kept in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practical ways to encourage direct ordering include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Promoting your own ordering link on social media, Google Business Profile, and your website<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Including flyers or QR codes in marketplace delivery bags inviting customers to order direct next time<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Offering a small direct-order incentive, such as a free side or a modest discount, which still costs far less than the commission you&#8217;d otherwise pay<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Even moving a modest share of orders to your own channel can noticeably improve overall profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>2. Price Your Online Menu Strategically<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many restaurants simply mirror their in-store prices online, but online ordering carries extra costs: packaging, payment processing, and sometimes delivery. It&#8217;s reasonable to review whether your online menu pricing properly reflects those costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some restaurants add a small markup on third-party platforms to offset commission, while keeping direct-order prices lower to make their own channel more attractive. This pricing gap quietly nudges customers toward ordering direct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"655\" src=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/412.jpg\" alt=\"Pricing\" class=\"wp-image-5791\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/412.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/412-640x419.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/412-768x503.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ordering food through mobile<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>3. Increase Average Order Value With Smart Upselling<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the easiest profitable levers in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/uk\/products\/online-ordering\">online ordering <\/a>is raising the value of each order. Unlike a busy phone call, a digital ordering flow can present add-ons consistently and without pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Suggest add-ons at checkout<\/strong>, like drinks, desserts, or sides<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Create combo deals<\/strong> that bundle higher-margin items with popular mains<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Set minimum order values for delivery<\/strong>, which encourages customers to add items to qualify<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Highlight best-sellers and high-margin dishes<\/strong> prominently in your menu layout<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Even a small increase in average order value, multiplied across hundreds of orders a month, adds up to a meaningful profitable difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>4. Optimize Your Menu for Online Ordering<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every dish translates well to takeaway or delivery. Items that arrive soggy, cold, or poorly presented lead to refunds, bad reviews, and lost repeat customers, all of which cost money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider trimming your online menu to dishes that travel well and can be prepared efficiently. A tighter online menu also reduces kitchen complexity, speeds up preparation, and lowers ingredient waste, all of which protect your margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>5. Reduce Errors to Cut Hidden Costs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wrong orders are an expensive problem: remaking food, issuing refunds, giving credits, and losing future business. Online ordering systems that send orders straight to your <a href=\"https:\/\/squareup.com\/us\/en\/point-of-sale\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">POS<\/a> or kitchen display, with every modifier and allergen captured accurately, dramatically cut down on these costly mistakes compared to manual re-entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fewer errors you make, the less money you lose to refunds and remakes a quiet but real contribution to your bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>6. Manage Kitchen Capacity During Peaks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Accepting unlimited online orders during a rush can overwhelm your kitchen, leading to slow service, poor quality, and unhappy dine-in customers. That damages both reputation and repeat business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use tools that let you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cap the number of orders per timeslot<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adjust estimated preparation times<\/strong> during busy periods<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Temporarily pause online ordering<\/strong> when the kitchen is at capacity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Controlling order volume protects food quality and keeps your in-house experience strong, which supports long-term profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>7. Build Customer Loyalty and Repeat Orders<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Acquiring a new customer is almost always more expensive than getting an existing one to order again. Loyalty features such as points, rewards, or simple repeat-order discounts encourage customers to keep ordering directly rather than defaulting to a marketplace app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saved customer profiles and one-tap reordering also make repeat ordering effortless, which steadily increases the lifetime value of each customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/5542.jpg\" alt=\"Loyalty\" class=\"wp-image-5793\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/5542.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/5542-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/5542-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Checking restaurant menu to order<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>8. Use Data to Make Smarter Decisions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your online ordering data is a goldmine. Reviewing which items sell best, which carry the strongest margins, when your peak ordering times fall, and where customers drop off during checkout lets you make informed decisions rather than guesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regularly review:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Best- and worst-performing menu items<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Average order value trends<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Peak ordering windows (for staffing decisions)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cart abandonment points in the ordering flow<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Small, data-driven adjustments removing an underperforming dish, tweaking a combo, or staffing up for a predictable rush compound into real profit improvements over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>9. Control Delivery Costs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you offer your own delivery, costs like driver wages, fuel, and vehicle upkeep can quickly eat into profit. Set sensible delivery zones, minimum order values, and delivery fees that reflect actual costs rather than absorbing them. Offering free pickup as an alternative also gives customers a cost-free option that saves you delivery expense entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>10. Make Sure Your Technology Works Together<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Disconnected tools are a hidden profit killer. When online orders don&#8217;t flow directly into your POS, staff waste time on manual entry, mistakes creep in, and reporting becomes fragmented. A unified system where online ordering, menu management, payments, and reporting all share the same data saves labour, reduces errors, and gives you a clear picture of what&#8217;s actually making money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2149255972.jpg\" alt=\"profitable technology\" class=\"wp-image-5794\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2149255972.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2149255972-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2149255972-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sharing the product photo received from Online Ordering<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Making online ordering profitable isn&#8217;t about chasing more volume at any cost; it&#8217;s about keeping more of each order, increasing what each customer spends, reducing waste and errors, and building a base of loyal direct customers. Small improvements across all of these areas add up quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A connected platform makes much of this far easier to put into practice. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/uk\/products\/online-ordering\">Grafterr&#8217;s online ordering system<\/a><\/strong>, for example, lets restaurants take click-and-collect and delivery orders directly through their own branded website, with orders syncing instantly to their POS. Operators can set delivery radius, fees, minimum order values, and order caps for busy periods, add upsell items and promotions to lift average order value, and avoid the commission fees charged by third-party marketplaces all within one connected platform. For restaurants serious about turning online ordering into a genuine profitable driver, that combination of direct ordering, cost control, and integrated operations is a strong place to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Online ordering has become a major revenue stream for restaurants, but more orders don&#8217;t automatically mean more profit. Between third-party commissions, packaging costs, delivery expenses, and extra kitchen pressure, it&#8217;s surprisingly easy for online orders to bring in sales while quietly eroding margins. The good news is that with the right strategy, online ordering can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":5784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5776"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5812,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5776\/revisions\/5812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafterr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}