67% of Diners Prefer to Order Direct. Is Your Website Ready?

Let's talk about what happens after a customer decides they want your food on a Friday night. They pull out their phone, open DoorDash or Uber Eats, scroll through the list — and there you are, right next to three of your competitors. They tap your name, place a $55 order, and hit submit.

You see the order come in. You make the food. You hand it to a driver. And after the platform takes its cut, you pocket somewhere between $38 and $44 of that $55 order.

That's a 20–30% commission off the top of every single order, every single time. On a busy Friday with $800 in delivery orders, you might walk away with $560 — or less.

Here's what most restaurant owners don't know: 67% of consumers say they prefer to order directly from a restaurant's own website or app rather than through a third-party delivery platform. That's not a fringe preference — it's the majority of your customers. They'd rather give you more of their money. They just need you to make it easy.

What delivery platform fees are actually doing to your margins

Restaurant margins are already thin. After food cost, labor, rent, and utilities, a well-run independent restaurant typically keeps 3–9% of revenue as profit. That's not much cushion.

Third-party delivery platforms charge restaurants between 15% and 30% commission per order — with most independent restaurants landing in the 25–30% range. Some platforms charge even more for premium placement or promotional features.

Run the math on a $60 check:

DoorDash takes $15–$18 off the top
You cover packaging, dedicated delivery prep, and food cost
What's left is often barely enough to cover variable costs — let alone build profit

For a restaurant doing $5,000 a month in third-party delivery, that's $1,250–$1,500 walking out the door in commissions every single month. That's $15,000–$18,000 a year — going to the platform, not your business.

Many independent restaurant owners are, in effect, running a delivery operation at breakeven or a loss every time a platform order comes in — and subsidizing it with dine-in revenue.

Why customers aren't ordering directly from you yet

If 67% of diners prefer to order directly, why are so many still using DoorDash?

Friction. Customers open delivery apps because they're already on their phones, they show every nearby restaurant, and ordering takes 30 seconds. Going to your restaurant's website to place an order requires a few more steps — and if your site doesn't have a clean, fast ordering page, most customers default to the app out of habit.

This isn't a loyalty problem. It's a convenience problem. Customers don't have strong feelings about DoorDash — they use it because it works. Give them an equally smooth experience directly on your site, and most of them will order that way instead. They'd rather the restaurant got the full price of their meal.

The second reason: many restaurant websites simply don't have a working online order option. The customer lands on the site, sees a static menu or a PDF, finds no "Order Now" button, and goes back to the delivery app. That's a missed opportunity — and a commission fee you didn't have to pay.

What direct online ordering actually looks like on your site

A direct ordering setup on your restaurant's website doesn't need to be complicated. At minimum, it needs:

A clear "Order Online" button on the homepage and menu page
A fast, mobile-friendly ordering flow — most customers are on their phones
A live menu with accurate prices and item availability
Payment processing (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay)
Order confirmation and estimated wait time

The order goes straight to your kitchen — no third-party in between, no commission taken out. You receive the full amount the customer paid, minus standard payment processing fees of roughly 2.5–3%.

Contrast that with DoorDash: up to 30% gone before you see a dollar.

Some restaurants pair direct ordering with a small incentive: free delivery for orders over a certain amount, a complimentary drink with pickup orders, or a 5% discount for ordering direct. Even a 5% discount to the customer saves you 20% compared to the platform fee — and you still come out significantly ahead.

The repeat customer advantage nobody talks about

When a customer orders through DoorDash, DoorDash owns that relationship. You never get their email address. You can't send them a promotion. You can't reach out when you're running a Tuesday night special or testing a new menu item. The next time they're looking for a restaurant like yours, DoorDash puts you right next to your competitors and lets the customer choose based on ratings and photos.

When a customer orders directly from your website, you own that relationship.

You have their contact information. You can follow up. You can notify them about a new dish, invite them back with a loyalty offer, or send a quick text when you're running a deal on a slow night. Restaurant marketing tools can trigger personalized messages based on when someone last ordered and what they tend to get — turning first-time online customers into regulars who think of you before they think of the app.

A customer who orders directly from you three times is worth far more than one who orders through a delivery platform three times. In the first case, you know who they are and can reach them. In the second, they're just an order number in your POS.

How to shift more orders to your own site without losing delivery volume

The goal isn't to disappear from delivery apps overnight. Many customers discover new restaurants through DoorDash and Uber Eats — and that discovery has real value. The goal is to convert those customers to direct orders over time, and to capture the customers who already know you through your own channel.

A practical approach for most independent restaurants:

Add direct ordering to your website first. Make it fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to find. This immediately captures customers who already visit your site directly.
Include a small card with every pickup or delivery order that says something like: "Order directly on our website next time — same great food, and we keep more of it."
Collect email addresses at checkout and use them for promotions. Even a simple monthly email with a special keeps you top of mind between orders.
Stay on the platforms for new customer discovery, but gradually shift your regulars to your own ordering system over the next few months.

Restaurants that take this approach consistently report meaningful shifts in their order mix within 90 days — more direct orders, fewer platform fees, and customers who are actually reachable for future marketing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Won't I lose visibility if I stop relying on DoorDash?

Staying on delivery platforms for new customer discovery still makes sense — they function as a paid advertising channel. The shift is about building a parallel direct ordering option, not abandoning the apps entirely. Over time, as your direct order share grows, you can decide how aggressively to invest in platform placement versus your own channel.

Is direct online ordering hard to set up on a restaurant website?

Not anymore. A clean, integrated ordering system can be live on your site within a few days. The key is making sure it's fast, mobile-first, and connected to your existing payment processor. A checkout that takes more than 3 minutes will lose the customer — so the experience matters as much as having the feature at all.

What if my customers are used to using the apps?

Most customers use delivery apps out of habit, not loyalty to the platform. A visible "Order Direct" option on your website, a small incentive, and a smooth experience is usually enough to convert regulars. You're not asking them to change their habits permanently — just to bookmark your site before their next order.

If 67% of your customers would rather order directly from you, the only thing standing between them and that choice is a clear, easy way to do it. Code Craft Space builds restaurant websites with direct online ordering built in — no third-party commission, no customer data locked away in someone else's platform. Your food, your customers, your revenue.