Restaurant Website vs. Third-Party Delivery Apps: Which Should UK Restaurants Invest In
The way customers discover and order food has changed significantly in the UK. Many customers use third-party delivery apps to explore restaurants, compare menus, and place orders. At the same time, restaurant websites with direct online ordering are becoming an important way for businesses to build customer relationships and manage ordering costs.
For independent restaurants, cafes, takeaways, and quick-service restaurants, relying heavily on third-party delivery apps can make it harder to maintain a healthy profit margin. Choosing between a restaurant website and third-party delivery apps is not always straightforward. A restaurant website with direct online ordering offers an alternative, allowing businesses to accept orders through their own channel and avoid third-party marketplace commissions on eligible direct orders.
So, which option should UK restaurants invest in? A restaurant website with a direct online ordering platform is a smart choice for businesses looking to protect profit margins, build customer relationships and grow sustainably. Investing in a direct ordering website helps restaurants retain more revenue,
increase repeat orders, and build a stronger, more profitable online business.
What is a restaurant website with direct online ordering?
A restaurant website with direct online ordering allows customers to browse the menu, select their preferred dishes, and place orders directly with the restaurant. Depending on the system, customers can choose collection or delivery, select available time slots, and make payments online.
Unlike third-party marketplaces, a direct ordering website gives restaurants more control over their branding, menu preparation, customer communication, and ordering process.
A well-designed restaurant website can also include essential features such as
- Online ordering for collection and delivery
- Digital menu with updated prices and availability
- Secure online payment options
- Table booking and reservation
- Order notification and management tools
- Local search engine optimization
- Email-marketing to encourage repeat orders
Restaurants in the UK always want to encourage repeat orders and establish a stronger online presence; a direct ordering website can become a valuable long-term business asset.
What are Third-Party Delivery Apps?
Third-party delivery apps connect customers with multiple restaurants through a shared ordering platform. Customers can search for nearby food businesses, compare menus, read reviews, and place orders using the app.
Platforms such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat provide restaurants with limited access to established online marketplaces. However, commissions, advertising costs, and limited access to customer data can reduce profitability and restrict opportunities to build direct customer relationships.
Restaurants benefit from delivery services, payment processing, promotional opportunities, and order management tools.
However, these services can come with commission, service-related charges, and promotional costs; the actual cost structure varies by platform, restaurant, and agreement.
For restaurants with limited marketing resources, third-party apps can provide a convenient route to online visibility. However, relying on them exclusively may limit a restaurant’s control over its customer relationships and ordering costs.
Restaurant Website vs Third-Party Delivery Apps: Key Differences
| Resource | Restaurant Website | Third-party Delivery Apps |
| Customer reach | Customers can easily visit the restaurant’s website through Google Search, its Google Business Profile, or direct links shared on social media and other marketing channels. | Provides limited access to customers browsing the platform |
| Ordering cost | Cost depends on website, payment processing, and ordering system arrangements | Commissions and other charges depend on the platform agreement |
| Branding | Full control over website design, menu presentation, and brand identity. | Branding and menu presentation are limited by the platform’s layout and guidelines. |
| Customer relationships | Greater opportunity to build direct customer relationship, subject to privacy and consent requirement | Limited access to customer data and direct marketing opportunities, depending on platform policies |
| Marketing | Track where customers come from, measure which marketing campaigns work, and use customer insights to encourage repeat order | Access to customer information and communication depends on platform policies |
| Customer retention | Supports direct ordering and resturant managed marketing campaigns | Repeat business may remain within the third-party platform |
| Operational management | Requires suitable ordering, payment, notification, and fulfilment system | May offer convenient ordering and delivery tools, but access and features depend on the platform and its terms. |
| Long-term control | Greater control over the restaurant’s digital presence | Greater dependence on the platform’s commercial terms and policies |
| Profitt margin | Greater potential to retain revenue from direct orders | Margin may be squeezed by commissions and promotional expenses |
| Order cost | Helps restaurants retain more revenue from direct orders while maintaining greater control over pricing and online sales. | Marketplace commission and other contractual charges may reduce earnings |
How Does a Restaurant Website Improve Profitability Compared with Third-Party Delivery Apps?
A restaurant website with direct ordering gives UK restaurants more control over online sales and customer engagement. It can help reduce marketplace commission costs on eligible direct orders, support targeted marketing, and strengthen brand visibility. Actual savings and profitability depend on platform fees, payment processing, marketing expenditure, order volume, and delivery costs.
- Reduce Marketplace Commission Costs: Retain more revenue from eligible direct orders by avoiding third-party marketplace commissions.
- Measure Marketing Performance: Track customer sources and evaluate campaigns using suitable analytics tools.
- Build Direct Customer Relationships: Encourage repeat orders through direct communication and marketing, subject to applicable privacy and consent requirements.
- Improve Online Discoverability: Help customers find the restaurant through Google Search, its Google Business Profile, and other marketing channels.
- Manage Menus More Flexibly: Update prices, offers, and item availability using the features supported by the ordering platform.
- Control the Direct Ordering Experience: Manage website branding, direct orders, and available collection or delivery options.
- Support Long-Term Growth: Build a recognisable online presence and reduce dependence on third-party marketplaces over time.
How to Choose the Right Investment for Your Restaurant
Before deciding where to allocate their budget, restaurant owners should consider their current position and long-term objectives.
Why a Restaurant Website Should Be a Priority
- Reduce Dependence on Marketplace Commissions: Encourage customers to place eligible orders directly through the restaurant’s own ordering channel.
- Build Direct Customer Relationships: Create more opportunities for repeat orders and customer engagement.
- Strengthen Your Brand: Present menus, offers, restaurant information, and ordering options through a dedicated website.
- Greater Brand Control: Showcase your restaurant’s menu, food images, special offers, and brand identity without being restricted by third-party marketplace layouts.
- Manage Orders More Effectively: Choose an ordering system with features that support notifications, menu availability, and order processing.
- Support Table Reservations: Allow customers to book tables online alongside ordering food.
- Build a Long-Term Digital Asset: Develop an online presence that the restaurant can promote through search engines, social media, and its own marketing activities.
The best investment should be based on actual business performance rather than assumptions about which channel is cheaper or more popular.
Wrap Up: choosing the best online ordering Platform for a UK restaurant
For UK restaurant owners, choosing the right restaurant website ordering solution involves more than comparing delivery app fees. Customer convenience, order management, table reservations, and long-term operating costs should all be considered when planning a digital strategy.
Third-party delivery apps can help restaurants reach customers through established marketplaces with heavy commission and low profit. However, developing a direct ordering channel can provide an additional way to manage online sales and encourage repeat business with minimal spending and more profit on your investment.. Combining direct ordering with online table booking also allows restaurants to support takeaway customers and dine-in guests through their digital channels.
Eatbay, a direct restaurant website ordering platform in the UK, offers features designed to support these restaurant operations:
- Direct online ordering platform: Manages collection and delivery orders through the restaurant’s own ordering channel.
- Table booking and reservation: Makes it easier for guests to reserve tables online.
- Order notification: Sends alert notifications through the restaurant manager app when a new order arrives
- Menu availability update: Mark unavailable dishes as out of stock.
- Automatic order printing: support order processing during busy service periods.
- AI-Email Marketing: supports customer engagement and promotes offers, menu updates, and repeat orders through email marketing.
Before investing in a platform, restaurants should assess its features, pricing, integrations, and suitability for daily operations. Monitoring order profitability, repeat purchases, and table reservation activity can also help owners evaluate whether their digital strategy is delivering value.
By bringing direct ordering, table booking, email marketing, and out-of-stock menu management together, restaurants can create a smoother experience for customers while building stronger direct relationships.
Looking to improve your restaurant’s online ordering and table reservation process? Visit GetEatbay to explore a direct ordering platform in the UK designed to support restaurant operations and encourage direct customer orders.
