How We Build You Your Own Ordering App (And Why It Beats Deliveroo)

For years, having your own ordering app was something only the big chains could afford. McDonald's, Domino's, Greggs, they all send you push notifications, take your order in-app, and never pay a penny of commission to anyone, because they own the whole thing.

Independent restaurants were left with one option: rent space on Deliveroo, Uber Eats or Just Eat and hand over 20 to 35 percent of every order. That is no longer the only way. We build independent venues the same kind of app the chains use, for a fraction of what most people expect.

Here is exactly what that looks like.

What we actually build

This is not a template with your logo dropped on top. It is a full ordering platform, branded to your venue, that your customers use to order directly from you. A typical build includes:

• Your own branded app, in your colours, with your menu, your name and your logo. Customers add it to their phone home screen like any other app.
• Ordering for collection and delivery. Customers browse the menu, build their order, pay, and choose to collect or have it delivered.
• Live order tracking. When it is out for delivery, the customer sees where it is, the same experience they get from the big apps.
• Maps and directions for collection, so people can find you without leaving the app.
• Push notifications. You can message every customer directly: a quiet Tuesday offer, a new special, "your order is ready". No middleman, no ad spend, straight to their phone.
• A loyalty scheme built in, so repeat customers get rewarded and keep coming back to you.
• A kitchen view and a driver view. Orders come straight through to a screen in the kitchen; your drivers get their own queue. The whole operation runs through one system.

In short, the same tools the national chains use to cut out the middleman, built for your single venue.

How the build works

We keep it simple, because you have a restaurant to run.

1. We map it out. A quick conversation about your menu, whether you deliver, collect, or both, and how your kitchen runs.
2. We build the platform. We set the whole thing up: your branding, your full menu, ordering, payments, delivery tracking, the kitchen and driver screens, loyalty and push. You do not touch a line of code.
3. We launch it and show your team. We get it live, walk your staff through the kitchen and driver views, and make sure the first orders flow smoothly.
4. We keep it running. Menu changes, tweaks, support, it is all handled. You focus on the food.

The cost, and why it is not close

Here is the part that surprises people. The whole platform is £249 to set up and £99 a month. Zero commission on any order, ever.

Now compare that to the delivery apps, which take a percentage of everything you sell, forever. Say you do £8,000 a month in delivery orders:

That is not a typo. Roughly twenty-nine thousand pounds a year to the delivery app, versus under twelve hundred pounds a year for your own platform. And on your own app, the customer is yours: you have their orders, you can bring them back with a push notification, and you are not competing against every other restaurant inside someone else's marketplace.

Even at a much smaller £3,000 a month in orders, the delivery app takes around £900 a month. Your own app is still £99. The maths only gets more lopsided the busier you get.

"But do people actually use it?"

Yes, when it is done properly. The reason the chains push their own apps so hard is that they work: customers who order direct order more often, spend more, and are far cheaper to keep. The delivery apps know this too, which is exactly why they do not want you to have your own.

The key is that the app has to be genuinely good, fast, clean, and easy to order from, not a clunky afterthought. That is the part we handle. We have already built full ordering platforms with live delivery tracking, kitchen screens and loyalty for hospitality venues, so this is not us learning on your project.

Is it right for you?

It makes the most sense if you already do a decent amount of delivery or collection, or you want to, and you are tired of watching a third of every order disappear. If the delivery apps are already taking more than £99 a month off you, which is a very low bar, your own app pays for itself immediately.

You do not have to leave the delivery apps overnight either. Plenty of venues run both: keep the apps for discovery, and push your regulars to order direct where you keep everything. Every order that moves from their app to yours is money straight back in your pocket.