Direct Ordering App for a Restaurant Chain Exiting Aggregators
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Overview
What we built
A restaurant chain with 14 outlets was paying 25-30% commission on every delivery order and had no relationship with its own customers. We built the apps that brought ordering back in house.
In plain terms: every time a customer ordered delivery from one of the chain's 14 outlets, the order went through a third-party aggregator, and the aggregator kept 25-30% of the bill. The chain never learned who the customer was, could not thank repeat visitors, and had no loyalty programme to bring people back. The aggregators owned the relationship; the restaurants just cooked.
We built native iOS and Android apps that let customers order directly from the chain. The apps talk to the tills in each outlet, track deliveries in real time through a companion app for drivers, reward repeat customers with loyalty points, and send promotions by push notification. Within 5 months, 35% of delivery volume was arriving through the chain's own apps, cutting monthly commission costs by $28,000, and 12,000 customers joined the loyalty programme in the first 3 months.
The Problem
Commission on every delivery order
Delivery had become the chain's growth engine and its margin leak at the same time. Every delivery order across the 14 outlets flowed through third-party aggregators, and each one carried a 25-30% commission, a substantial slice of every order value leaving the business before food costs, staff or rent were even counted.
Worse than the commission was what the chain never received: the customer. Aggregators kept the ordering history, the contact details and the review relationship, so the chain could not recognise a regular, could not win back a lapsed customer and could not run a loyalty programme of any kind. Every marketing pound spent driving demand ultimately deepened the chain's dependence on someone else's platform.
The operational picture was no better. Aggregator orders sat outside the chain's own tills, with no sync into the point of sale, so there was no single view of demand across outlets. Leadership knew direct ordering was the answer, but a first-party channel only works if the experience matches what customers already expect from the big platforms.
Commission on every order
Third-party aggregators took 25-30% of each delivery order across all 14 outlets, a cost that scaled with every success the chain had.
No customer relationship
Ordering history, contact details and preferences stayed with the aggregators, so the chain could not recognise regulars or win back lapsed customers.
No loyalty programme
There was no way to reward repeat business: no points, no perks, and no reason for a customer to choose the chain's own channel over an aggregator.
Orders outside the tills
Delivery orders lived in aggregator systems rather than the chain's point of sale, leaving no unified view of demand across the outlets.
What it was costing them
Every order that arrived through an aggregator surrendered 25-30% of its value and all of its data. The chain was effectively renting its own customers back at a premium, funding platforms that could redirect those customers to a competitor at any moment, with no direct channel through which to promote quieter outlets, new menu items or repeat visits.
The Solution
Native apps for direct ordering
We built native iOS and Android apps around one goal: make ordering directly from the chain at least as easy as ordering through an aggregator. The full ordering flow covers browsing, customisation, payment and delivery, with the apps synced to each outlet's point of sale so orders land in the kitchen the moment they are placed.
Delivery itself stays visible from the moment an order is confirmed. A companion driver app feeds real-time order tracking back to the customer, so the experience matches the live status updates people are used to from the big platforms. A loyalty points engine sits underneath every order, rewarding repeat customers automatically and giving people a genuine reason to order direct.
The push notification system completes the loop. With the customer relationship finally in-house, the chain can promote new items, quieter periods and loyalty rewards straight to the people most likely to respond, instead of paying an aggregator for placement in a crowded marketplace listing.
Key decisions
Native apps on both platforms
We built native iOS and Android apps rather than a wrapped website, because the ordering experience had to feel as fast and polished as the aggregator apps customers already used.
POS sync from day one
Orders flow straight into each outlet's till system, so kitchens work from one queue and no order sits in a separate system waiting to be noticed.
Loyalty built into every order
A points engine runs underneath the ordering flow, so rewards accrue automatically and the direct channel always offers something the aggregators do not.
A companion app for drivers
Real-time order tracking comes from a dedicated driver app, giving customers the live delivery status they expect without depending on any third-party network.
Promotions by push, not placement
The push notification system lets the chain market directly to its own customers, replacing paid visibility inside aggregator marketplaces.
Measurable Impact
What changed after launch
Within 5 months of launch, direct app orders reached 35% of total delivery volume, and monthly commission costs fell by $28,000 on the orders shifted away from aggregators. The loyalty programme enrolled 12,000 users within its first 3 months, giving the chain a customer base it actually owns for the first time.
Quality followed volume: the app holds a 4.7-star average rating on both the App Store and Google Play, which matters because a direct channel only keeps its share if the experience earns it. The chain now sets its own promotions, sees its own demand and rewards its own regulars, with every direct order improving margin rather than eroding it.
Delivery channel
All delivery orders routed through third-party aggregators
Direct app orders at 35% of delivery volume in 5 months
Commission costs
25-30% commission paid on every delivery order
Monthly commission costs down $28,000 on shifted orders
Customer relationship
No customer data, history or loyalty programme
12,000 loyalty members enrolled within 3 months
App experience
No first-party ordering channel at all
4.7-star average rating on both app stores
Headline results
Direct app orders reached 35% of total delivery volume within 5 months
Monthly commission costs reduced by $28,000 on orders shifted away from aggregators
Loyalty program enrolled 12,000 users within the first 3 months
App achieved a 4.7-star average rating on both App Store and Google Play
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