Your own online ordering website or delivery platform: What suits your restaurant?
A delivery platform and your own online ordering website solve different tasks. The clear recommendation: Use Lieferando specifically as a reach and new customer channel and at the same time set up your own online ordering website as a direct route for well-known guests and follow-up orders. In this way, the portal can tap into new demand, while in the direct channel more profit margin can remain after deducting your own costs.
The short answer: There are two different sales models
A delivery platform and your own online ordering website are not interchangeable software products. A delivery platform is a marketplace: guests search between many restaurants, compare offers and order within the platform. Your own online ordering website is a direct channel of the restaurant: guests come to the shop via the website, the Google company profile, a QR code or a known address.
The right decision is therefore rarely a blanket “portal or shop”. First, it must be clarified which task is missing. Does the restaurant need additional visibility among people who don't yet know it? Then a delivery platform can help. Do well-known guests already order regularly but can't find a direct way? Then having your own shop becomes more important. If drivers are missing, delivery logistics must be solved independently of the order channel.
The clear recommendation of this guide is therefore: use Lieferando specifically as a reach and new customer channel and at the same time set up your own online ordering website as a direct channel for well-known guests and follow-up orders. The portal takes over the discovery. Your own shop takes over the short route to the next order under the restaurant brand.
| Decision criterion | Delivery portal | Own online ordering website |
|---|---|---|
| Findability | within an existing marketplace | via your own website, Google profile and other contact points |
| Cost model | often dependent on sales according to contract | fixed system price or own operating model |
| Delivery | itself or, depending on the portal, as a logistics service | yourself, externally or collection only |
| Brand appearance | Restaurant profile among other offers | the restaurant's own appearance |
| Reappointment | in the environment and order history of the platform | via the direct restaurant channel |
| Operational responsibility | depending on the portal model booked | Restaurant organizes shop, availability and handover process |
When is there more to be said for a delivery platform?
A delivery platform is particularly suitable when a restaurant needs reach in an existing marketplace. Lieferando describes its partner service as a commission-based model with no registration fee. The platform organizes restaurant listings and recommendations based on various signals, including distance, order history, reviews, operational performance and paid sponsorship services.
That doesn't mean visibility is guaranteed. A restaurant appears in a competitive environment and its position may vary depending on guest, address, timing and platform factors. The benefit is still that people are already looking there with specific intentions to order.
There is more to be said for a delivery platform if:
- the restaurant is new or has little demand online,
- Guests often search by cuisine or delivery option instead of the restaurant name,
- the platform demonstrably brings additional orders,
- external delivery logistics is required and is offered in the area,
- the restaurant can bear commission and additional costs in its calculation.
Anyone who decides on a portal should not only consider the sales generated. The decisive factor is the contribution margin based on commission, cost of goods sold, packaging, own or included delivery and possible additional services.
When is there more to be said for having your own online ordering website?
Your own online ordering website is suitable if there is already demand for the specific restaurant and guests need a direct ordering method. This is especially true for regular guests, people picking up something, people from the local area and users who search for the restaurant name on Google.
Google allows businesses to manage ordering, pickup, and delivery links in the business profile and set a preferred link. This allows a restaurant to place its own shop at a contact point where well-known guests are already looking for opening times, menu or directions. The Guide to the order link in the Google company profile explains this process in detail.
There is more to be said for having your own shop if:
- many guests already know the restaurant by name,
- Website and Google profile can be found regularly,
- the restaurant wants to manage its brand presence itself,
- Delivery, collection and order acceptance can be organized internally,
- a calculable system price that better fits the order volume,
- a reliable, direct route for re-orders should be established.
However, your own shop does not automatically generate visitors. A hidden link or an outdated website is not enough. The shop must be visible, mobile-friendly and up-to-date in terms of opening times, menu, delivery area and payment methods.
How are the costs fairly compared?
A fair comparison compares full channel costs. A portal commission cannot only be compared to a shop's monthly fee if delivery is included on one side and not on the other. Conversely, a fixed shop price may not be considered a complete cost estimate if payment providers, marketing and your own drivers are missing.
For the delivery platform, the invoice includes at least:
- sales-dependent commission according to the contract,
- own delivery costs or booked platform logistics,
- optional placement and promotion,
- Packaging and additional personnel costs,
- other contractual cost items.
The invoice for your own shop includes at least:
- monthly system price and setup,
- Payment provider fees,
- own or external delivery costs,
- Website and marketing effort,
- Maintain menu, availability and touchpoints.
The Lieferando cost guide with editable calculator uses the publicly documented reference values of 14 percent for our own delivery and 30 percent with Lieferando logistics. The specific portal contract remains relevant. For a general system comparison, the shows Guide to ordering system costs, which one-off, fixed and variable costs should be recorded separately.
Which order is economical via which channel?
A monthly comparison of portal commission and shop fee is not enough to make a decision. A uniform sewer invoice for each order is more meaningful. It shows whether a portal order, a direct delivery or a direct collection makes a positive contribution to the operation after the costs incurred immediately.
The same calculation logic should be used for each order type:
- Enter net order value after sales tax.
- Assign sales-based commission and payment fees.
- Deduct the cost of goods and packaging for the specific order.
- Consider variable working hours for preparation, picking and handover.
- Include your own driver, vehicle and tour costs or external delivery costs.
- Attribute discounts, refunds, complaints and paid placement to the originating channel.
The result is a channel-related contribution margin according to a predetermined internal definition. The monthly fixed costs of the channel are then deducted, such as shop fees, fixed marketing costs or technology exclusively assigned to this channel. This creates a channel result before general operating costs.
Example invoice for an order over 30 euros
The following example calculation is based on the calculation logic of the GastroInsider article. A gross order value of 30 euros, a simplified net order value of 28.04 euros with 7 percent sales tax and a cost of goods sold of 30 percent of the net order value are assumed. The commission rates of 14 and 30 percent are also applied to the net order value in this example. All visible intermediate steps are rounded to cents.
| calculation step | Portal with own delivery: 14% | Portal with platform logistics: 30% |
|---|---|---|
| Order value gross | 30.00 euros | 30.00 euros |
| Order value net | 28.04 euros | 28.04 euros |
| minus portal commission | −3.93 euros | −8.41 euros |
| minus cost of goods sold, assumed 30% | −8.41 euros | −8.41 euros |
| Contribution margin I | 15.70 euros | 11.22 euros |
In this example, the difference is 4.48 euros per order. That's not the win yet. In the model with own delivery, driver, vehicle and tour costs are missing. For both models, packaging, variable kitchen work, energy, complaints and other attributable costs must also be taken into account. Only then can it be assessed what the order actually contributes to the operating result.
The calculation is a calculation example and not a profit forecast. The values change in the case of mixed shopping carts, drinks, different use of goods or another contractual commission basis. The decisive factors are your own Lieferando billing, the actual costs of the restaurant and the tax classification of the specific turnover.
For the monthly evaluation, the contribution margins of all orders for a channel are added together and its fixed monthly costs are then deducted. Rent, administration and other general fixed costs do not disappear as a result; they are then considered at the operational level. What is particularly important is that both channels are compared according to the same logic and not with different complete cost blocks.
A sensible comparison also separates delivery and collection. A direct pickup can look economically different than a direct delivery with your own drivers. Likewise, a portal model with external logistics is not directly comparable to a shop without delivery costs included. General threshold values for order volume or use of goods do not replace this company-specific invoice.
Delivery and ordering channel must be decided separately
The online ordering website accepts an order. It does not automatically replace drivers, vehicles or route planning. A restaurant can operate its own shop with its own delivery, use an external courier service or offer collection only.
A delivery platform can also offer different models. In the official Lieferando fact sheet, your own delivery and additional Lieferando logistics are separated. This distinction explains a significant part of the cost difference between models.
Before making a channel decision, four operational questions should be answered:
- Are there enough drivers at the relevant times?
- Which orders can realistically be offered for collection?
- Which delivery areas and travel times are economically viable?
- Who responds in the event of delays, queries or rejected orders?
A portal with logistics can be suitable if exactly this delivery capacity is missing. Your own shop can be suitable if the logistics are already working or collection is the focus. Technology alone does not answer this question.
Which dishes actually fit into the delivery channel?
The decision not only affects the ordering method, but also the range of products offered. A dish can be well priced in a restaurant and still be unsuitable for delivery if packaging, additional labor or loss of quality degrades the contribution margin and the guest experience.
Each dish on the delivery menu should therefore be checked using five questions:
- Does the quality remain stable over the realistic transport time?
- Does the selling price cover cost of goods sold, packaging and channel-dependent costs?
- Can the kitchen produce the dish reliably even during peak times?
- Can variants and extras be clearly represented in the ordering process?
- How often do packaging, transport or assembly lead to complaints?
A test run with real packaging and a typical delivery route is more meaningful than an estimate at the kitchen table. The restaurant and guest should then rate temperature, consistency, completeness and presentation. Dishes with recurring issues can be adjusted, offered for pickup only, or removed from the delivery menu.
A smaller delivery card is not automatically better. However, it can make sense if it can be proven to reduce errors, stabilize production during peak times and only contain dishes that can be transported. Real kitchen and complaint data should be used for this decision instead of blanket industry lists.
Reach is not the same as customer retention
Marketplace reach helps show up in a list of available restaurants. A direct channel helps guests find a restaurant they already know. Both tasks can be important for the same operation.
In its 2023 investigation, the Federal Cartel Office found that competition between intermediary services takes place not only through price, but also through platform and service differentiation. In practice, this means that the value of a portal cannot be reduced solely to its commission. Likewise, the value of your own shop should not be measured solely by its monthly fee.
If you want to guide well-known guests into your own ordering channel, you must first eliminate friction. Website, Google profile and shop need the same current status. The guide Why regular customers continue to order via Lieferando shows how habit, lack of visibility and an unclear process are examined.
Contact details from a portal order are not automatic permission for advertising. Newsletters, SMS and other direct advertising require a suitable legal basis, transparent information and, if necessary, consent. The change to your own channel must not be forced through unauthorized use of third-party order data.
Decision matrix based on initial situation
The following matrix does not name an artificial overall winner. It assigns the initial situation to a likely appropriate next step.
| Initial location of the restaurant | Probably a sensible next step | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New company without its own online reach | Test the portal and build your own website in parallel | Marketplace can create initial visibility; Your own appearance prevents permanent dependence on just one point of contact |
| Established business with many name searches | Visibly prioritize your own shop | Well-known guests do not need a marketplace to discover, but rather a short, direct route |
| No own delivery fleet | Portal model with logistics or external courier service | An online ordering website alone does not solve the driver problem |
| Own drivers and functioning delivery | Calculate your own shop economically against a self-delivery platform model | The logistics service already exists and does not need to be evaluated twice |
| Strong pickup rate | Check your own shop for pre-order and collection | Handover and capacity remain controllable in the restaurant |
| Portal is proven to bring new guests | Maintain portal, add direct channel | both channels fulfill different tasks |
| Well-known guests mostly order via the portal | Improve direct flow on website and Google first | Before discounts or shutdowns, your own route must be discoverable and reliable |
| Lots of orders, but weak contribution margin | Evaluate channel costs and delivery menu per order | Sales alone do not show whether the ordering method works economically |
| Frequent complaints after delivery | Test the assortment, packaging and handover separately | the cause may lie in the dish or process and not in the ordering channel itself |
| Team is already overloaded with online orders | first stabilize operations and capacity | an additional channel increases otherwise existing process problems |
Why Lieferando and GastroSprint should always be used in parallel
The clear recommendation is permanent parallel operation. Lieferando takes on the role of reach and new customer channel: guests discover restaurants there that they did not know before. The GastroSprint online ordering website takes over the direct route for follow-up orders as soon as the guest knows the restaurant and wants to specifically order again.
This distribution of roles should be established from the start:
- Use Lieferando for new demand: The restaurant remains visible in the marketplace and can reach people with specific intentions to order.
- Make GastroSprint visible as a direct channel: Website, Google company profile and other contact points lead directly to the online ordering website.
- Enable follow-up orders directly: Known guests receive an easy way to order under the restaurant brand without having to search the marketplace again.
- Aim for more contribution margin in the direct channel: There is no percentage portal commission in your own shop; System price, payment fees and delivery costs remain to be included in full.
Lieferando and GastroSprint are therefore not mutual substitute products. Lieferando gains reach and potential new customers. GastroSprint makes the restaurant available for the next direct order. The Lieferando alternative for restaurants shows how this own ordering channel is set up on the product side.
What does GastroSprint offer in this comparison?
GastroSprint is not a delivery marketplace and does not provide an external delivery fleet. GastroSprint Direkt offers its own online ordering website from 64 euros net per month. Delivery and collection, delivery zones, minimum order values, delivery costs, online payment via Mollie Connect with credit card and PayPal as well as automatic online payment processing can be set up in the approved product scope.
GastroSprint Complete connects the restaurant website, online ordering website and own restaurant app. This can be suitable if you want to build not just a shop, but a complete direct channel. The current services and prices are on the page GastroSprint plans. The Restaurant online ordering system overview explains the operational process from the menu to order acceptance.
This product information does not change the channel strategy: a restaurant can supplement a direct channel and continue to use a delivery platform in parallel. The actual range, the delivery organization, the contract and the economic viability of the individual company remain decisive.
Conclusion: Lieferando for new customers, own online ordering website for follow-up orders
The clear recommendation is not a complete change overnight. Lieferando should be used where the marketplace gives the restaurant additional reach and reaches new guests. The portal should therefore be evaluated like a paid new customer channel: The commission is not only paid for the ordering technology, but also for visibility and, if necessary, delivery logistics.
At the same time, every restaurant should set up its own clearly visible online ordering website. As soon as a guest knows the restaurant and wants to specifically order again, he or she does not need to take another detour through a marketplace. The website, Google company profile and other contact points should therefore lead directly to the online ordering website.
In the direct channel, the percentage portal commission does not apply. After deducting the system price, payment fees, marketing and own or external delivery, more profit margin can remain in the restaurant for subsequent orders. The example calculation also shows why the specific advantage must be checked against the real costs of operation.
The recommended distribution of roles is therefore clear:
- Delivery address: Reach, discoverability and acquisition of new guests.
- Own online ordering website: direct ordering channel for well-known guests and more economical follow-up orders.
- Delivery organization: calculate separately, regardless of which channel the order is received through.
Lieferando provides the first contact. Your own online ordering website turns this into a permanently accessible direct channel under the restaurant brand.
This shows you how to invite guests to place your next direct order Practical plan for customer migration from Lieferando and Wolt: from the tested ordering method to permitted contact points to the example invoice.
Frequently asked questions
Is your own online ordering website fundamentally better than a delivery platform?
Not for every task. The clear recommendation is to use a delivery platform specifically for additional reach and new customers and to set up your own online ordering website as a direct channel for well-known guests and follow-up orders. Both channels therefore take on different roles.
Can a restaurant use a delivery platform and its own shop at the same time?
Yes. Parallel use can make sense if the portal provides additional reach and your own shop creates a direct path for well-known guests. Costs, orders and operational effort should be evaluated separately for both channels.
Which key figure shows whether an ordering channel is worthwhile?
It is helpful to have a contribution margin that is calculated uniformly for each channel: net order value minus the costs directly incurred by the order. Depending on the company, these include commission or system costs, payment fees, cost of goods sold, packaging, variable personnel costs, delivery, discounts and refunds.
Does your own online ordering website need its own delivery fleet?
The shop itself does not deliver. The restaurant must arrange delivery with its own drivers, an external service or collection only. Depending on the model, a delivery platform can also take over delivery.
How do guests find their own online ordering website?
The store should be prominently linked to the restaurant website, Google business profile, and controllable touchpoints. Google allows businesses to add appropriate order links and set a preferred link.
Can contact details from portal orders be used for advertising?
Processing an order does not automatically constitute consent to advertising. Before newsletters, SMS or other direct advertising, the legal basis, required consent, information obligations and the possibility of objection must be checked.
Sources and product basis
- Lieferando: Partner registration GermanyOfficial partner page about the commission-based model, the lack of registration fees and the marketplace services offered by Lieferando.Retrieved on
- Lieferando: Fact Sheet Restaurant Services GermanyOfficial reference for model separation: 14 percent with own delivery and 30 percent with Lieferando logistics.Retrieved on
- Lieferando: placement and recommendation systemsDiscusses marketplace placement factors such as distance, order history, reviews, operational performance, and paid sponsorship services.Retrieved on
- Google: Manage local business linksOfficial instructions for adding and prioritizing order, pickup and delivery links in the Google business profile.Retrieved on
- Federal Cartel Office: Review of a Lieferando best price clauseOfficial classification of platform and service differentiation as well as the price parity clause examined in 2023.Retrieved on
- Data Protection Conference: Guidance on direct advertisingOfficial guidance on legal bases, consent, information and objection when using personal data for commercial purposes.Retrieved on
- GastroSprint: prices and plansPrimary source for GastroSprint Direkt from 64 euros net per month and the available Complete and Growth plans.Retrieved on
- GastroInsider: Making delivery platforms profitableEditorial impulse for sewer billing, delivery card checking and parallel strategy; The success rates, threshold values and case numbers mentioned were not adopted as generally valid evidence.Retrieved on
