Takeaway Ordering App: Own Your Customers Instead of Paying Commission
A takeaway ordering app for UK restaurants: menus, payments, delivery zones, allergen rules and moving regulars off commission platforms.
A takeaway ordering app lets customers order and pay for collection or delivery directly with your restaurant, under your brand, instead of through a delivery marketplace. Because the order is yours, you keep the customer's details, decide your own offers and avoid paying marketplace commission on those orders, paying only your card processing and running costs. It works best for takeaways with loyal regulars, and you can keep the marketplaces for discovery while moving repeat customers to your own channel.
Key takeaways
- An own-brand ordering app makes most sense for repeat customers; marketplaces still help new customers find you.
- Food orders are physical goods, so Apple and Google rules point you to normal card payments rather than in-app purchase, and no store commission applies to them.
- Allergen information is a legal duty: before the customer buys and again when food is delivered, covering the 14 allergens.
- Delivery zones, minimum order values, prep times and busy-hour controls are the features that protect your kitchen.
- Moving regulars over needs a reason, such as a better price, loyalty reward or faster collection.
Why restaurants want their own ordering app
Delivery marketplaces are good at one thing: putting your menu in front of people who have never heard of you. The trade-off is that every order runs through someone else's platform. You pay commission under your agreement, the customer relationship belongs to the platform, and your regulars see competitors' menus every time they open the app to order from you.
An own-brand app changes that for the orders it captures:
- You keep the margin that would otherwise go in marketplace commission on those orders.
- You own the customer list, with permission to contact them about offers.
- You set the rules: your prices, your delivery radius, your minimum order, your opening hours.
- You control the experience, from menu photos to what the customer sees when they reopen the app.
Before building, look at your marketplace statements and work out how many orders come from repeat customers. If a large share of your orders are regulars, that is the money an own-brand app can move. Our guide to restaurant website design covers the website side of the same strategy.
App, web ordering or both?
An own ordering channel does not have to start as a native app.
| Option | Strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Web ordering on your website | No download needed, works from Google search and social links | Less presence on the customer's phone between orders |
| Installable web app | Icon on the home screen, one codebase, can send push notifications | Less visible than a store listing |
| Native iOS and Android app | Store listing, saved payment, push offers, loyalty built in | Store fees, review process and ongoing updates |
A sensible path is to start with web ordering on the website, then add an app for regulars once the ordering system works. The same back end can serve all three, so the menu and orders are managed once. Our mobile apps service covers the app side, and a shared back end keeps menu changes simple.
Features a takeaway ordering app needs
Menu and ordering
- Categories, items, photos and descriptions, editable by your team without a developer.
- Options and extras: sizes, sauces, spice level, add-ons with prices.
- Meal deals and bundles.
- Item availability switches, so a sold-out dish can be hidden in seconds.
- Allergen information on every item (more on this below).
Collection and delivery
- Delivery zones drawn by postcode or radius, each with its own fee and minimum order.
- Collection with a time slot or "as soon as possible".
- Estimated prep and delivery times that the kitchen can adjust during busy periods.
- A pause button for when the kitchen is overwhelmed.
- Opening hours, including holiday hours and pre-orders for later.
Kitchen and staff side
- A tablet order screen in the kitchen with a sound alert, and order printing.
- Order status updates the customer can see: accepted, preparing, out for delivery, ready to collect.
- Driver details if you run your own drivers.
- Daily reports: orders, takings, popular items, refunds.
Customer side
- Account with saved addresses and reorder of previous orders.
- Saved payment for quick checkout.
- Loyalty points or stamps, and discount codes.
- Push notifications for order updates and, with permission, offers.
Payments: do app stores take a cut of food orders?
No. Apple's App Review Guidelines say that apps selling physical goods or services consumed outside the app must use payment methods other than in-app purchase, such as Apple Pay or card entry. Google's payments policy says Google Play Billing is not required for food delivery. So the food order is paid through your payment provider, and store commission does not apply to it.
You will still pay your payment provider's processing fees, and the app stores' own developer account fees. Our guide to app store fees for UK businesses covers when store commission does and does not apply, and our UK payment gateways guide compares providers.
Offer Apple Pay and Google Pay alongside card entry. Decide whether you will also accept cash on delivery or collection, and make the rule clear at checkout.
An installable web app can go further than many owners expect. In the system we built for PrimePlus, a tuition centre, the parents' app is available as an installable iPhone web app with push notifications, sharing its back end with the office dashboard. A takeaway can use the same approach: order updates and offers by push, without a store listing on day one.
Protecting the kitchen at peak times
The biggest operational risk of direct ordering is a Friday night rush the kitchen cannot handle. Build controls in from the start:
- Order caps per time slot, so collection and delivery slots close when the kitchen is at capacity.
- Adjustable lead times, so staff can push estimated times out by fifteen minutes with one tap when it gets busy.
- Pause ordering for delivery only, collection only, or both.
- Clear messages to customers when times change, rather than silently late orders.
Decide your policy on cash payments too. Card-only ordering removes the float and change problems for drivers, while cash on collection can suit regulars who prefer it. Whichever you choose, say it clearly before checkout.
Allergen information: the legal duty
This is the part of a takeaway app that has to be right. GOV.UK's guidance on food allergies sets out that for takeaways, businesses must give allergen information before the customer buys and again at delivery. Before purchase, it can be in writing on a website or menu, or by phone. At delivery, it must be in writing, such as stickers or a menu, or given in person by the driver. There are 14 allergens businesses must tell customers about.
In an ordering app, that means:
- Allergen details on every menu item, visible before the item is added to the basket.
- Allergens updated whenever a recipe or supplier changes, by the person who knows the recipe.
- A clear way for customers with allergies to contact the restaurant before ordering.
- Order tickets or labels that carry allergen information to the packing station, so it reaches the customer in writing with the food.
Build the allergen data into the menu system itself, not as a separate PDF. With menu and allergens in one place, one update covers both.
Moving regulars off the marketplaces
Customers will not switch just because you ask. Give them a reason, and make the first order easy.
- Price or reward: a lower price than on marketplaces, a first-order discount or loyalty points on every order.
- Convenience: faster collection, saved favourites, one-tap reorder.
- Visibility: a card in every bag with a QR code to your app, a sign at the counter, the link on your Google Business Profile and social pages.
- Staff: ask collection customers if they would like to order direct next time.
Check your marketplace agreements before promoting your own channel in their packaging or pricing. Terms vary, and you do not want to breach a contract you still rely on for new customers.
Keep marketplaces for discovery while your own channel grows. The goal is not to leave them overnight but to shift your repeat orders to the channel where you keep the customer and the margin.
What to plan before you build
Have these ready for your developer:
- Your full menu with options, prices and allergen information.
- A map of your delivery area with fees and minimum orders.
- Kitchen capacity: how many orders per slot you can handle at peak.
- Your payment provider, or a decision on which to use.
- How orders reach the kitchen now: tablet, printer, till.
- Your loyalty and offer ideas.
Also decide who will update the menu and allergens day to day. An ordering system is only as accurate as the person maintaining it.
We built the website for Entrée Steakhouse in Shirley, Solihull, with a reservation request form reached from a Reserve Now button on every page. That project was about bookings rather than takeaway ordering, but it follows the same principle: make the action you want customers to take one tap away.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth building a takeaway app instead of using Just Eat?
Treat it as as well as, not instead of. Marketplaces help new customers find you, while your own app keeps regulars ordering direct, where you keep the customer data and avoid marketplace commission. Look at how many of your orders come from repeat customers; that share is what your own app can win.
Do Apple and Google take commission on food orders in an app?
No. Apple's guidelines say physical goods and services consumed outside the app must be paid with methods such as card entry or Apple Pay rather than in-app purchase, and Google lists food delivery as not needing Play Billing. You pay your payment provider's fees and the app stores' developer account fees.
What allergen information must a takeaway app show?
For takeaway orders, GOV.UK guidance says you must give allergen information before the customer buys, in writing or by phone, and again at delivery, in writing such as stickers or a menu, or in person. It covers the 14 allergens. Show it on each menu item and keep it updated when recipes change.
Can I run my own delivery drivers through the app?
Yes. An own-brand app can assign orders to your drivers, show them delivery addresses and let customers see when their order is on the way. You set the delivery zones, fees and minimum order. If you do not have drivers, offer collection only at first, or use a delivery partner.
How do I get customers to download my takeaway app?
Give a clear reason, such as a first-order discount, loyalty points or lower prices than on marketplaces, and make it easy to find. Put a QR code card in every bag, add the link to your Google Business Profile and social pages, and ask collection customers at the counter.
Take back your repeat orders
Start with the numbers: how many of your orders are from regulars, and what you pay to serve them through marketplaces. If the figure is significant, an own-brand ordering channel can earn its keep. We build ordering apps and web ordering with menus, delivery zones, payments and allergen data managed in one place. Start a project or contact us to talk about your takeaway.
