Online ordering and delivery

Online ordering touches your menu, your kitchen, your drivers and your margin at once. The setup that works depends on how much of your business is takeout and delivery, and how much of it is regulars who'd happily order from you directly. This guide covers the costs, the order flow and the settings that matter.

Your own ordering page versus marketplaces

What marketplaces charge

Figures are from each company's own US merchant pricing page, checked October 1, 2026. They change, and card processing fees are charged on top; check the current page before you sign up.

Commission-free ordering from POS vendors

Many POS vendors include or sell their own online ordering. Several describe it as commission-free, checked October 1, 2026:

• SpotOn: "SpotOn Order is a commission-free online ordering system that connects to SpotOn POS."
• TouchBistro: "When customers order directly from you, you pay $0 in commission fees."
• Square: orders on its ordering site come "without marketplace commissions."
• Clover: lists "No-fee online ordering" with pickup and delivery on its restaurant bundles.
• KwickPOS: describes its online ordering as "Zero Commission", says orders print straight to the kitchen, and connects delivery apps through Deliverect.

"Commission-free" doesn't mean free: card processing still applies, and some vendors charge a monthly fee for the ordering product. Compare the total.

A restaurant takes 400 delivery orders a month at a $30 average. On a 25% marketplace commission, that is 400 × $30 × 25% = $3,000 a month in commission. If 100 of those orders came through its own page instead, at about 3% card processing, those 100 orders would cost about $90 instead of $750.

Getting orders into the kitchen

The biggest operational difference between setups is whether orders arrive in the POS or on a separate tablet:

• Integrated: marketplace and website orders appear in the POS and print or show in the kitchen like any other order, with modifiers intact.
• Tablet per app: each marketplace has its own tablet, and someone retypes orders into the POS. That costs time at the worst moments and introduces mistakes.

Ask each vendor which marketplaces connect directly, which need a third-party connector, and what that costs.

Settings that matter

• One menu everywhere. Change a price or mark an item sold out once, and it updates on every channel.
• Prep time and throttling. Quoted pickup times that lengthen when the kitchen is busy, or a limit on orders per time slot.
• A pause button for online ordering when the kitchen is slammed.
• Separate online prices, if you price marketplace items higher to cover commission (many restaurants do; check each marketplace's terms).
• Scheduled orders, for guests ordering ahead for later.

Delivery: your drivers or someone else's

• Your own drivers: you control the experience and keep the delivery fee, but you manage dispatch, insurance and pay. See the pizzeria guide for zones and dispatch.
• On-demand delivery services: orders from your own page delivered by a third-party driver for a per-delivery fee.
• Marketplace delivery: the app's drivers, included in the commission on most plans.

Phone orders

Many restaurants still take a large share of takeout by phone. A phone order should be entered in the POS as fast as a counter order, with the caller's number and name saved for next time. Some restaurants use AI phone answering to take orders when staff are busy; if you consider it, check that orders reach the POS directly and that the system confirms the order back to the caller.

Bringing guests to your own page

• Link your ordering page from your website and your Google Business Profile.
• Print the ordering link or a QR code on receipts and in takeout bags.
• Offer a reason to order direct, such as loyalty points, which marketplace orders don't earn.

What to ask in a demo

1. What does online ordering cost per month, and is there any per-order fee?
2. Which delivery marketplaces send orders straight into the POS?
3. Can I pause online orders and set prep times by daypart?
4. Do online orders keep the same modifiers and kitchen routing?