Online Ordering and Delivery Apps: Which One is Best for your Restaurant?

Online ordering is a game changer for restaurants that offer delivery. Whether you have your own employees to deliver orders, or need a service that includes it’s own fleet of modern food couriers, there are a plethora of options available to you.

But… That’s kind of part of the problem though, isn’t it?

We have option overload when it comes to services for restaurants, and it can make comparison shopping a veritable nightmare.

Furthermore, choosing the right delivery and take out technology can become even MORE enigmatic when many of the major apps do not openly advertise their commission rates or set-up fees.

The lack of pricing information isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it means that you can likely bargain and negotiate for the rates you’re willing to pay on your contract.

There’s more to consider than price though. Hungry and unhappy people tend to hop online and leave reviews, and some of the top apps have been viciously dressed down online by customers for unprofessional delivery practices, incorrect billing, glitchy app behaviour, and food that never arrived at all.

That reflects on your business, so on top of price comparisons (for you AND your customers) we’ll show you the ratings from some review sites for each each app, to give you the best idea of what customers are thinking when they order food through these different systems.

Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the top contenders, what they offer, what they cost, and what your customers might think of them. 

Eat24

Eat 24 is another Yelp progeny. They advertise that they have 35,000 restaurant partners and over one million orders processed each month.

FEATURES

You need to have your own employees to deliver the food, or you can also offer your customers come to pick up their order themselves.

Essentially, your restaurant is hosted on the Eat24 site, and that’s where customers will find your menu and complete orders, which are then sent to your restaurant through a system intended to integrate with your POS system.

Without going into detail, they claim that their online ordering system works with your existing website. What you’re really paying for is market presence on Yelp’s channel.

COST TO RESTAURANT

According to their Terms and Conditions, Eat24 charges restaurant owners 12.50% of net sales attributed to their online delivery app. There is no setup fee, no extra maintenance fees, and there is support included - as well as a tablet to help you run your business with their backend software.

COST TO CUSTOMER

Eat24 is a free service for your customers to use to order delivery or pickup from your restaurant. They can use the website, or there is an app they can choose to download, too.

REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO ORDERED FOOD

The most reviews from customers ordering from a variety of restaurants through Eat24 exist on Google Play, where they have an overall rating of 4.3 out of 36,043 reviews. They also get 3.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon, with 358 reviews in total.

• Enjoyed ordering on the app, liked the simple interface
• App remembers past orders
• Some issues with missing items, or non delivery of orders 
  

eHungry

Next up, we have eHungry, which currently provides services for the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. While they do offer booking services, the true strength in their product is in their online delivery order system.

FEATURES

You can integrate eHungry directly with your current restaurant website, which is a very nice bonus, because customers won’t be navigating away to a site that also lists your competitors.

Not only can you preserve your gorgeous restaurant website, you can choose to receive orders through email, fax, web, text, or direct to a printer.

eHungry also sets you up to receive credit card and other forms of payment online, or let your customers opt to pay at the time of delivery or pickup - and you provide the delivery staff.

You get hooked up you with online ordering console software, which you can customize to suit your menu. It’s equipped with bonuses like the ability to create coupon codes, and can recommend relevant items while customers are making orders.

Lastly, they provide consumer data in the form of reporting and statistics so you can make informed choices for your restaurant about peak hours and favourite dishes, for example.

COST TO RESTAURANT

eHungry gets bonus points for clarity, as they openly advertise their pricing structure, and it’s incredibly simple: 1.9% per order (USD) as part of a pay-as-you-go service. Even better, there are no contracts or setup charges.

The free trial is actually 30 days long, and if you cancel within 30 days you won’t be charged at all.

COST TO CUSTOMER

There is no cost imposed on your customers to order with eHungry, and you determine the delivery cost independently. Customers order directly off your website using their integration, so you’re in control.

REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO ORDERED FOOD

There are no reviews of eHungry at this time online from restaurant patrons, but that’s because there is no eHungry branding imposed on your ordering system whatsoever. The online ordering happens directly under your brand name, so reviews will be about your restaurant and your delivery staff.

foodora

A subsidiary of Delivery Hero, foodora operates in 10 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. Today, they partner with over 150,000+ restaurants.

FEATURES

As an on demand delivery service platform, foodora provides couriers on your behalf.

Their model is a departure from the traditional idea of delivery, as most of their riders deliver by bike (although a few do use a scooter or car).

Customers can choose to order food for delivery from a restaurant within a 2 kilometer radius of their location using the app, and they stand by their guarantee that all orders will be picked up within 30 minutes of the order being placed.

This green, earth friendly approach to food delivery is also human-centric for your kitchen staff - foodora’s website says you can hit pause on receiving delivery orders if they are overwhelmed or too busy with in-house guests.

foodora (like deliveroo, later in this article) has come under some pressure and scrutiny for the status and rights of their contract employees. It is an ongoing matter as they continue to expand.

COST TO RESTAURANT

foodora does not advertise their rates on their website, but as of 2017 you can expect them to take roughly 30% of each order. They send you the proceeds from your orders every two weeks, and provide detailed insights on your performance.

COST TO CUSTOMER

The delivery fee is $3.50 for orders above $30.00, and $4.50 for for orders under $30.00. Customers must pay by credit card, or a PayPal account. All tips go to the Foodora couriers, which is nice.

REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO ORDERED FOOD

Patrons who used Foodora to order from various restaurants rated the service an overall 3.7 out of 5 stars on Google Play out of 7,285 total reviews. They have 21 reviews on TrustPilot, and an overall score of 2.7 out of 10. 

• People were happy with access to a variety of foods and the app
• Liked eco-friendly/green delivery
• Long delays for refunds, app glitches
  

UberEATS

UberEATS is the natural offshoot of controversial transportation / shuttle app, Uber. Borrowing their original model, the app works in dozens of cities around the world where Uber is available, and UberEATS will deliver food from 10am to 10pm.

FEATURES:Customers can track their orders in real time (like the original Uber app), and UberEATS promises delivery in 30 minutes or less.

UberEATS promises they will include your restaurant in large customer-facing brand campaigns, in emails to Uber’s rider base, and social media posts, but the frequency of this is not set out specifically. Still, this is appealing for restaurants without a budget for broader marketing.

COST TO RESTAURANT:UberEATS keeps a commission from the total of each bill, which generally ranges from 25-35% depending on the region.

COST TO CUSTOMER:Customers pay varying fees per delivery (usually around $5), but can be charged extra with “busy area” fees, depending on their location.

REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO ORDERED FOODUberEATS have a 0.8 / 10 overall on TrustPilot based on 145 reviews, and 1.3 stars out of 5 based on 220 reviews on Product Review.

• Convenience of getting delivery, and tracking the delivery 
• Orders that are never delivered, delivered late, or cold
• Bad service complaints are the norm 
  

deliveroo

Founded in 2013, deliveroo serves 84 cities in the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Australia, Singapore, U.A.E and Hong Kong. They deliver food by bicycle, motorcycle and car from noon to 11pm.

The company has faced many controversies, most notably in August 2016 when drivers held a day-long strike in London after the company announced a new pay plan for drivers that would result in them earning much less than the minimum wage.

deliveroo later abandoned their proposed plan, however they are still facing legal action, for forcing their delivery employees to wear uniforms, which implies worker status and not contract status in the UK. Employees are still seeking union representation.

FEATURES

deliveroo does not advertise any features to the public, but it can be assumed they will provide some sort of e-ticket system to alert you of an order and pickup.

COST TO THE RESTAURANT

deliveroo does not advertise their rates, but charges a commission that is roughly 10% of the order.

COST TO THE CUSTOMER

The customer pays an unspecified delivery fee to deliveroo. The company does offer a customer loyalty program called deliveroo Plus, which entitles users to subscribe on a monthly basis to receive free delivery.

REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO ORDERED FOOD

On TrustPilot, deliveroo has an overall score of 4.1 out of 10, based on 1,852 reviews.

• Liked getting discount codes
• Polite delivery riders, prompt delivery
• Frustration over cold food, food that is late
  

Just Eat

Just Eat is in 13 countries worldwide, with 27,000 restaurants, making it the UK’s leading online delivery service. They boast 8 million visits to their website and 4 million customer orders each month.

FEATURES

Just Eat provides partner restaurants with a Just Eat terminal to receive orders, and Just Eat creates the website with your restaurant's branded menu in their platform on your behalf for customers to order from.

Just Eat also invests in diverse marketing, including prime time TV ads, to ensure the restaurants subscribing to their services are seeing an influx of orders. 

COST TO RESTAURANT

The sign up fee is £699 and you will pay a 14% commission on each order. 

COST TO CUSTOMER

There is no cost to your customers to use the Just Eat services.

REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO ORDERED FOOD

Just Eat has an average 5.4 out of 10 on TrustPilot, out of 4,385 reviews.

• Like the variety of restaurants
• Like the app, easy to use
• Orders taken from restaurants that were closed, food arriving late
  

SUMMARY

Choosing the delivery service that is right for you will come down to your needs and your restaurant website. Do you need a service with delivery drivers provided for you, or do you want to hire your own staff? Can your kitchen meet the capacity needed to make a more expensive service worthwhile? Are you interested in an eco-friendly solution, or do you want deliveries to accommodate long distance orders?

Whatever you choose, having the option for your customers to order food for delivery is bound to grow your restaurant base. After all, who doesn’t want to stay home in their PJ’s, get a bit lazy, and order in every once in a while? 

Start building your own beautiful restaurant website today!