The fastest way to get direct orders is to build a frictionless ordering path for your customers: a live web storefront, QR codes on every surface they touch, and a phone line that answers every call. Restaurants that shift even 20% of their third-party delivery volume to direct orders typically recover $8,000-$15,000 in annual margin. The infrastructure to do it costs a fraction of what the commissions were taking.
The Commission Math Every Operator Knows but Ignores
DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub charge 25-30% commission on every order they route to your restaurant. According to DoorDash’s own merchant documentation, standard partnership plans run from 15% (basic listing) up to 30% for their “Premier” tier, which most restaurants are pushed toward because it includes marketing placement (DoorDash merchant pricing).
On a $40 ticket, you’re handing over $10-$12 before you pay for food, labor, or overhead. Run that across 20 delivery orders a day and you’re surrendering $200-$240 per day, or $72,000-$87,000 per year, to a logistics company.
Most operators know this number. What they don’t have is a concrete plan for pulling customers off those platforms without losing the orders entirely.
The National Restaurant Association’s 2023 State of the Industry report found that off-premises dining (delivery and takeout) now represents more than 40% of restaurant sales on average. That’s a massive share of your revenue running through a channel you don’t control and can’t afford to abandon overnight. The solution isn’t to quit the platforms cold. It’s to build a parallel direct channel so you gradually become less dependent on them.
Here is how to do it in five steps.
Step 1: Get a Web Storefront Live Before You Do Anything Else
You cannot direct customers anywhere without a destination. This is the step most operators delay because they assume it requires a developer, a custom build, or weeks of work. It doesn’t.
Tools like OrdrsAI’s instant storefront builder let you enter your business name and menu and have a working online ordering page live in about 60 seconds. No developer. No contract. Stripe checkout built in so you keep full control of your payment processing.
What a functional direct storefront needs:
- Mobile-first design. The majority of food orders now come from phones, not desktops. If your storefront is hard to use on a phone, most of your potential direct customers won’t complete an order.
- Clean menu with photos where possible. Images increase average order size. Even basic phone photos are better than no photos.
- Standard checkout. Stripe charges 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction. That is a fraction of a 28% platform commission.
- Fast load time. Every additional second of load time drops conversion rates by roughly 7% according to web performance research.
Your storefront URL is the hub for every tactic that follows. Get it live first. Everything else in this list points to it.
Step 2: Put QR Codes on Everything Customers Touch
QR codes are the bridge between a customer physically in front of you and a direct order placed on your terms. Most restaurants treat QR codes as a novelty. The operators running strong direct channels treat them as infrastructure.
Where to place them:
- Every table and booth (table tent cards or printed inserts)
- Your front counter and host stand
- On every to-go bag
- On paper receipts (printed or stamped)
- Your front window or door
- Your email newsletters and loyalty messages
- Your Google Business Profile post (free, drives local search traffic to your ordering page)
The code should link directly to your ordering page. Not your homepage, not a PDF menu, not a link tree. One tap, lands on the order page, places the order. Each extra click between the QR code and checkout loses customers.
Print cost for 50 table tent cards with your QR code is $15-40 at any local shop. A roll of QR code stickers for bags runs about $12 online. The ROI on this investment is almost impossible to beat.
Step 3: Handle Every Inbound Phone Call
Phone is an underrated direct order channel, and most restaurants handle it badly. Someone misses the call during rush. Someone writes down the order wrong. The caller goes to voicemail and opens DoorDash instead.
The average restaurant phone order runs $22-28. If you miss five calls a day, that is $40,000-$51,000 in annual revenue that never materialized. If those callers go to a platform instead, you still lose 25-30% commission on the same order. The loss is real either way. [internal: C2 — the true cost of missed restaurant phone calls]
Two options:
Option A: Dedicated phone coverage during peak hours. Assign one person during lunch and dinner whose only job is to handle the phone. This works in larger operations but breaks down the moment that person is pulled to the floor, calls in sick, or goes on a break during the dinner rush.
Option B: AI phone intake. A system like OrdrsAI’s AI cognitive host answers every call, takes the order by voice, reads it back to confirm, and routes it to your kitchen display. It costs 5-10 cents per call. It works after hours, on holidays, and during every rush simultaneously. [internal: A1 — AI phone ordering for restaurants]
Phone orders placed directly to your business skip all platform fees. They land in your revenue at full margin, regardless of when the call comes in.
Step 4: Build an Email List and Use It
Every customer who orders directly from you is a customer you can reach again without paying a platform to do it. Email remains one of the highest-ROI channels in food service. Mailchimp’s industry benchmark data shows food and beverage emails averaging 19-22% open rates, which is above the cross-industry average of around 17%.
A customer who has ordered from you three times directly and is on your email list is worth ten times more in lifetime value than a customer who orders through DoorDash three times. You have their contact. You can bring them back.
How to collect emails:
- Opt-in at checkout on your direct ordering page (check a box, get your order)
- Paper sign-up card at the counter with a small incentive ($1 off next order)
- Receipt footer: “Join our list for weekly specials”
- Post-order follow-up text with a subscribe link
What to send:
- Weekly specials and new menu items
- “Order direct and skip the platform fee” messaging (if you pass along savings)
- Loyalty rewards tied to direct ordering milestones
- Seasonal promotions available only to direct customers
One email per week is plenty. Even a monthly message with a direct order link will move volume over time. The list compounds. A 500-person list behaves very differently than a 50-person list.
Step 5: Give Customers a Reason That Works Only on Direct
The cleanest lever for moving customers off DoorDash is to give them something they cannot get through DoorDash. Loyalty rewards tied to direct ordering are the most effective version of this.
You do not need a complicated points system. A simple structure works:
- Every 10th direct order gets $5 off
- Free item after 5 direct orders
- Early access to specials for direct-list customers
- A small discount that is visible on your order page (“$1 off when you order directly”)
Some POS systems and direct ordering platforms support basic loyalty tracking. If yours doesn’t, tracking through email list segments works: customers who have placed 5+ orders are tagged in your email system and receive a reward message.
The framing that converts: “Skip the delivery fee. Earn rewards.” That message addresses the real reason customers use platforms (convenience, familiarity) and gives them a concrete reason to change behavior.
What This System Looks Like After 6-12 Months
| Channel | Before System | After 6-12 Months |
|---|---|---|
| Third-party app orders | 80% of delivery volume | 45% of delivery volume |
| Direct web orders | Minimal or none | 35% of delivery volume |
| Direct phone orders | Inconsistent, often lost | 20% of delivery volume, all captured |
| Commission paid per delivery order | 25-30% | 0% on direct orders |
| Monthly email list size | None | 400-900 customers |
| Annual commission spend | $36,000-$50,000 (at $10K/mo delivery) | $18,000-$25,000 |
The channel split takes time to move. Customers have habits. The platforms are easy and familiar. But the math on even a partial shift is significant: moving 35% of your delivery volume from 28% commission to zero on $15,000/month in total delivery orders saves $1,575 per month, $18,900 per year, without changing a single thing about your food or service.
The Platform Dependency Problem
One point worth naming directly: the goal is not to quit third-party platforms. The goal is to reduce your dependency on them so you have leverage when they change their terms, and they will change their terms.
DoorDash has changed commission structures, modified ranking algorithms, and expanded DashPass in ways that cut into restaurant margins. Operators had no recourse. A restaurant with zero direct ordering infrastructure accepts whatever terms it gets offered, because it has no alternative.
The leverage question is worth sitting with. When a platform adjusts its fee structure or deprioritizes your listing in search results, what options do you have? If all your delivery volume runs through that platform, the answer is none. You absorb the change and move on.
A restaurant with a working direct channel, an email list of 600 customers, and phone intake that captures every order has real options. It can pull back its platform presence, run promotions that reward direct customers, or exit a platform entirely when the math stops working in its favor. That is a fundamentally different position to operate from.
Third-party platforms are not your adversaries. They bring customers you might not reach otherwise, and that has genuine value. The problem is exclusive dependence, not the platforms themselves. When one company controls your access to your own customers, sets the price of that access, and can change those terms unilaterally, you are not running an independent business. You are a tenant paying rent.
Building a direct channel changes that equation. It does not require you to abandon the platforms. It requires you to stop treating them as your only option.
External Validation: What the Research Shows
Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research has documented that restaurants operating multiple ordering channels (direct plus third-party) show higher revenue stability than single-channel operations. That stability comes from a concrete structural difference: when one channel underperforms or changes its terms, the others absorb the impact. Restaurants that depend on a single platform absorb the full effect of every policy change, algorithm update, or fee increase that platform decides to make. The research confirms what experienced operators already understand from running their businesses: channel diversification gives you control over your own revenue in a way that single-channel dependence does not.
BrightLocal’s consumer research on local business behavior found that 76% of consumers who find a local business online visit or contact it within 24 hours. That figure matters for how you set up your digital presence. A direct ordering page linked from your Google Business Profile sits in the path of customers who are already looking for you, already intent on ordering, and ready to act. When that link goes to your own storefront instead of a third-party platform, you capture the full value of that transaction. No commission leaves your revenue. The customer relationship stays with you. That same customer can receive your next email, your next promotion, and your next loyalty reward, none of which a delivery platform will facilitate on your behalf.
FAQ
How long does it take to build a direct ordering channel from scratch?
You can have a storefront live and QR codes printed within a week. Building meaningful volume through direct channels typically takes 2-4 months of consistent promotion, email list growth, and loyalty incentives working together. The phone intake piece can be operational the same day using AI phone tools.
Do I need to stop using DoorDash to build direct orders?
No. The goal is not to abandon third-party platforms immediately. It is to grow a parallel channel so you are less dependent on them over time. Run both. Promote direct ordering with incentives. Let the numbers shift gradually.
What is the most effective thing to put on a QR code card at a table?
A two-line message: “Order directly from us” and a small incentive (“Earn rewards on every direct order” or “Skip the app fee”). Put the QR code in the center, large enough to scan from a seated position, and a short URL underneath for customers who prefer typing. Test by sitting at your own table and trying to scan it.
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If you want a direct ordering setup without a developer, a long contract, or high monthly platform fees, ordrs gets you a custom storefront with complete menu parsing, AI phone intake, and a KDS in one place.