The formula
Channel cost per month = Monthly channel fee + (Orders x Average order value x Channel commission %)
Online ordering ROI = (Online revenue – Total channel cost) / Total channel cost x 100
Why the formula works this way: an ordering channel has two kinds of cost, and they behave oppositely. A flat monthly fee hurts at low volume and fades as orders grow, while a commission percentage costs the same share forever, growing with every success. That is why the honest evaluation needs both, and why the cost per order line matters more than the headline ROI: at 900 orders a $149 fee is 17 cents an order, at 90 orders it is $1.66 an order. The marketplace comparison then puts the channel in context, because the true alternative to your own channel is rarely nothing. It is a marketplace taking a published 15 to 30% of every order.
How to use it, with an example
- Take one full month of orders from the channel you are evaluating. Do not mix marketplace orders into the count.
- Use the online average order value, not your dine-in check average. Delivery and pickup tickets are built differently.
- Enter the full channel cost: subscription plus any commission percentage the channel itself takes. Leave card processing out, since it applies on every channel.
- Set the marketplace commission to your actual quoted rate if you have one, not the headline rate in an advert.
- Read the cost per order and the marketplace comparison before the ROI. They are the numbers you can negotiate and act on.
Worked example: A restaurant takes 900 online orders a month at a $32 average value, which is $28,800 of online revenue. Its own ordering channel costs a $149 monthly fee and no commission, so total channel cost is $149, or about $0.17 an order, leaving $28,651 net. The same 900 orders through a marketplace at 25% commission would cost $7,200, so running its own channel saves $7,051 a month, $84,612 a year, and the $500 setup cost is recovered in under a month. The calculator above is prefilled with these same numbers.
The channel only produces those savings if guests can actually reach it, which is a website and menu problem as much as a fee problem. With Odoo for Restaurants, online orders come through the restaurant’s own site on the Odoo eCommerce module and land in the same order flow as the dining room, so the channel, the menu and the customer record stop being three separate systems that each take their own cut or their own copy of the data.
Common mistakes
- Comparing your channel against zero. The alternative to direct ordering is not free ordering, it is the marketplace commission on the same orders. Judge the channel against that, or you will underinvest in the cheapest orders you own.
- Using the dine-in average check. Online tickets skew to family bundles, group orders and repeat favourites. Using the wrong average value distorts every line below it.
- Counting card processing as a channel cost. Processing, around 2.9% plus a fixed per-order fee on standard processors, applies to marketplace and direct orders alike. Charging it to one side only rigs the comparison.
- Forgetting the marketplace extras. Commission is the headline. Paid placement, marketplace-funded promotions you opt into, and refund handling push the effective marketplace take above the quoted rate. Enter your real settlement percentage if you can get it.
- Launching the channel and never telling anyone. A direct channel with no orders on it shows a terrible cost per order and gets cancelled, when the actual failure was the bag inserts, table tents and Google profile links that were never done. The restaurant POS features that matter here are the ones that push guests to your own channel at the till.
- Ignoring the data you get back. A marketplace order is anonymous. A direct order carries a name, a phone number and an order history, which is what makes the next order cheaper to win. Two channels with identical fees are not identical.
FAQs
How much do delivery marketplaces charge restaurants?
Published commission ranges run from about 15% on basic delivery plans to 30% on premium plans with marketing included, with pickup orders usually much lower, around 6%. Processing and promotional extras sit on top. Your statement’s effective rate, total deductions divided by total order value, is the figure to compare against.
Is a flat monthly fee always better than commission?
No, it depends on volume. At a few dozen orders a month, a percentage-only channel can be cheaper. The crossover is simple arithmetic: divide the flat fee by the commission rate and you get the monthly order value at which the flat fee starts winning. Most restaurants pass that point quickly once the channel is promoted.
What is a good ROI for online ordering?
Because channel fees are small next to the revenue they carry, ROI percentages on direct channels are enormous and not very informative. The operators who manage this well watch cost per order and the saving against marketplace commission instead. If your channel costs under a dollar an order while the marketplace takes seven, the channel is working.
Should delivery fees I charge customers count as revenue?
Keep them separate. A delivery fee passed to a courier or kept to offset driver cost is not food revenue, and mixing it into the order value inflates the apparent return. This calculator works on food and drink order value only.
Does online ordering cannibalise dine-in sales?
Some orders shift, many are genuinely additional: weeknight family orders, office lunches and reorders from guests who were never going to drive over. The ROI question is narrower: for the orders the channel does carry, what does it cost against the alternative channel for those same orders.
How long does a direct ordering channel take to pay back?
On typical numbers, fast: flat-fee platforms commonly run $99 to $149 a month, and a single week of marketplace commission on a busy channel often exceeds that. The payback line above uses your own setup cost and net figure, so use your numbers rather than the typical ones.
