How do I stop riders from taking too many slots at once?

Limit each rider to two active slots at a time. If they try to book a third, either charge them a premium or automatically assign it to another rider. This stops them from overloading themselves and guarantees faster deliveries. Use your system’s rider app to enforce this—it’s easier than trusting them to self-regulate.

What’s the best way to handle delivery during peak hours?

Open extra slots in 15-minute blocks during peak times, but only if you have enough orders to fill them. If demand drops, close the slots early and send riders to less busy zones. The key is to match supply to real-time demand , not to a fixed schedule.

Should I offer free delivery or charge a fee?

Charge a fee—but use it to fund rider pay, not just cover costs. A £2–£3 delivery fee at checkout covers fuel and wear-and-tear, while a higher fee (£4–£5) during off-peak hours ensures riders are paid fairly for their time. Free delivery sounds good, but it’s a race to the bottom—either you eat the cost or riders do.

How do I deal with customers who complain about delivery times?

Set realistic expectations upfront. If your average delivery time is 25 minutes, don’t promise 20. Instead, offer a time window (e.g., ‘Your order will arrive between 6:45pm and 7:15pm’). Use live tracking to update customers in real time—if their order is running late, tell them before they complain.

What’s the fastest way to improve delivery margins?

Cut no-shows by charging a non-refundable deposit (20% of the order value) at booking. Raise your minimum order value for off-peak slots, and stop offering delivery in zones where the math doesn’t work. Every no-show or low-margin order is a direct hit to your profit—eliminate the ones you can control first. Start by auditing your current delivery slots: which ones are filling, which are empty, and what’s the real cost of the ones that aren’t working. Use the Growth plan to adjust zones and rider pay in real time, then scale up to Pro if you need advanced tracking and reporting. The goal isn’t to run more slots—it’s to run the right ones.

Delivery Slots: How to Fill Them Without Losing Money

Why Your Delivery Slots Are Either Costing You or Leaking Revenue

Delivery slots are not just time blocks—they’re a direct line to your bottom line. If you’re running too many, you’re paying riders to sit idle or burning fuel on empty runs. If you’re running too few, you’re turning away customers who’ll either go elsewhere or complain about wait times. The sweet spot is where every slot is filled and the order is still profitable after rider pay, packaging, and the cost of the food itself.

The problem is that most restaurants treat slots like a fixed cost: “We’ll open slots from 5pm to 10pm because that’s when people order.” But demand isn’t flat—it’s lumpy. A slot at 5:30pm might be packed, while one at 7:15pm sits empty. The fix isn’t more slots or fewer slots; it’s dynamic slots that match real demand, not guesswork.

Start by tracking which slots actually convert. If 80% of your orders come between 6pm and 8pm, why are you offering slots from 5pm to 10pm? You’re not saving money by leaving capacity open—you’re just giving customers the illusion of choice while burning cash on unused rider time. The goal isn’t to maximise slot availability; it’s to maximise filled slots where the math works.

If you’re using a marketplace, this is harder because their algorithm decides slot availability, not yours. But if you’re running your own fleet, you can adjust slots in real time based on orders coming in. For example, if you see three orders pile up in a 10-minute window, open an extra slot for that block. If nothing’s coming in by 8:30pm, close the remaining slots and send riders home.

The cost of a wasted slot isn’t just the rider’s pay—it’s the opportunity cost of the next customer you could have served. Say a rider earns £12 an hour (including fuel and vehicle costs) and you have two empty slots in a peak hour. That’s £4 wasted on labour alone, plus the chance to sell £30 worth of food that would have covered the cost. Multiply that by how many times it happens in a week, and you’re looking at hundreds—maybe thousands—of pounds leaking out of your delivery revenue.

How to Price Slots So Riders Don’t Game the System

Riders will take every slot you offer if it pays them more than their next best option. That’s not greed—it’s economics. If you’re paying them £10 per delivery but a competitor is paying £12, they’ll choose the higher-paying gig, even if it means sitting around waiting for orders.

The fix isn’t to cut rider pay (that just guarantees turnover and delays). It’s to tie slot availability to demand. Here’s how:

Minimum order values per slot. If a slot is likely to fill with a £15 order, set the minimum at £12. If it’s a £25 average, bump it to £20. This filters out low-margin orders that riders might chase just to fill time.
Dynamic slot pricing. Charge more for slots during off-peak hours when demand is low. For example, a £2 delivery fee from 6pm to 8pm, but £4 from 4pm to 5pm. Riders will still take the slots because the pay is higher relative to their effort, but you’re protecting your margins on the orders that matter.
Slot buffers. Leave a 10-minute gap between slots in busy periods. This gives riders time to actually deliver the order without rushing, and it stops them from taking multiple slots at once (which guarantees delays).

The key is to make sure riders want to take the slots you’re offering—not because they’re desperate for work, but because they’re profitable for both of you. If a rider can make £15 in 30 minutes by taking one of your slots versus £12 by taking three from a competitor, they’ll pick yours. That’s how you fill slots without cutting into your profit.

The Hidden Cost of ‘Always Available’ Delivery

‘Always available’ sounds like a customer service win—until you realise it’s a money pit. If your system lets customers order delivery at any time, you’re effectively promising to pay a rider to be on call 24/7, even when there’s no demand.

Here’s what that looks like in real numbers:

Rider cost: £12/hour (including vehicle wear, fuel, and their time).
Average order value: £25.
Orders per hour in peak time: 4 (so £100 revenue).
Orders per hour in off-peak: 1 (£25 revenue).

In peak hours, you’re covering the rider’s cost and making a profit. In off-peak hours, you’re losing £75 per hour just to keep the slot open. If you’re doing this for 12 hours a day, that’s £900 a week—£3,900 a month—down the drain on one rider.

The solution isn’t to turn off delivery entirely. It’s to set strict availability windows and communicate them clearly. For example:

Peak hours (5pm–9pm): Slots every 15 minutes, minimum order £15.
Shoulder hours (12pm–5pm and 9pm–11pm): Slots every 30 minutes, minimum order £20.
Off-peak (before 12pm and after 11pm): No delivery, or only for pre-ordered slots (e.g., ‘Order by 4pm for 5pm delivery’).

This isn’t about restricting customers—it’s about being honest about what you can deliver profitably. If someone orders at 2am, tell them the next available slot is 8am. They’ll either wait or go elsewhere, but you won’t be burning cash keeping a rider on standby.

How to Handle No-Shows Without Losing Your Mind

No-shows are the silent killer of delivery margins. A customer orders, pays upfront, then cancels last minute—leaving you with a rider who’s already left, fuel burned, and no revenue to show for it. The average no-show rate is 15–20% of all delivery orders, and if you’re not charging a cancellation fee, you’re eating that cost.

Here’s how to cut it:

Charge a non-refundable deposit (e.g., 20% of the order value) when the customer books the slot. If they cancel, they lose the deposit. This doesn’t stop all no-shows, but it reduces the ones that are purely about convenience.
Offer a ‘rain check’ instead of a refund. If a customer cancels within 30 minutes of the slot, give them credit for a future order. This keeps the revenue in your system and encourages them to come back.
Set a firm cancellation window. If they cancel after you’ve dispatched the rider, charge them the full delivery fee. If they cancel before the rider leaves, waive the fee—but make them rebook for a later slot.
Track repeat offenders. If a customer cancels three times in a month, either raise their minimum order value or stop offering them delivery slots altogether. They’re not a customer—they’re a cost.

The math on no-shows is brutal. That’s 7.5 lost orders, or £187.50 in revenue (assuming £25 average order value). If you’re also paying a rider £12/hour and they spend 20 minutes per no-show driving to a dead drop, that’s another £24 in wasted labour. You’re losing £211.50 a day—£8,800 a month—just from cancellations.

The fix isn’t to punish customers (that just drives them to marketplaces). It’s to make no-shows unprofitable for them. A £5 cancellation fee might seem harsh, but it’s a fraction of what you’re losing. And if they’re a regular, they’ll adjust—because they’ll realise it’s cheaper to actually turn up than to keep cancelling.

Delivery Zones: Why Yours Are Probably Too Big (or Too Small)

Delivery zones are where the rubber meets the road for your margins. If your zone is too big, riders spend more time driving than delivering, and your food arrives cold. If it’s too small, you’re turning away customers who would have ordered if the delivery time was reasonable.

The right zone size depends on three things:

Your average delivery time. If you promise 30-minute delivery, your zone should be no more than 10–15 minutes’ drive from your kitchen at peak traffic. If it’s 20 minutes, you’re either lying to customers or paying riders to rush.
Rider pay and fuel costs. A 20-minute delivery in a car costs more in fuel and wear-and-tear than a 10-minute one. If your zone is too big, the rider’s effective pay per delivery drops, and they’ll either quit or start taking shortcuts (like skipping side dishes to save time).
Customer expectations. If you’re in a dense urban area, customers expect 15-minute delivery. If you’re in a sprawling suburb, 30 minutes might be the norm. But if you’re promising 20 minutes and your zone is set for 30, you’re setting yourself up for complaints—and refunds.

Here’s how to test your zone size:

Track delivery times. Use your system’s live tracking to see how long each delivery actually takes. If 60% of your deliveries are taking 25+ minutes, your zone is too big.
Ask riders what’s realistic. They know the roads better than you do. If they’re saying ‘I can’t hit 30-minute delivery in this area,’ believe them.
Adjust dynamically. Some zones will be profitable at 15 minutes, others only at 25. Don’t treat all zones as equal—treat them like individual profit centres.

For example, if you’re in Karachi, where traffic is unpredictable and customers often order late via WhatsApp, your zones might need to be smaller than the 5km radius you’re used to. A rider stuck in rush-hour gridlock for 45 minutes isn’t making you money—they’re costing you customers who’ll assume you’re unreliable.

What Happens When You Stop Using Marketplaces for Delivery

Marketplaces make delivery look easy—until you add up the fees. A 25% commission on every order isn’t just a cost; it’s a tax on your ability to control your own delivery experience. When you switch to your own fleet, three things change:

You own the customer relationship. Marketplaces own your menu data, your reviews, and your customers’ contact details. If you stop using them, you don’t just lose the commission—you lose the chance to retarget those customers directly.
You control the delivery experience. No more ‘driver unavailable’ messages or 45-minute waits. Your riders are your riders, and their performance reflects on your brand.
You keep 100% of the revenue. But you also keep 100% of the costs—including the ones marketplaces hide (like rider turnover, late fees, and poor-quality deliveries).

The break-even point isn’t about whether you can match a marketplace’s convenience—it’s about whether you can do it more profitably. Here’s how to compare:

Metric	Marketplace Delivery	Your Own Fleet
Revenue per order	£25 (after marketplace fees)	£25 (full revenue)
Rider cost per order	Hidden (included in marketplace fees)	£8 (rider pay + fuel)
No-show rate	20% (you lose the order and pay fees)	15% (you charge cancellation fees)
Delivery time	30–45 mins (unpredictable)	15–30 mins (controlled)
Customer retention	Low (they’re loyal to the app, not you)	High (you own the data and can retarget)

The real cost of marketplaces isn’t just the commission—it’s the opportunity cost of not owning your delivery channel. If you’re spending £6,000 a month on a Starter plan to run your own fleet, but you’re currently paying 25% commission on £20,000 of marketplace orders, you’re already breaking even on the tech cost. The question isn’t whether you can afford to switch—it’s whether you can afford not to.