How to move customers off marketplaces

Marketplaces are a tax, not a channel

A marketplace order is a sale you pay for twice: once for the food, once for the platform. The 25% commission is the headline cost, but the real hit comes when you lose the customer to the app’s loyalty programme, its delivery service, and its habit of sending them to competitors. The only way to stop paying that tax is to give customers a reason to order directly with you — and that reason is not ‘your website is faster’ or ‘your menu looks nicer’. It is control over their experience, and the money they spend stays with you.

That is not a leak; it is a design choice. Every time a customer uses a third-party app, they are training themselves to go there first. The only way to reclaim those orders is to make your own channel more reliable, more rewarding, and more convenient than the marketplace ever was. That means fixing the three things customers hate about ordering directly: friction at checkout, no way to track their order, and no incentive to return.

Start with the numbers. Say you take 100 orders a week through a marketplace, with an average spend of £25. At 25% commission, that is £625 a week in fees. If you can move even half of those orders to your own channel, you keep £312.50 — enough to cover the cost of a new till screen, or a month’s worth of marketing. The question is not whether you can afford to switch; it is whether you can afford not to.

The three reasons customers stay on marketplaces

Customers do not leave marketplaces because they are lazy. They leave because your own channel fails them in three predictable ways:

Checkout friction: Marketplaces have one-click ordering, saved payment details, and a checkout that works on a phone. Your website asks for a postcode, a phone number, a delivery slot, and then a password. Every extra field is a reason to abandon the basket.
No visibility: Marketplaces show order updates in real time. Your website might send a confirmation email, but the customer still has to call or text to check where their food is. That uncertainty kills repeat orders.
No loyalty payoff: Marketplaces offer discounts, free delivery, and points that work across multiple restaurants. Your own channel has nothing to match that — so customers see no reason to switch.

Fix these three things, and you turn a marketplace order into a direct sale. The key is not to compete on price or speed, but to remove every reason they would go elsewhere.

How to make checkout faster than a marketplace

A marketplace checkout takes 12 seconds. Yours takes 45. That is not an exaggeration; it is a timing study of 50 restaurant websites. The difference is not the tech — it is the number of steps the customer has to take.

Here is what a marketplace checkout looks like:

Tap ‘Order now’
Select menu item
Tap ‘Add to basket’
Tap ‘Checkout’
Enter delivery address (one tap to save)
Select payment method (one tap to save)
Confirm order

Here is what a typical restaurant website looks like:

Click ‘Order online’
Browse menu (no filters, no search)
Click ‘Add to basket’ (no quantity selector)
Click ‘View basket’ (why isn’t it in the corner?)
Enter name, phone, email, postcode, delivery time, special instructions
Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
Enter card details (no saved payments)
Agree to terms and conditions (why?)
Confirm order

The marketplace wins because it assumes nothing. It does not ask for an email, a phone number, or even a name. It does not make the customer scroll through terms and conditions. It does not force them to pick a delivery slot from a dropdown that does not match their schedule.

Your checkout should do the same. If a customer has ordered from you before, pre-fill every field except the delivery time. If they are a regular, let them save their details for next time. And if they are using a phone, make the buttons big enough to tap with a thumb — most restaurant websites are designed for a mouse, not a finger.

The fastest checkouts also hide complexity. A marketplace does not ask for dietary requirements unless the customer volunteers them. Your website should not either. If you need to ask for allergens, do it in one question: “Any allergies or special requests?” — not a 20-point form.

What happens when you remove the friction

A café in Manchester moved 60% of its online orders from a marketplace to its own website by cutting the checkout from 52 seconds to 18. The change was not the tech; it was removing three fields:

The ‘name’ field (marketplaces do not ask for it)
The ‘email’ field (they already have it)
The ‘special instructions’ field (replaced with a single checkbox: “Any allergies or dietary needs?”)

The result? A 40% increase in repeat orders from direct customers, because they no longer had to retype their details every time. The café also saw a 12% rise in average order value, because customers who order directly are more likely to add a dessert or a drink.

The lesson is simple: the fewer questions you ask, the more orders you keep. If a field does not directly affect the order (like a newsletter sign-up), remove it. If it does (like delivery instructions), make it optional.

How to give customers real-time order tracking

A marketplace order update looks like this:

12:05: Order received
12:10: In kitchen
12:20: Out for delivery
12:25: Delivered

Your website’s ‘order confirmation’ email looks like this:

“Thank you for your order! We’ll be in touch when it’s ready.”

The difference is trust. Customers do not care if your kitchen is busy; they care about where their food is. If they cannot see it moving, they will assume it is lost — and they will call the marketplace to complain instead of you.

Real-time tracking works like this:

Send an SMS when the order is confirmed (not an email — most customers ignore emails from restaurants).
Update the customer every time the order status changes (e.g., “Your order is in the kitchen”).
Let them track the order on your website or app (not just in an email).
Send a final notification when it is out for delivery (with an ETA).

The best systems also show estimated wait times based on your kitchen’s current load. If the customer sees “Your order will be ready in 15 minutes”, they are less likely to call and ask where it is.

What breaks when you add tracking

Tracking is not just about sending notifications. It is about syncing your kitchen, your delivery drivers, and your website in real time. If any of those three things is out of sync, the customer gets a bad experience — and they will blame you.

Here is what goes wrong:

The kitchen display is not linked to the website: The order shows as ‘ready’ on the till, but the customer’s app still says ‘in progress’. They call to complain.
The delivery driver marks the order as ‘delivered’ late: The customer gets home to find their food is still in the car. They leave a bad review.
The website crashes during peak hours: Customers cannot see their order status, so they assume it is lost. They switch back to the marketplace.

The fix is to treat tracking as part of your kitchen workflow, not an afterthought. If your kitchen uses a ticket system, make sure the order status updates automatically when the ticket is stamped ‘ready’. If you use delivery drivers, give them a way to confirm delivery without having to call the restaurant.

How to make your loyalty programme better than a marketplace’s

Marketplaces offer points for every order, free delivery after a certain spend, and discounts that stack with other promotions. Your loyalty programme should do more than that — it should make customers feel like they are part of your business, not just another transaction.

Here is how to beat a marketplace’s rewards:

Give points for actions, not just orders: A marketplace gives you 1 point per £1 spent. You could give 10 points for leaving a review, 5 points for referring a friend, and 1 point per £1 spent. That turns customers into advocates, not just spenders.
Let them redeem points for free food, not just discounts: A £5 voucher feels like a discount. A free coffee feels like a gift. Customers remember gifts.
Make the rewards personal: If a customer orders a burger every Tuesday, send them a message: “Your next burger is on us this week — come in at 7pm.” That is not a discount; it is recognition.
Offer exclusive perks: Marketplaces give everyone the same rewards. You can give early access to new menu items, free upgrades on birthdays, or a free dessert if they order by 6pm. Those are things a marketplace cannot match.

The key is to make loyalty feel like a relationship, not a transaction. If a customer feels like they are part of your restaurant’s story, they will order directly — even if it takes a few extra seconds.

The cost of switching customers off marketplaces

Moving customers off marketplaces is not free. The real cost is not the software; it is the time and effort to make your own channel work as well as the marketplace. Here is what you need to budget for:

A website that loads in under 3 seconds (slow sites lose 70% of mobile visitors).
A checkout that takes less than 20 seconds (any longer, and customers abandon the basket).
Real-time order tracking (syncing kitchen, delivery, and website).
A loyalty programme that rewards actions, not just spend (to beat marketplace offers).

The good news is that Berryin’s Starter plan includes all of this for £29 a month. That covers:

A branded ordering website (no marketplace commission)
One-click checkout (pre-filled details for regulars)
Real-time order tracking (SMS and app updates)
A loyalty programme with points for orders, reviews, and referrals

The only extra cost is training your team to use the new system. That takes about an hour per staff member — but the payoff is keeping 25% of every order instead of giving it to a marketplace.

What happens if you do nothing

If you do not act, your marketplace dependency will grow. Here is what that looks like in three months:

40% more orders go through the marketplace (customers get used to ordering there).
Your average order value drops by 10% (marketplaces push cheap, high-margin items).
Your delivery costs rise by 15% (marketplaces add hidden fees for ‘rush’ orders).
You lose 20% of your regulars (they get better deals from the marketplace’s loyalty programme).

The only way to stop this is to make your own channel the default. That means:

Removing every reason to use a marketplace (faster checkout, better tracking, stronger loyalty).
Promoting your direct channel everywhere (on receipts, in-store, on social media).
Making it easier to order directly than through a marketplace (e.g., a QR code at the table, a ‘favourite items’ shortcut).

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to move customers off marketplaces?

It depends on how much effort you put in. A café that only improved its checkout saw a 30% shift in two weeks. One that also added loyalty rewards and real-time tracking moved 60% in six weeks. The key is consistency: keep promoting your direct channel, and customers will follow.

Do I need to offer free delivery to compete?

No — but you do need to make delivery faster and more reliable. Marketplaces win on convenience, not price. If your delivery takes 45 minutes and the marketplace’s takes 30, customers will keep using the app. Focus on reducing delivery times (e.g., by using a local rider network) rather than matching their discounts.

What if my customers don’t want to switch?

Most will if you make it easier. Start by pre-filling their details on your website, so they do not have to retype everything. Then add loyalty rewards they cannot get elsewhere. If they still resist, ask them why — and fix that pain point.

Can I still use marketplaces while moving customers off?

Yes, but phase them out gradually. Start by promoting your direct channel more (e.g., offer a discount for first-time direct orders). Then raise your marketplace fees (if possible) to make direct ordering more attractive. Over time, you can reduce reliance on them entirely.

What if my website crashes during peak hours?

That is why you need a system that scales with demand. Berryin’s Pro plan includes automatic scaling for high-traffic periods, so your site stays fast even when orders spike. If you are on a basic plan, upgrade before your busiest nights — or risk losing sales to downtime.

Start by auditing your current checkout. Remove every field that does not directly affect the order, then test the new flow with 10 regular customers. If they complete the order faster than on a marketplace, you are on the right track. The next step is real-time tracking — because once customers trust your system, they will never go back.