The Profitability Question Every Restaurant Faces
Should you focus on delivery, takeaway, or both? The answer depends on your restaurant type, location, and customer base. Delivery generates higher order volumes but comes with driver costs. Takeaway has lower overhead but requires customers to come to you. Delivery orders are often larger than takeaway orders. But the real question is: what is the profit margin after costs?
Delivery: Higher Revenue, Higher Costs
Delivery orders tend to be larger because customers add more items when they are not rushing. However, delivery has real costs: driver wages, vehicle maintenance, insurance, and packaging. If you use Uber Eats or DoorDash, add 15-30% commission (the range of their U.S. delivery plans). Example: on a $40 order where food and other costs take 65% ($26), you have $14 left. If your own driver costs $3-6 per delivery, you keep $8-11. If an app takes 30% ($12), you keep $2.
Takeaway: Lower Cost, Reliable Margins
Takeaway eliminates driver costs entirely. The customer comes to you, picks up their food, and leaves. Your only additional cost is packaging ($0.50-$1.50 per order). On a $30 takeaway order with the same 65% costs, you keep roughly $9-10. Takeaway also has faster turnaround — no waiting for drivers. The downside: your reach is limited to customers willing to drive to your location, typically a 5-10 minute radius.
The Hybrid Strategy: Why You Need Both
The most profitable restaurants offer both delivery and takeaway. Here is why: delivery expands your reach to customers 5-15 minutes away who would never visit in person. Takeaway captures the quick-lunch and after-work crowd who value speed. During peak hours, takeaway orders help you manage kitchen capacity without needing more drivers. Offering both lets you capture both kinds of customers.
How to Maximize Both Channels
For delivery: own your drivers (save 15-30% vs third-party apps), group nearby orders (save fuel and time), set a minimum order amount ($15-20), and charge a small delivery fee ($2-4). For takeaway: offer a 5-10% discount vs delivery to incentivize pickups, add a dedicated pickup shelf for quick handoffs, and enable online ordering so food is ready when the customer arrives. Tools like Bite2u let you manage both channels from one dashboard with zero commissions.