Why Irish Restaurants Are Ditching Marketplace Apps for Branded Ordering

When a customer orders through Just Eat, the experience is entirely Just Eat. The app, the branding, the notifications, the review system — all of it reinforces their relationship with the platform, not with you.

They might love your food. But they are loyal to the app that surfaces it.

Branded ordering inverts this. The customer orders at your URL, on your page, in your colours, with your name in every notification. The relationship they build is with you.

What Branded Ordering Actually Means

A custom-branded ordering channel is not just a different website. It is:

• Your domain — orders.yourbusiness.ie or yourbusiness.ie/order
• Your look — logo, colours, photography
• Your voice — product descriptions, messaging, promotions in your tone
• Your data — you know who ordered, what they ordered, when they last ordered
• Your relationship — you can email them, re-engage them, reward loyalty

None of this is possible through a marketplace. Just Eat owns the customer relationship. You get the order, they get everything else.

The Compounding Value of Owning Your Customers

Customer retention is dramatically cheaper than acquisition. A customer who has ordered from you five times direct is worth significantly more than a new customer from the marketplace — because you can re-engage them at near-zero cost.

With a direct channel you can:

• Email your customer list with new menu items or seasonal specials
• Run exclusive promotions for repeat customers
• Reward loyalty with promo codes or discounts
• Ask for Google reviews directly
• Understand your busiest days and most popular items by customer segment

Through Just Eat you have none of this. Every repeat customer requires them to find you in the app again.

The Brand Trust Advantage

Irish consumers are increasingly interested in supporting local businesses. A clean, well-designed direct ordering page — with your story, your photos, your tone — converts that interest into action.

A generic marketplace listing competes on price and algorithm placement. Your own ordering page competes on brand.

Getting the URL Right

Your ordering link should be easy to say out loud and easy to remember. Not a long subdomain from a platform you do not control.

Put it everywhere:

• Instagram and Facebook bio
• Packaging on every order
• Google Business Profile
• Your email signature
• Any printed material

Every customer who sees the link and orders direct is a customer you now own.

The Commission Difference

Branded ordering through VOID costs 5% on collection. Just Eat costs 25–33%. On €10,000/month in orders:

ChannelCommissionYou Keep

|---|---|---|

Just Eat30%€7,000 Branded direct (VOID)5%€9,500

That is €2,500/month — €30,000/year — that currently goes to a platform building its brand with your customers.