How to Price Your Menu for Online Ordering in Ireland

Pricing for online orders is different from pricing for dine-in or walk-up trade. When you add platform commission, packaging, and the dynamics of how customers shop online, a price that works at the counter can quietly destroy your margin on a delivery order.

The Commission Impact

If you are on Just Eat or Deliveroo at 30% commission, every item on your menu is effectively selling at 70% of its listed price — from your perspective. A €12 burger nets you €8.40 before food cost.

Most Irish food businesses initially price their online menu identically to their in-venue prices. This is the most common margin mistake in the sector.

Two Approaches to Fixing It

Option 1: Separate Online Pricing

List higher prices on your delivery platform than in-venue. This is legal and common. The risk is price-sensitive customers noticing the discrepancy.

If you go this route, be transparent. A note on your packaging — "prices are lower when you order direct at [yoursite]" — turns the gap into a reason to switch channels.

Option 2: Build Commission Into Your Base Price

Raise all prices to account for commission, then offer a discount to in-venue or direct-ordering customers. This simplifies operations but requires care — Irish consumers are price-aware.

Menu Engineering for Online Orders

Not all dishes travel equally well. Not all dishes have equal margins. A well-engineered online menu leans into both.

High-margin, high-travel items deserve prime position and photography. These are your online stars.

Low-margin items that require expensive packaging or do not survive delivery well should be deprioritised or removed from the online menu entirely.

Bundle deals increase average order value while making per-unit margin more visible to you. A €28 meal deal at 30% commission nets more than three individual items totalling €28.

The Direct Ordering Pricing Advantage

When you take orders direct at 5% commission, you have far more pricing flexibility. You can:

• Price competitively against Just Eat listings
• Offer exclusive direct-order promotions without eroding marketplace margin
• Run time-limited deals (lunchtime specials, evening bundles) without platform approval

The businesses pricing most effectively in Ireland are running different strategies per channel — marketplace pricing covers commission, direct pricing rewards loyalty.

Minimum Order Values

Setting a minimum order value improves per-order economics significantly. If your average packaging and handling cost is €1.50, an order under €10 is structurally unprofitable at 30% commission.

A €15 minimum on delivery eliminates your worst-margin orders without losing the customers who matter.

Review Your Prices Every Quarter

Food costs in Ireland have risen significantly in the past three years. Prices set in 2022 are probably wrong in 2025. Build a quarterly pricing review into your operations — check your food cost percentage per dish and adjust anything that has drifted below your target margin.

VOID gives you full control over your direct ordering prices, with no platform rules about what you can charge or when you can run promotions.