How to Set Up Online Ordering in Ireland Without the 30% Commission
A €100-a-month system on €500 of direct orders is 20% before any commission. Commission-only flips the shape: zero orders, zero cost. That is the right structure for a channel you are building from scratch.
How to Set Up Online Ordering in Ireland Without the 30% Commission
There are two ways an online ordering platform takes money from an Irish takeaway. A monthly subscription fee, paid whether you sell anything or not. And a commission on every order, paid on top.
Most operators fixate on the commission rate and ignore the shape of the deal. The shape matters more than the rate.
This post walks through the three cost structures available in Ireland right now, what each one actually costs at realistic monthly volumes, and what to look for in a system that does not eat your first year of direct-channel revenue.
Commission rates below reference publicly reported numbers for Just Eat and Deliveroo, collated in our commission-rate sources document. Full references at the end.
The three cost structures
There are really only three models on the Irish market.
Marketplace platforms. Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats. No monthly fee, high commission. Published rates for Irish restaurant partners run from around 14% on self-delivery contracts up to roughly 30 to 35 percent on rider-delivered orders, plus a handful of add-ons depending on contract.
SaaS ordering systems. Typically €50 to €200 a month plus a small per-order fee or card processing. Lower unit cost if you have volume. A fixed tax on the business if you do not.
Commission-only direct systems. No monthly fee, a percentage per order, usually in the single digits on collection and low double digits on delivery. You pay when you earn.
None of the three is better in the abstract. They are different shapes for different volume curves. Most Irish operators are running the wrong shape for their stage.
Why the monthly fee is the wrong shape for a new channel
A direct channel starts at zero. You drive every early order yourself, from Instagram, from a card in the takeaway bag, from word of mouth in Salthill.
Month one might be €500 in orders. Month two might be €1,200. On a €100-a-month system, that first month is 20% of your direct revenue going to the platform before any commission. The channel needs to earn €2,000 a month before the fixed fee drops under 5% of revenue. Until then, you are paying the platform to wait for you to grow.
Commission-only flips the shape. Zero orders, zero cost. Thousand euro of orders, thousand euro of revenue minus a single-digit percentage. The cost scales with the business, which is the correct behaviour for a new channel.
Why the 30% is the wrong shape once you are established
At the other end of the curve, the marketplace model costs more than operators model it as. Thirty percent on €15,000 a month is €4,500 a month. €54,000 a year. Before rent or wages or the price of a crate of chips.
You can run the numbers on your own volume in the commission calculator. Two fields, one minute, a real answer.
The marketplace is selling you discoverability, not software. The software it gives you (a tile on a grid) is not worth 30 percent. The discoverability is, for some operators, some of the time. Pay for discoverability where it earns out. Do not pay for it on the repeat orders that would have come back anyway.
What to actually look for in a direct system
Five things. If a platform fails any of them, walk.
Transparent total cost. Some platforms advertise low commission and then stack on processing fees, service charges, and payout fees. Ask for the all-in cost on a €20 order. If they will not quote it, the answer is higher than the headline.
No lock-in. If a system wants a 12-month contract, they are worried you will leave. That is their problem. Month-to-month is the standard to expect.
Your own URL. The ordering page has to live on a domain you control, or a subdomain you can point a real URL at. If it only lives inside a marketplace app, you are not building a direct channel, you are building somebody else's marketplace.
Your own customer data. Every order generates a name, a phone number, an address, an order history. That data is yours. If the platform will not show you your own customers, they are using your customers to grow themselves.
Everything included at the base level. Menu management, promo codes, opening hours, delivery zones, allergens, collection and delivery, analytics. If the basics are locked behind a €150-a-month tier, the €0 tier is marketing.
What setup actually looks like
A commission-only system should be live in under an hour for most Irish operators.
1. Create the account. Business details and bank account for payouts.
2. Build the menu. Categories, items, prices, allergens. Photos if you have them.
3. Set fulfilment. Collection window, delivery radius, opening hours, any blackout days.
4. Get the storefront link. Test one order end to end.
5. Send the link.
If the platform requires a call, a demo, or a multi-week onboarding to get live, it is built for chains. For a single-site Galway takeaway that already knows what it sells, simple is a feature.
The first thirty days
Day one:
- Swap the Instagram and Facebook bio links to the direct ordering URL.
- Add a card to the takeaway bag with the URL and a QR code.
- Put the URL on the Google Business Profile.
- Tell your regulars in person. "We do direct now, same food, cheaper for us to run."
Weeks two to four:
- Run a first-order promo that only works on the direct link. Ten percent off, or a free can, or free delivery once.
- Ask your three loudest regulars to switch their usual. One yes covers the cost of the card print run.
- Post a Reel of the ordering page on the phone. Show the two taps from bio to checkout.
Weeks five to twelve:
- Look at what sells on direct. Build a bundle around it.
- Start collecting emails at checkout. A list of two hundred direct customers is a business asset. A list of two hundred platform customers is a platform asset.
Where SELLERS fits
SELLERS is the commission-only shape: zero monthly fee, a single-digit percent on collection orders, your own domain, your own customer list, Stripe payouts on the standard next-day cycle. It is the thing this post is describing.
Run it alongside whatever platforms you are on today. The point is not to walk away from them tomorrow. The point is to build the channel where the unit economics are right, and let it grow into the thing that carries the business.
Sources
Takeover · for food businesses
Take back your margins.
5% commission. No monthly fee. No contract. Direct ordering, instant payouts, and full staff management — built for Irish food businesses.
Get early access