Top 5 Direct Ordering Platforms for Restaurants

What is a direct ordering platform for restaurants?

A direct ordering platform lets customers order from your restaurant without a marketplace in the middle. They order through your own website, your own app, a kiosk in the shop, or by phone, and you pay no commission on those orders.

Compare that with Just Eat, Uber Eats or Deliveroo, where UK and Irish restaurants hand over 15 to 30% of every order. Move an order to your own channel and you keep that percentage. Every time, for as long as the customer keeps ordering that way.

Why more restaurants are moving orders to direct

Marketplace commission of 15 to 30% sits on top of delivery costs and listing fees. On some orders there's no margin left once all of that comes out. Plenty of operators will tell you they're busy and barely profitable on marketplace days.

You also don't set the terms. Commission rates change. Ranking algorithms change. If you want to stay near the top of the list you pay for promotions, and that bill creeps up. You can complain, but you can't do much else.

A direct platform usually costs a flat monthly fee instead of a cut of each sale. So the more you sell through it, the less each order costs you. When a customer orders through your own site or app, the full order value is yours.

And the customer is yours too. On a marketplace, the app owns the relationship, and one tap later your customer is looking at the restaurant down the road. On your own channel they're looking at your menu, and you have their details so you can message them again.

What to look for in a direct ordering platform

Zero commission comes first, and you should check it rather than assume it. Some platforms advertise "low commission" and still take a percentage. A flat fee is what you want.

Your branding should be everywhere. If the customer sees the platform's name more than yours, they'll remember the platform, and you've done the work of acquiring a customer for someone else.

Orders have to reach the kitchen without anyone retyping them. If a direct order lands on a spare tablet and a member of staff keys it into the till, you will get mistakes on a busy Friday night. It's the first thing to test.

A loyalty scheme matters more than most owners expect. An app with no reason to use it is just an app. Customers need a reason to skip the marketplace (points, a discount on the first direct order, something), and you need the marketing tools to tell them about it.

Last, check which channels you can add later. Website and app are the minimum. Kiosks and AI phone ordering cover walk-in customers and people who still ring up.

Top 5 direct ordering platforms for restaurants

1. Flipdish

Flipdish is the best direct ordering platform for restaurants in the UK and Ireland. It covers every direct channel: a branded website, a mobile app, self-service kiosks and AI phone ordering. All of it connects natively to the Flipdish POS.

What you get:

A website and app under your restaurant's name, with zero commission on direct orders
Web and app orders that arrive at the kitchen straight away through the Flipdish POS
Order management that puts direct and marketplace orders on one screen, so the kitchen isn't juggling a tablet per platform
A loyalty programme that gives customers a reason to order direct
AI Marketing that runs automated campaigns to move marketplace customers over: win-back messages, first-direct-order offers, personalised nudges
An AI Phone Agent that takes phone orders, upsells on each call and turns phone customers into digital ones
Self-service kiosks that suggest add-ons automatically
QR code ordering for tables and collection
One platform for every site if you run more than one location
Customer data that you own, so everyone who orders direct ends up in your database

The real difference with Flipdish is that it doesn't stop at giving you channels. A branded app on its own is passive. Customers only use it if they already know to look for it. Flipdish adds customer acquisition campaigns and marketing tools to pull people from Just Eat to your app, from the phone to your website, and from anonymous marketplace orders into your loyalty scheme.

Groups and franchises manage all of this centrally and still get flexibility at site level. One customer database, one reporting dashboard.

It suits takeaways, QSRs, restaurants, cafe chains and multi-location groups in the UK and Ireland.

2. OrderYOYO

OrderYOYO provides branded websites and apps for UK and Irish operators. Its pitch is cutting marketplace dependency, and it has marketing tools aimed at getting Just Eat customers to order direct.

It's a fair choice for independents and small chains. Next to Flipdish, though, there's no native POS, the marketing toolset is narrower, there are no AI features, and there's no kiosk or phone ordering. Think of it as a direct ordering layer, not a full restaurant platform.

It suits independent restaurants and small chains that want a direct channel to cut marketplace fees.

3. Slerp

Slerp is a UK platform used by independent restaurants and food brands. It offers branded web and app ordering, a commission-free model, and integrations with several POS systems.

It doesn't have a native POS, a loyalty programme or AI tools. Restaurants on Slerp usually run separate software for operations and marketing.

It suits independent UK restaurants that want a clean website and app up and running quickly.

4. Hungrrr

Hungrrr is a UK online ordering platform that gives restaurants branded websites, mobile apps and ordering systems, with the focus on commission-free direct sales.

It does the job for independent operators who want a direct channel. The loyalty and marketing tools are less developed than Flipdish's and there's no native POS. If all you want is a simple setup, it's a reasonable place to begin.

It suits independent restaurants and takeaways that want a branded ordering presence.

5. Vita Mojo

Vita Mojo is built for QSRs and fast-casual restaurants. It covers direct online and app ordering, plus in-restaurant kiosks and a POS. Menu management, nutrition labelling and the fast-casual customer journey are where it puts its effort.

If you run a QSR brand with a complicated menu and calorie display requirements, it handles direct ordering well. Outside QSR and fast-casual it's a narrower product than Flipdish.

It suits UK QSRs and fast-casual chains with complex menus and nutritional requirements.

Comparison table

Platform	Commission-free	Branded app	Native POS	Loyalty	AI tools	Phone ordering	Multi-location
Flipdish	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
OrderYOYO	✓	✓	Third-party	Limited	✗	✗	Limited
Slerp	✓	✓	Third-party	✗	✗	✗	Limited
Hungrrr	✓	✓	Third-party	Limited	✗	✗	Limited
Vita Mojo	✓	✓	✓	Limited	✗	✗	Limited

What moving to direct is worth

How much you save depends on your commission rate and how many orders you can move. Here's a rough example.

A restaurant takes 300 marketplace orders a week at an average of £20, paying 25% commission.

Weekly commission: 300 × £20 × 25% = £1,500
Annual commission: £78,000

Move 30% of those orders to direct and 90 orders a week stop attracting commission. That's about £23,400 a year. Move 50% and it's about £39,000.

A platform like Flipdish costs a monthly fee well under those numbers. The share of direct orders should also climb over time as loyalty rewards and campaigns do their work.

The sums leave something out. A direct order gives you a customer record, a loyalty sign-up and someone you can message. A marketplace order gives you none of that. A customer who orders direct once, earns points and gets a push notification a week later is much more likely to come back than someone who ordered anonymously through an app.

Common questions about direct ordering platforms

Will customers really switch from the marketplaces?

Yes, if you give them a reason. Loyalty rewards, discounts that only apply to direct orders, quicker collection times and an app that's easy to use all work. You decide the incentives and when to run them.

Should I leave the marketplaces when I launch a direct channel?

Not straight away. New customers find restaurants on marketplaces, and that visibility is worth having. Use the marketplaces to bring people in, then use loyalty and marketing to move them to your own channel.

What about phone orders?

For many takeaways and restaurants, phone orders are a big slice of business. The Flipdish AI Phone Agent takes the order by voice, upsells and processes payment, with no staff involved. Phone customers end up as digital direct customers.

Can I manage marketplace and direct orders in one place?

With Flipdish, yes. Flipdish order management pulls orders from Just Eat, Uber Eats, Deliveroo and your own channels onto one kitchen screen. Staff work from a single queue instead of one per platform.

Getting started

It isn't a big project. Roughly:

Pick a platform that works with your current POS, or one that brings a better POS with it.
Set up your branded website and app with your existing menu.
Add an incentive for direct orders, like a first-order discount or double points in the app.
Point phone customers to your website, or set up an AI phone agent so those orders are captured digitally.
Tell your existing customers. Use social media, packaging, counter cards and email, whatever you already have.
Check the split between direct and marketplace orders every month and change your incentives if it isn't moving.

Flipdish has online ordering pricing that's set up to make this switch simple for restaurants of any size.

Top 5 Direct Ordering Platforms for Restaurants | Best Direct Order Systems UK