Delivery Apps vs Own Site: Where to Invest?

Running an f&b business can sometimes get overwhelming, if not challenging. There are so many critical decisions to take at every stage of marketing, branding and even expanding your reach. One of such key choices to make is –
Rely on food delivery giants, or building a mobile-friendly restaurant website for direct orders and takeaways?

Let’s Discuss The Hidden Costs of Delivery Apps

While food delivery apps offer a visibility edge, their high commissions and control over customer data can reduce profits and chances to build brand loyalty.

Zomato charges between 15-30% commission per order, while Swiggy’s commission ranges from 15-25% generally. With 28% GST on both platforms, 2-3% payment gateway charges, and 1% of additional service charges, order revenues are cut down to a huge extent.

For example, if your restaurant or cafe gets an order of ₹1,000, the commissions and other charges bring the value down to ₹379 (on Zomato) and ₹541 (On Swiggy).

On the other hand, if you have a direct-ordering restaurant website with good visibility, you can enjoy the entire order revenue without dividing it with food delivery agents.

In other words, building a website and promoting it with the best restaurant marketing strategies empowers you to take charge.

Let’s discuss why opting for restaurant website design over third-party listing is a smarter move to strengthen your feet in this sector. Also, partnering with a marketing company for restaurants can help you achieve your goals without sharing revenues.

Why Owning Your Website Is a Win-Win Move

Having a mobile-friendly restaurant website offers control, cost savings, and the chance to build a loyal following.

Unlike delivery apps, your site lets you flaunt your brand’s unique vibe, be it an aesthetic cafe, or a hygiene-first cloud kitchen.
Plus, you keep 100% of the profits from direct orders, avoiding 55% of loss due to commissions.
Built-in payments and order tools simplify operations and help enhance personalized marketing.
A well-designed site improves search visibility for key queries, like “best burgers near me”.
Inform about events, like Live Music, etc. to increase chances of footfall

Building Brand Loyalty Through Your Website

Even if we set aside profits and savings, a well-designed restaurant website can help your f&b business build a lasting loyalty.
Wondering how? Let’s shed some light on this aspect.
Imagine you’re running a cafe or a cloud kitchen, and you want to create a loyal following for your brand. By offering exclusive deals, like “Buy One Pizza, Get a Drink Free,” directly on your website, you increase the chances of converting even the casual browsers. Use big banners for your weekly offers and display them at the top, so they are not missed. Third-party apps can only post your offers on their miniature boxes. You can give them more exposure through digital menus, attractive covers and banners on your website.
Further, food delivery apps rarely allow loyalty programs that reward repeat orders. But such offers can boost your brand loyalty to a great extent. You can also promote such programs on your social media feeds and stories, no restrictions and no raised eyebrows.
So you see how investing in restaurant website design can help you own the entire customer journey and reap the benefits single-handedly?

How Restaurant Marketing Adds To The Beneficial Mix?

Your website alone cannot combat the high visibility of food delivery apps. But that doesn’t mean it’s not capable of growing on its own. With the best restaurant marketing strategies, it can not only be visible but also drive consistent footfall and online traffic.

In short,

Website + Restaurant Digital Marketing = Super Sales & Brilliant Branding

Ready for a clearer idea? Here goes –

Marketing Strategy	What It Does	How An Agency Helps
SEO for Local Visibility	Helps you rank on Google for local food searches.	Uses local keywords in content to boost traffic.
PPC for Instant Reach	Targets high-intent customers with quick ads.	Builds ROI-driven PPC ads for promos and combos.
Social Media Engagement	Features dishes with reels and behind-the-scenes content.	Uses the right hashtags and leverages trends to expand reach
Email & WhatsApp Campaigns	Sends personalized offers to boost repeat orders.	Segments audience and automates with advanced tools
User-Generated Content	Builds trust with real photos, reviews, and testimonials.	Curates customer content that enhances visibility.

An experienced marketing company for restaurants or cloud kitchens can help turn your ideas into action. You may be thinking of a lot of stuff to engage your customers but not getting the time or the resources to implement the same. Partnering with the best restaurant marketing agency can save you both time and money to get your business on your customers’ fingertips.

Unlike food delivery commissions, restaurant website design and marketing is a subscription-based service with no share in your individual profits. So think carefully and plan your investment accordingly.