How restaurants can own more customer relationships

Food delivery platforms are currently in an era of consolidation.

In May 2025, US food delivery giant DoorDash announced its acquisition of UK platform Deliveroo. This is the second such consolidation in the UK this year, after global technology investment company Prosus acquired Just Eat Takeaway.com, itself the result of a merger, in February.

I think this consolidation could lead to significant disruption in areas like pricing, platform continuity and customer support. Just the technical process of migrating thousands of restaurants over to a new platform might lead to a patchy service, at least temporarily. However, large platforms are no longer the only way for independents to access the growing online market.

The platform promise
Building a dedicated website or app designed to manage orders, take online payments and arrange delivery logistics is a complicated process that’s unfeasible for many busy, family-owned restaurants operating on tight margins. Previously, these barriers have made it difficult for small independents to access the large number of customers looking to order food online.

The arrival of platforms like Deliveroo and Just Eat addressed this problem by providing instant, effortless access to a new stream of orders. In exchange for a commission, restaurants got visibility on a popular platform, online ordering and delivery services without the need for technical know-how or additional staff.

However, some third-party platforms charge commissions of up to 25-30 per cent. While a chain like McDonald’s might be able to negotiate a significant reduction, many independents cannot, and a commission of more than five per cent is simply unsustainable.

On top of that, the big chains also have deep pockets for sponsored ads. As a result, smaller operators can find themselves pushed lower and lower in search results, with big names dominating what customers see. What then emerges is a pay-to-play system which essentially penalises small, independent restaurants in favour of large chains.

Consolidate and diversify
Third-party platforms and marketplaces can be very useful to restaurants, but relying on only one can be risky. You can see a similar pattern in retail, where many sellers avoid relying on one single large platform like Amazon and use multiple channels to access their market, such as social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok, other marketplaces like eBay and Etsy and brick-and-mortar shops.

The same can be said for hospitality operators. For those not already using multiple platforms, now might be a good time to diversify and add additional platforms to ensure continued visibility.

However, this can quickly become overwhelming, leaving workers with half a dozen screens and tablets to monitor, so it’s crucial that restaurants reduce operational stress where possible. One way is by consolidating all platforms into one single POS system. Doing so means all orders come into one POS and then go straight to a single screen in the kitchen space.

In addition to orders, a consolidated system also simplifies accounting once service is over.  Rather than having to check a range of systems and accounts for monthly balances, all accounting information is in one place.

Owning the customer 
In the retail example, using Amazon might prevent a seller from owning their customer relationships. Instead of building and maintaining strong, long-term connections with their customers, a marketplace platform focuses on transactions alone.

For a restaurant operator, ownership of customer relationships means freedom. An independent with strong ownership of customer relationships could simply abandon a platform that began charging an excessive commission, without experiencing a significant impact on turnover.

It’s possible to gradually own more customer relationships while still using third-party platforms. For example, putting promotional stickers on packaging, offering loyalty incentives or using a branded restaurant website or app optimised for search engines can all help drive customers back to direct ordering rather than ordering via a platform. Today, software exists to manage the whole process and make it easier.

By building their own digital channels, rather than sending customers away to a third party, hospitality operators would own more of their customer relationships over time and build a loyal customer base. They could then trial going platform-free for one day per week at first, seeing how profits change and increasing that over time until they no longer rely on large platforms. With the savings from avoiding commissions, vendors could offer customers more deals, too.

In my experience of hospitality, many customers have a habit of repeating orders from a small number of their favourite restaurants; you might even do the same yourself. If restaurants use management hardware and software tools to make this easier and more attractive, coupled with third-party delivery solutions, I can see many more customers adopting direct ordering in the future.

Independent restaurant operators can often feel isolated, perhaps unsure of who to trust in an industry where they're sometimes taken advantage of. Disruption to marketplaces they rely on can make this feel worse, but there are alternative platforms and providers out there that are genuinely invested in helping small businesses thrive. With the right support, it is possible to build a more sustainable, fairer model for food delivery that puts local restaurants first.