Business Growth
How Toronto Restaurants Save 30% in Delivery Commissions With Their Own Ordering App
Keep your regulars, your customer data, and your margins by pairing third-party marketplaces with your own branded iOS, Android, and web ordering app.
October 11, 2026 · 6 min read
Business GrowthDelivery marketplaces can be helpful for introducing a new customer to your restaurant. But when a loyal neighbourhood regular orders Friday night pizza or shawarma from you twenty times a year through a third-party app, giving away 25% to 30% of every ticket drains your kitchen's profit.
Here is how independent restaurants across Toronto and Ontario are moving repeat customers onto their own branded ordering apps.
1. Make Reordering Faster Than Any Marketplace
Customers stick with habits that are effortless. When your restaurant's app lives on their phone's home screen with saved favourites, custom half-and-half topping builders, and two-tap Apple Pay / Google Pay checkout, ordering direct becomes the easiest choice.
2. Use Box Toppers & First-Order Rewards to Convert Regulars
Every bag or pizza box that leaves your kitchen is a free billboard. A simple QR code on the box offering '$5 off or free garlic bread on your first direct app order' converts marketplace buyers into direct regulars on their very next order.
3. Fill Slow Nights With Direct Push Notifications
Instead of discounting your menu on third-party apps on a rainy Tuesday, a single push notification sent at 4:30 PM ('Double loyalty points + free dip on direct orders tonight') reaches your regulars instantly at zero ad cost.
Want to see how your menu looks inside a branded ordering app? Test-drive our Pizza Pulse demo (/apps-for-restaurants). Tell us about your project.
