Deliveroo and Just Eat Commissions Eating Your Profit? Here's the Maths

The commission nobody models properly#

When restaurants join Deliveroo, UberEats, or Just Eat, they typically focus on the volume of new orders — not the economics of each order. A restaurant doing £8,000/month in Deliveroo orders and paying 30% commission is paying £2,400/month to Deliveroo. On top of that: packaging at £0.50-£1.00 per order, potential menu inflation to partially offset the commission (which reduces order volume), and kitchen labour that is now split between dine-in and delivery. Run the numbers properly — food cost + packaging + platform commission + allocated kitchen overhead — and your net margin on a delivery order is often half of what it is on a dine-in equivalent. That is not necessarily a reason to quit delivery. But it is a reason to understand it and price accordingly.

Commission rates by platform#

Commission rates vary by platform, tier, and negotiation. As a rough guide for UK restaurants: Deliveroo charges 25-35% of the order value, with rates depending on order volume and geographic exclusivity. UberEats charges 25-30%. Just Eat operates a hybrid model — some operators pay per-order commission, others pay a subscription fee plus a lower commission. All platforms charge the commission on the gross order value including VAT in some configurations, which means you pay commission on tax you collect for HMRC, not for yourself. Understanding exactly what your commission is calculated on is the first financial literacy step for any restaurant on a delivery platform.

Modelling net margin per delivery order in AskBiz#

AskBiz pulls your delivery revenue from each platform (via direct API integrations) and automatically deducts the platform commission from the reported revenue to show net delivery revenue. Combined with your food cost data from the recipe library, you get net margin per delivery order — not gross. You can filter by platform, by dish, by day, and by time period. The output is clear: your Deliveroo fish and chips order generates £1.40 net margin. Your in-house fish and chips generates £9.20 net margin. Both sell at £14. The question becomes strategic: is the Deliveroo volume filling kitchen capacity that would otherwise be idle, or is it competing with dine-in for the same kitchen resources?

Pricing strategy: should you charge more on delivery platforms?#

Most major delivery platforms now allow restaurants to set different prices for their delivery menus versus their dine-in menu. Some operators inflate delivery prices by 10-15% to partially recover the commission. This strategy works when your target delivery customer is not also a regular dine-in customer who will notice the discrepancy. It fails when your local repeat customers compare your Deliveroo menu to your in-house menu and feel penalised. AskBiz tracks average order value and order volume by platform separately, so you can model the impact of price changes on both revenue and order count before committing.

The direct ordering channel: commission-free economics#

An increasingly popular strategy is building a direct ordering channel — a branded website or app — and using third-party platforms primarily for customer acquisition rather than ongoing retention. The economics shift dramatically: a direct order on your own website has zero platform commission, lower packaging costs if the customer collects, and a customer relationship you own (email, phone number, loyalty data). AskBiz integrates with direct ordering platforms like Flipdish and Pepper and shows you the blended economics across all channels. Some restaurants find that moving 20-30% of repeat customers from Deliveroo to direct ordering saves £800-1,200/month in commission on the same order volume.

When delivery is worth it and when it is not#

Delivery makes economic sense when: your kitchen has spare capacity during off-peak hours that delivery fills (marginal cost is low), your delivery menu is engineered specifically for the channel with higher margins than your dine-in menu, or delivery serves a genuinely different customer segment that does not overlap with your dine-in revenue. Delivery makes less sense when: your kitchen is at capacity during peak hours and delivery is competing with higher-margin dine-in, your delivery menu mirrors your dine-in menu without margin adjustment, or your refund rate on delivery is above 3% (which wipes margin quickly). AskBiz shows you the data to answer these questions for your specific operation.

Negotiating better commission rates#

Commission rates are not fixed. Restaurants with high order volumes — typically above £10,000-£15,000/month on a single platform — have negotiating leverage. AskBiz gives you a clean export of your monthly order volume, average order value, and revenue by platform. Armed with this, you can approach your platform account manager and negotiate. A 2-3% commission reduction on £12,000/month delivery revenue saves £240-360/month — or £2,880-£4,320/year. That conversation pays for several years of AskBiz subscription on its own.

• A dish that sells for £14 with a £4 food cost looks like a great margin.
• After 30% Deliveroo commission (£4.20), packaging (£0.60), and a proportion of kitchen labour, that dish is making you £1.20.
• AskBiz calculates net margin per delivery channel so you know which orders are actually worth taking.