The problem
Orders through delivery apps cost commission on every one. If you shift 120 orders a month averaging £18 (£2,160) from an app to your own site, and the app takes 25% (an assumption; use the rate in your own contract), that's £540 a month in commission you would not pay.
What the AI does
Square for Restaurants has a Free plan at £0 a month plus card processing fees, and Square's site says Square Online Ordering is included on it as a free tier. The site says you can take orders on your restaurant website for no monthly fees or commissions, with click and collect or delivery. Online card payments cost 1.4% + 25p for UK cards. Customers order on your page and pay by card; you receive the order in Square and make it. Hardware is sold separately, so check what device you need to receive orders. Allergen information must be available to customers who order online or by phone before they order and when food arrives; it comes from your verified recipe records and a trained person, never from an AI assistant.
A worked example
A kebab and pizza takeaway in Wolverhampton gets many of its orders through delivery apps. It adds an ordering page to its website and Google profile and puts leaflets in every bag offering the direct link.
Before
120 orders x £18 = £2,160, with commission at an assumed 25% = £540 a month
After
Same 120 orders direct: Square fees of 1.4% x £2,160 = £30 plus 25p x 120 = £30, so about £60 a month
What it's worth
About £480 a month saved (£540 commission minus £60 fees) if 120 orders move, or about £240 if only 60 do (£270 minus £30). The 25% commission is an assumption; use your app contract's rate. Square for Restaurants Free is £0 a month; the Plus plan at £69 a month isn't needed for this. Customers have to find the direct link, which is the hard part.
How to set it up
- Check your delivery app contract for any rule about pricing or promoting your own site before you start.
- Sign up for Square for Restaurants Free, enter your menu with prices, and set click and collect and, if you deliver yourself, delivery.
- Add an allergen route for online and phone orders: a link to your allergen information, kept up to date by someone trained, and a note that customers can ask staff.
- Make a test order and pay yourself to check the whole flow, including what appears on your screen.
- Put the ordering link on your website, Google profile and in every bag, and track how many orders arrive each week.
What goes wrong
- Online card payments cost 1.4% + 25p, which is a larger share of small orders, so check your average order. Fees are lower on bigger baskets.
- Moving orders from an app to your own site takes marketing. If few customers use the link, the saving is small.
- Check what the free tier of Square Online Ordering includes before you rely on it, and what hardware you need to receive orders.
- Customers' addresses and phone numbers are personal data under UK GDPR. Use them for the order only, and don't add them to marketing lists without consent.