The Power of Direct Sales For Food Businesses: Cutting Out Intermediaries for Higher Profit in Ireland

Every time an Irish restaurant accepts an order through Deliveroo or Just Eat, between 20-35% of the transaction value leaves the business as commission. On a €40 order, that's €8-€14 going to the platform. Your kitchen prepared the food, your staff packaged it, your reputation delivered the quality, yet a third of the revenue disappears.

For a typical Irish restaurant processing €3,500 monthly in delivery orders through third-party platforms, annual commission costs reach €8,400-€14,700. That's pure money that could have funded staff raises, better ingredients, equipment upgrades, or simply remained as profit.

The restaurant industry has accepted this extraction as inevitable but it doesn't have to be this way.

Irish restaurants can take direct orders, own their customer relationships, keep 94-96% of revenue instead of 65-80%, and build sustainable businesses without intermediary dependence. The technology exists, the costs are manageable, and the customers prefer buying directly when given the option.

The Intermediary Problem in Irish Restaurants

Understanding exactly how intermediaries drain restaurant profitability requires looking at the complete cost structure, not just headline commission rates.

Third-Party Delivery Platform Costs

The advertised commission rate is only the beginning. Deliveroo and Just Eat typically charge 25-35% commission on delivery orders in Ireland. However, the total cost extends far beyond this headline number.

Commission breakdown on a €40 delivery order:

• Base commission at 30%: €12.00

• Customer delivery fee: €3.50 (doesn't reach restaurant)

• Platform service fee to customer: €1.50 (doesn't reach restaurant)

• Restaurant receives: €28.00 from €40 order (€12 went to platform)

• Restaurant's food cost and labour: €16-€18

• Restaurant's actual margin: €10-€12 from €40 order

That 30% commission becomes even more painful when you consider that your profit margin just shrank from €18-€20 (if direct order) to €10-€12 (through platform). The commission consumed half your potential profit.

Additional hidden costs:

• Menu price inflation: Many restaurants charge 15-20% more on platform menus to offset commission, training customers to expect higher prices

• Lost upselling opportunity: Platform interfaces don't showcase your specials, premium items, or add-ons effectively

• Quality risk: Delivery delays or packaging issues beyond your control damage your reputation

• Customer data ownership: You never receive customer contact information, preventing direct marketing

Voucher and Event Platform Costs

Third-party voucher platforms like Groupon extract similarly punitive commission rates. Traditional voucher platforms charge 25-50% commission plus fees, making them unsustainable for most restaurant profit margins.

A €50 restaurant voucher sold through Groupon might net the restaurant only €25-€32.50 after commission and fees. You've committed to providing €50 worth of food and service but received only half that revenue, creating immediate loss on every voucher sold.

These platforms also control customer relationships. When someone purchases a voucher, you don't receive their contact information until redemption. You can't build loyalty, can't market to them directly, and can't convert them into regular customers proactively.

Reservation Platform Costs

Some reservation platforms charge restaurants per booking or monthly subscription fees. While not as extractive as delivery platforms, these costs accumulate quickly for busy restaurants.

A restaurant taking 200 monthly reservations through a platform charging €2 per booking pays €400 monthly, or €4,800 annually. For smaller restaurants with tight margins, this represents significant overhead for basic functionality.

The Accumulation Effect

Irish restaurants often use multiple intermediary platforms simultaneously. One restaurant might use Deliveroo for delivery, Groupon for vouchers, OpenTable for reservations, and pay for social media advertising to attract customers.

Example total intermediary costs monthly:

• Delivery platform commissions: €900-€1,400 (on €3,500 delivery sales)

• Voucher platform commissions: €150-€300 (on €600 voucher sales)

• Reservation platform fees: €200-€400 (on 100-200 reservations)

• Social media advertising: €150-€300

• Total monthly intermediary costs: €1,400-€2,400

• Annual intermediary costs: €16,800-€28,800

For many Irish restaurants, these intermediary costs exceed their annual profit. The business generates positive revenue but pays more to intermediaries than remains as profit. You're working primarily to fund platforms rather than building your own business value.

Why Restaurants Think They Need Intermediaries

The perceived need for intermediaries stems from several mistaken beliefs.

"They have the customers": Platforms claim to provide access to customers you'd never reach otherwise. In reality, most platform orders come from customers who already know your restaurant or live nearby. You're paying 30% commission to reach your own potential customers.

"We can't afford our own technology": Building custom delivery infrastructure, payment processing, and reservation systems seems impossibly expensive. However, modern platform solutions like Mosey provide all these tools for 4.5-6.9% commission or fixed monthly fees under €200, making the technology affordable for any restaurant.

"Nobody will find us without platforms": Restaurants worry that customers search only on Deliveroo or Just Eat, making presence on these platforms mandatory. However, customers regularly search Google, social media, and food-specific discovery apps. Strong direct presence captures these searches without platform commission.

"Direct ordering is too complicated": Managing direct orders, payments, delivery logistics, and customer service seems overwhelming. However, integrated platforms handle all these functions automatically, making direct ordering as simple as platform ordering while keeping far more revenue.

Each belief is understandable but ultimately incorrect. The tools exist to operate profitably without intermediary dependence.

How Direct Sales Transform Restaurant Economics

Taking direct orders instead of using intermediaries fundamentally changes restaurant profit margins by keeping dramatically more revenue from each transaction.

The Mathematical Difference

Compare identical €40 orders placed through a third-party platform versus direct ordering through a restaurant's own system.

€40 order through Deliveroo (30% commission):

• Gross order value: €40

• Platform commission: €12

• Revenue to restaurant: €28

• Food cost (35% of order): €14

• Labour cost (20% of order): €8

• Profit to restaurant: €6 (15% margin)

€40 order direct through Mosey (6% commission):

• Gross order value: €40

• Platform commission: €2.40

• Transaction fee: €0.89 (paid by customer)

• Revenue to restaurant: €37.60

• Food cost (35% of order): €14

• Labour cost (20% of order): €8

• Profit to restaurant: €15.60 (39% margin)

The direct order generates €9.60 more profit than the platform order, representing 160% higher profit margin. You earned 2.6 times more profit from the identical order simply by receiving it directly instead of through an intermediary.

Scale this across monthly order volume to see the true impact.

Restaurant processing €3,500 monthly in delivery orders:

• Through third-party platform (30% commission): €735 monthly profit (€8,820 annually)

• Through direct system (6% commission): €1,911 monthly profit (€22,932 annually)

• Additional profit from direct sales: €1,176 monthly (€14,112 annually)

That €14,112 annual additional profit could fund a staff member's salary, significant ingredient quality upgrades, equipment replacement, or simply improve the business's financial health dramatically.

Customer Lifetime Value Ownership

Beyond single transaction economics, direct sales provide something even more valuable: customer data and relationships that enable ongoing marketing.

Third-party platform order:

• You receive the order details

• You prepare and fulfill the food

• Platform owns customer email, phone, order history

• You cannot market to that customer directly

• If customer wants to reorder, they use the platform again (paying 30% commission again)

• Customer lifetime value belongs to the platform, not you

Direct order through your system:

• You receive the order details

• You prepare and fulfill the food

• You own customer email, phone, order history

• You can email special offers, new menu items, seasonal promotions

• Customer builds habit of ordering directly from you

• Each repeat order keeps full margin without commission

• Customer lifetime value belongs to you

A customer who orders once becomes worth 5-10x more when you own the relationship. Direct sales convert one-time platform transactions into ongoing customer relationships that compound value over time.

Price Competitiveness Without Inflated Menus

Many restaurants inflate menu prices on third-party platforms to offset commission costs. A burger that costs €14 in-restaurant might be €16.50 on Deliveroo. This protects margin but creates customer frustration and perception that delivery is expensive.

Direct ordering lets you charge fair prices because you're not offsetting 30% commission. You can offer the same €14 price for delivery as in-restaurant dining, making your direct ordering dramatically more attractive to customers than competitors inflating prices on platforms.

This price competitiveness converts occasional platform users into loyal direct customers. When customers realize ordering direct from your restaurant costs €8-€12 less than ordering the same items through Deliveroo, they switch to direct ordering immediately.

Brand Control and Customer Experience

Third-party platforms control the customer experience, often in ways that damage your restaurant's reputation.

Platform delivery drivers might arrive late, handle food roughly, or interact poorly with customers. You receive the negative reviews and reputation damage despite having no control over delivery quality.

Platform interfaces showcase your menu poorly, bury premium items, and fail to convey your restaurant's atmosphere or values. Customers see generic listings identical to hundreds of competitors.

Direct sales give you complete control. Design your menu presentation, highlight specialties, explain ingredient sourcing, showcase your story. Manage delivery timing and quality. Control the entire customer experience from order to delivery, protecting your reputation.

Marketing Cost Reduction

Restaurants using only third-party platforms must continuously attract new customers because they don't own existing customer relationships. This requires constant marketing spending on social media ads, Google ads, and other expensive channels.

Direct sales with customer data ownership enable email marketing, remarketing, and targeted promotions to previous customers. These channels cost a fraction of new customer acquisition advertising while generating higher conversion rates.

A restaurant with 2,000 customers in their direct ordering database can send promotional emails for €0, generate 8-12% order conversion rates, and drive significant revenue without advertising costs. A restaurant relying only on platforms must pay €3-€8 per conversion through advertising, making every order expensive to acquire.

Building Your Direct Sales System

Creating a direct sales system that replaces intermediary platforms requires planning but isn't technically complex or prohibitively expensive.

Platform Selection

Choose an integrated platform that handles ordering, payment processing, customer data management, and marketing tools in one system. Piecing together separate solutions from different vendors creates complexity and integration problems.

Mosey provides everything Irish restaurants need for direct sales:

• Digital menu with photos and descriptions

• Direct ordering for collection and delivery

• Payment processing through Stripe

• Customer database with contact information

• Marketing and notification tools

• Voucher sales and management

• Event ticketing

• Reservation requests

• All integrated in one platform

The alternative is assembling separate solutions: one vendor for website ordering, another for payment processing, another for customer database, another for email marketing. This fragmented approach costs more, creates technical challenges, and makes customer experience inconsistent.

Pricing Structure That Makes Sense

Mosey charges 6% commission on collection orders and 6.9% on delivery orders, compared to 25-35% on third-party platforms. This pricing structure is specifically designed to make direct sales profitable for restaurants while covering platform costs sustainably.

Mosey pricing example on €40 collection order:

• Order value: €40

• Mosey commission (6%): €2.40

• Transaction fee (paid by customer): €0.89

• Restaurant receives: €37.60

• Restaurant keeps 94% of order value

Compare this to keeping 65-70% of order value on third-party platforms, and the economic advantage becomes immediately clear.

The free tier includes basic features. Paid tiers (€59.99 or €169.99 monthly) add advanced reservation management, CRM tools, and premium features. However, direct ordering, vouchers, and basic functionality work perfectly on the free tier, meaning even small restaurants can eliminate intermediary dependence without monthly fees.

Menu Setup and Optimization

Your direct ordering menu requires more thought than platform menus because you control the entire presentation.

Menu categories that work:

• Organize by meal type (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and category (starters, mains, desserts)

• Feature bestsellers and signature dishes prominently

• Include detailed descriptions emphasizing quality ingredients

• Add dietary labels (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free) clearly

• Show food photos for key items

Pricing strategy:

• Match in-restaurant prices to show fairness

• Consider small collection discount (5-10%) to encourage collection over delivery

• Avoid platform-style price inflation that frustrates customers

• Clearly show any delivery fees or minimum orders

Menu optimization:

• Highlight higher-margin items subtly through position and description

• Create combo meals or meal deals that increase average order value

• Suggest pairings and add-ons during order flow

• Update seasonal specials regularly to encourage repeat orders

Customer Transition Strategy

You can't eliminate third-party platforms immediately without losing orders. A transition strategy maintains revenue while building direct sales volume.

Month 1-2: Build foundation

• Set up Mosey account with complete menu

• Test ordering system with staff and friends

• Create marketing materials promoting direct ordering

• Train staff to mention direct ordering to customers

Month 3-4: Promote direct ordering

• Add direct ordering links to social media bios

• Include direct ordering info on receipts and packaging

• Offer first-order incentive (10% off first direct order)

• Send email to existing customers about new direct ordering

Month 5-6: Track and optimize

• Monitor what percentage of orders come direct versus platforms

• Calculate actual profit margin difference

• Adjust incentives based on conversion rates

• Focus marketing on direct ordering benefits (lower prices, faster service)

Month 7-8: Reduce platform dependence

• If direct orders exceed 40% of total, consider reducing platform commission by negotiating or limiting hours

• Maintain platform presence only for marginal new customer acquisition

• Focus all marketing and customer service on direct channel

Month 9+: Platform as minority channel

• Direct orders should represent 60-75% of delivery volume

• Use platforms only for discovery by new customers

• Immediate follow-up converts platform customers to direct for repeat orders

This gradual transition maintains revenue throughout while building sustainable direct sales infrastructure.

Staff Training and Buy-In

Staff are crucial to direct sales success because they interact with customers constantly and can promote direct ordering naturally.

Train staff to mention direct ordering:

• At bill payment: "You can order directly from us for collection or delivery through Mosey, it's usually faster and cheaper than Deliveroo"

• When handing receipts: "There's a link on here for direct ordering if you'd like to order for collection in future"

• When packaging takeaway: "Next time you can order direct through our app, it saves you the delivery fees"

Explain the benefit to staff:

• Higher profit margins mean more stable employment and potential raises

• Direct customers become regulars, providing more reliable tips

• Less dependence on platforms means less vulnerability to commission increases

Create incentive structure:

• Small bonus for promoting direct ordering (€20 monthly bonus if 15+ customers sign up)

• Recognition for staff who successfully promote direct channel

• Share profit improvement data with team to show collective benefit

Staff who understand why direct sales matter and see personal benefit become your most effective marketing channel.

Why Mosey Makes Direct Sales Easy for Irish Restaurants

Multiple solutions exist for restaurant direct sales, but Mosey specifically addresses challenges Irish restaurants face when trying to eliminate intermediary dependence.

One Platform, Everything Included

Rather than piecing together ordering systems, payment processors, customer databases, marketing tools, and reservation platforms from different vendors, Mosey provides all functionality integrated in one place.

This integration matters tremendously. A customer who orders through Mosey automatically joins your customer database. You can send them emails about promotions, sell them vouchers for future visits, let them book reservations, and promote events. All from one system with one login, one interface, and one source of truth for customer data.

Fragmented solutions require manually transferring customer data between systems, recreating marketing lists, and managing multiple logins and platforms. This complexity causes problems: missed opportunities, duplicated effort, and data inconsistencies.

Customer Data Ownership Built In

Every direct order through Mosey provides customer email, phone number, and order history. This data belongs to you completely. Export it anytime, use it however you want, build your business on relationships you own rather than rent from platforms.

The value of this data ownership compounds over time. One month of direct orders might generate 50-80 new customer profiles. Six months generates 300-480 profiles. A year generates 600-960 profiles. This growing database enables increasingly effective and inexpensive marketing.

Traditional platforms deliberately withhold customer data to maintain dependence. You'll never build an owned customer base using Deliveroo or Just Eat. Mosey's entire model depends on you owning customer relationships and succeeding independently.

Fair, Transparent Commission

Mosey charges 6% commission on collection orders versus 25-35% on third-party platforms. This isn't a promotional rate or temporary offer. It's the permanent pricing structure designed to make direct sales economically sustainable for restaurants.

The 6% covers payment processing fees, platform development, customer support, and fraud protection. It's the actual cost of providing reliable infrastructure, not an exploitative rate designed to extract maximum value from restaurants.

Commission comparison on €1,000 weekly orders:

• Deliveroo (30% commission): €300 weekly to platform, €700 to restaurant

• Mosey (6% commission): €60 weekly to platform, €940 to restaurant

• Extra €240 weekly profit (€12,480 annually) keeping the €940 vs €700

The commission difference alone justifies switching. Everything else (customer data ownership, brand control, better margins) is additional benefit.

Ireland-Focused Features

Mosey understands Irish restaurant challenges: January-February slow seasons, tourist season variability, bank holiday impact, local competition patterns, and Irish consumer preferences.

Features reflect Irish market conditions. Voucher functionality specifically targets Irish gifting patterns during Christmas, communion, confirmation, and graduation seasons. Event ticketing handles Irish celebration dining culture. Marketing tools address seasonal Irish restaurant challenges.

Customer support speaks Irish restaurant language. Questions about managing slow January periods, maximizing communion season revenue, or handling tourist season capacity receive answers from people who understand Irish market dynamics.

No Lock-In, No Risk

Use Mosey's free tier indefinitely with full ordering, voucher, and basic functionality. No monthly fees, no forced upgrades, no commitment. Pay only 6% commission on actual sales.

This no-risk structure means you can implement direct sales without upfront investment or ongoing costs if volume stays low. As direct sales grow, the commission structure scales naturally without sudden fee jumps or punitive pricing tiers.

You can also leave anytime. Your customer data exports completely. No contracts lock you in. No cancellation fees punish you for leaving. This fair treatment builds trust rather than dependence.

Common Success Patterns from Irish Restaurants Eliminating Intermediaries

Irish restaurants that have successfully reduced or eliminated intermediary dependence consistently report similar patterns and outcomes across different business sizes and locations.

Several factors unite successful intermediary elimination cases.

Customer communication works: Restaurants that clearly explained to customers why direct ordering is better (lower prices, better service, supports the restaurant directly) saw faster transition rates than those hoping customers would discover direct ordering organically.

Gradual transition beats sudden elimination: Restaurants that maintained platform presence while building direct sales avoided revenue disruption. Immediate platform elimination risked losing customers not yet aware of direct option.

Staff training matters: Restaurants where staff actively promoted direct ordering see 40-60% faster transition rates than those relying only on passive marketing.

Customer data leveraged properly: Restaurants that used owned customer data for email marketing, special offers, and loyalty programs saw much higher repeat direct order rates than those simply collecting data without using it.

Quality maintenance essential: Restaurants that compromised food quality or service during transition lost customers regardless of channel. Direct sales success requires maintaining excellent operations throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions About Direct Sales for Irish Restaurants

Q: How much can Irish restaurants save by switching from third-party platforms to direct sales?

A: Commission savings typically range from €8,000-€35,000 annually depending on order volume. A restaurant processing €3,500 monthly in delivery orders through platforms charging 30% commission pays €12,600 annually. Switching to direct sales through Mosey at 6% commission reduces costs to €2,520 annually, saving €10,080. Larger restaurants with higher volumes save proportionally more. Beyond commission savings, owning customer data eliminates expensive advertising costs for repeat customer acquisition, adding thousands more in annual savings.

Q: Will customers actually order directly instead of using Deliveroo or Just Eat?

A: Yes, when direct ordering offers clear advantages. Customers prefer direct ordering when it's cheaper (no inflated platform pricing or delivery fees), faster (direct relationship with restaurant improves communication), and easier (saved payment info and order history). Irish restaurants report that 60-75% of customers switch to direct ordering within 6 months when the restaurant actively promotes the direct channel and explains benefits. Price transparency is particularly effective - showing customers they save €5-€8 per order by ordering direct drives immediate conversion.

Q: What does Mosey charge compared to Deliveroo and Just Eat?

A: Mosey charges 6% commission on collection orders and 6.9% commission on delivery orders, compared to 25-35% on Deliveroo and Just Eat. On a €40 order, Mosey takes €2.40-€2.76 while third-party platforms take €10-€14. This means you keep €37.24-€37.60 with Mosey versus €26-€30 with platforms, representing 28-44% higher revenue from identical orders. The €0.89 transaction fee is paid by customers, not restaurants. There are no hidden fees, monthly minimums, or forced spending commitments.

Q: Can small restaurants afford to eliminate platform dependence?

A: Small restaurants benefit most from eliminating platform dependence because commission costs represent a larger percentage of tight profit margins. Mosey's free tier includes full direct ordering functionality, requiring zero monthly fees. You pay only 6% commission on actual orders, making the system affordable regardless of volume. Even processing just €1,000 monthly in direct orders saves €240-€290 monthly compared to platforms, while processing €3,000 monthly saves €720-€870 monthly. These savings are significant for small businesses operating on thin margins.

Q: How long does it take to transition from platforms to direct sales?

A: Most Irish restaurants achieve 60-70% direct sales within 6-8 months while maintaining platform presence for marginal discovery. The transition timeline includes: Month 1-2 building foundation and testing, Month 3-4 promoting direct ordering aggressively, Month 5-6 tracking results and optimizing, Month 7+ reducing platform dependence as direct volume grows. Immediate complete elimination risks losing customers not yet aware of direct option. Gradual transition maintains revenue while building sustainable direct sales infrastructure that eventually replaces platform dependence.

Build Your Direct Sales System Today

Irish restaurants collectively pay tens of millions of euros annually in unnecessary intermediary commissions. Every platform order at 30% commission represents profit you created but didn't keep. Every voucher sold through Groupon at 40% commission is revenue you generated but surrendered to intermediaries.

This extraction isn't inevitable. You can take direct orders, own customer relationships, keep 94% of transaction value, and build a sustainable business without platform dependence. The technology exists today, the costs are minimal, and the customers prefer buying directly when given the option.

Mosey provides everything Irish restaurants need to eliminate intermediary dependence: integrated ordering, payment processing, customer data management, marketing tools, voucher sales, event ticketing, and reservation management. All in one platform designed specifically for Irish food businesses, charging 6% commission compared to 25-35% on third-party platforms.

The financial impact is immediate and substantial. A restaurant processing €3,500 monthly in delivery orders saves €10,000+ annually switching from platforms to direct sales. A restaurant selling €6,400 monthly in vouchers saves €18,000+ annually switching from Groupon to Mosey. These savings fund staff raises, ingredient quality improvements, equipment upgrades, or simply improve business financial health dramatically.

Beyond commission savings, direct sales provide customer data ownership, brand control, pricing flexibility, and marketing capabilities that create compounding value over time. A direct customer becomes worth 5-10x more than a platform customer because you own the relationship and can market to them directly for every repeat order.

Stop funding intermediary platforms that extract profit from your business while preventing you from building lasting customer relationships. Start taking direct orders that keep revenue where it belongs: funding your staff, improving your restaurant, and building your business value.

Create your free Mosey account today and start building your sales directly.