And why giving them away to third-party apps is costing you more than just money
Imagine this: you go to book a flight directly on United Airlines’ website and instead of completing the purchase there, they send you to Expedia. You’d probably raise an eyebrow. So why are so many restaurants still doing the same thing when it comes to online ordering?
The truth is: if you’re sending your customers to DoorDash or any other third-party platform, you’re handing over your profits, your data, and your loyal customers. And those platforms? They’re not loyal to you.
Let’s talk about why owning your customer is one of the most important things you can do as a restaurant operator and how to take that power back.
You’re Giving Away Margin You Could Be Keeping
Yes, you can raise your prices on DoorDash to offset their 20–30% commission. But if your customer is willing to pay $24 for that entrée through DoorDash… why not offer it for the same price through your own online ordering and keep the full margin?
With ordering on your own website, your customers see your branding and place orders directly with you. That means no commission fees and you keep the entire transaction.
Bottom line:
If customers are already paying more, you should be the one benefiting not the middleman.
You Lose the Relationship (and the Repeat Business)
DoorDash owns the order. DoorDash owns the customer. DoorDash sends the confirmation, handles the receipt, and follows up with their app not you.
When a customer orders through your own website:
- You get their contact info.
- You control the message.
- You can follow up with AI-powered remarketing to bring them back without lifting a finger.
And when they come back? They come back to you not whoever’s paying DoorDash to run a promotion that day.
Loyalty Can’t Be Outsourced
You work hard to build your reputation. But DoorDash doesn’t care about your brand. They care about keeping people ordering through them, not from you.
If a new restaurant opens across the street with a bigger DoorDash ad budget or better photos, guess what? They get the same visibility as you or more. Your loyal customer becomes their new one. No thanks.
When you own the guest journey from start to finish, you build loyalty on your terms, from remarketing to reputation management.
You Miss Out on the Data That Drives Growth
When customers order through third-party platforms, you don’t get:
- Their email
- Their order patterns
- Their visit frequency
- Their lifetime value
With orders through your website, all of that becomes part of your toolkit, so you can make smarter decisions, target the right offers, and personalize your marketing with the help of AI.
You’re Investing in a Platform That Will Never Prioritize You
At the end of the day, DoorDash works for DoorDash, not for your business.
Your restaurant is just one of many. Promotions, rankings, and customer recommendations are based on algorithms that prioritize their goals not yours. And when the next shiny new spot opens up? You’re back to square one in the app.
When you own your own system you’re building equity in your brand not someone else’s.
Take Back What’s Yours
Your customers.
Your data.
Your margins.
Your brand.
