Guide
Should you leave the marketplace?
Usually not yet, and rarely all at once. Here is how to work out where you actually stand.
In short
Most restaurants should not leave a marketplace outright. The better move is to build a direct channel alongside it and shift repeat customers across, because the marketplace still supplies discovery you would otherwise have to buy. Consider leaving only when your direct channel already carries meaningful volume and the platform's remaining orders are mostly repeat customers you introduced yourself.
Updated 28 August 2026
Split your platform orders in two
Every marketplace order is either discovery or repeat. Discovery is somebody who found you through the app and would not otherwise have known you existed: that commission is a marketing cost you chose. Repeat is somebody ordering from you again through a channel that charges you every time. If most of your platform volume is repeat, you are paying an introduction fee for people already introduced.
The test that answers it
Build the direct channel first, run both for three to six months, and watch what happens to the mix. If direct grows steadily without total orders falling, the marketplace was mostly billing you for your own regulars. If total orders fall as direct grows, the platform was genuinely generating demand and you should keep it.
What leaving actually costs
More than the orders. You lose visibility in an app people browse when undecided, you lose new-customer discovery, and you may lose delivery coverage on streets your own drivers do not reach. New shops in particular should not leave, because they have no list and no reputation to fall back on.
The middle path most operators take
Stay listed, stop promoting the marketplace, and put the effort into direct: the order link on your Google profile, your web address on every bag, and a loyalty scheme that only accrues on direct orders. The share moves gradually and you never have a week where the phone stops ringing.
When leaving is genuinely right
When direct already carries the majority of your delivery volume, when you have your own drivers covering your zone, and when the platform's remaining orders are overwhelmingly repeat customers. At that point the platform is a cost rather than a channel. That is a real position to reach, and it takes most restaurants a year or more.
Questions, answered straight.
Not covered here? Just ask us.
What if the platform is my only source of orders?
Then do not leave. Build the alternative first. Leaving without a replacement is not a strategy, it is a decision to be quiet.
Will they punish me for reducing my activity?
Platform ranking responds to things like acceptance rate and prep time. Staying listed and serving normally is not the same as promoting, and it is the low-risk position.
Can I raise my prices on the platform instead?
Often, subject to your contract. It is the most common approach and it gives customers a reason to order direct while keeping the discovery.
How long before direct carries real volume?
Months. It moves at the speed you tell your existing customers, which is why packaging and your Google profile matter more than anything else early on.
See it run your restaurant.
Twenty minutes on your menu and your numbers. We'll show you what actually changes in the first month and exactly what it costs. If it's not right for your restaurant, we'll tell you that instead.
- Live in days, not months
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