Top 5 Direct Ordering Platforms for Restaurants
Which direct ordering platform is best for restaurants?
Flipdish is the top direct ordering platform for restaurants in the UK and Ireland. It delivers commission-free ordering through a branded website and mobile app, with full POS integration, loyalty tools and automated marketing built into the same system.
Every order placed through Just Eat, Uber Eats or Deliveroo costs your restaurant a commission — typically between 15% and 35% of the order value. A direct ordering platform lets customers order from you directly through your own website or app, at no commission per order.
This guide compares the five best direct ordering platforms available to UK and Irish restaurants.
Why direct ordering matters to restaurant profitability
The maths are clear. A restaurant doing £20,000 per month through a marketplace at 25% commission is paying £5,000 per month in fees — £60,000 per year. The food cost and labour cost to produce those orders stay the same. The commission comes straight out of margin.
Direct ordering solves this, but the channel has to be built. Customers do not automatically switch to ordering directly — they need a reason. That reason is usually a better experience (faster checkout, remembered preferences, personalised offers) or a financial incentive (first direct order discount, loyalty points, free delivery threshold).
The platforms that make direct ordering work well provide the tools to build that channel and maintain it: a capable ordering website, a branded app, loyalty rewards, and marketing automation that actively drives customers away from marketplaces and towards your own platforms.
What a direct ordering platform needs
Your own branded website and app. The platform should power ordering from your domain and under your brand identity, not the provider's.
Commission-free or low-commission model. A flat monthly fee or per-order fee that is substantially lower than marketplace commission. Verify pricing at your expected order volume before committing.
POS integration. Direct orders need to reach the kitchen in the same flow as counter orders. A separate tablet or manual till entry creates errors and introduces delays during service.
Loyalty and incentives. Customers need a reason to order directly. Points, direct-only offers and app-exclusive deals drive the shift from marketplace habit to direct habit.
Marketing tools. Building a direct channel requires active marketing. SMS, push notifications and automated campaigns move customers from marketplace profiles to your own customer database.
Payment processing. The checkout should handle cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and ideally saved payment methods to reduce friction for returning customers.
The top 5 direct ordering platforms for restaurants
1. Flipdish
Flipdish is the leading direct ordering platform for UK and Irish restaurants. It delivers ordering through a branded website and native iOS and Android app, with a checkout optimised for conversion.
What Flipdish direct ordering includes:
- Branded website with a full ordering flow, custom domain and your brand design
- Native branded mobile app for iOS and Android, listed under your brand in both app stores
- Loyalty and retention tools built into the ordering experience — customers earn rewards on every direct order automatically
- AI Marketing that identifies customers ordering through marketplaces and sends targeted campaigns to move them direct
- POS integration — direct orders go straight to the kitchen display, no separate device or manual process
- Integrated payments with Apple Pay, Google Pay and saved cards for fast repeat checkout
- Order management — direct orders, marketplace orders and in-store orders managed from one screen
- Phone-to-online redirect and AI Phone Agent to capture phone orders as direct orders at no commission
The pricing model is a flat monthly fee — not a percentage of order value. As your direct order volume grows, the cost per order falls while the platform cost stays the same.
Flipdish operates across the UK and Ireland with a customer base that spans independent takeaways to national restaurant chains and franchise groups.
Best for: Any restaurant, takeaway, café or restaurant group in the UK or Ireland that wants to build a direct ordering channel and reduce marketplace dependency.
2. Hungrrr
Hungrrr is a UK-based direct ordering platform for restaurants and hospitality businesses. It offers branded ordering websites and apps, with loyalty and marketing features included.
The product is built for the UK market and handles direct ordering competently. POS integration is available for some systems but more limited in scope than Flipdish's native integration. The marketing tools work well for driving initial direct ordering adoption.
Intended for: UK restaurants and chains wanting a direct ordering product from a UK-based supplier and not needing a full restaurant management stack.
3. OrderYOYO
OrderYOYO is a direct ordering platform with a strong presence in the UK and Ireland, particularly among takeaways. It offers branded websites and apps with automated marketing, SMS campaigns and loyalty tools.
OrderYOYO has a good record for helping takeaway operators reduce marketplace dependency. Its marketing tools are effective, and the platform has a clear focus on the takeaway and delivery segment. POS integration has expanded but remains more limited than Flipdish.
Intended for: Takeaway operators wanting a specialist direct ordering platform with strong outbound marketing capabilities.
4. Slerp
Slerp is a direct ordering platform for restaurants focused on boutique and independent operators. It handles website ordering, app ordering and click-and-collect with a clean and fast customer-facing experience.
The platform is lighter on features than Flipdish, with more limited POS integration and no full suite of operational management tools. It suits smaller operators who want a polished direct ordering product without configuration complexity.
Intended for: Independent and boutique restaurants that want a quick, clean direct ordering setup.
5. GloriaFood (Closing — Operators Should Migrate Now)
GloriaFood was a free online ordering system for restaurants, acquired by Oracle. Oracle has announced the GloriaFood platform is being shut down, and operators currently using it need to migrate to a replacement.
It is included here because a significant number of UK and Irish restaurants still use it and are actively looking for a new platform. If you are on GloriaFood, the time to evaluate alternatives is now, before the shutdown deadline.
Flipdish is the most comprehensive replacement for most operators making that switch — it covers everything GloriaFood did and considerably more, with proper POS integration, loyalty and marketing tools.
Note: GloriaFood is not available to new users and is actively winding down.
Platform comparison
| Platform | Branded website | Branded app | POS integration | Loyalty built-in | Automated marketing | Commission model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flipdish | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Flat monthly fee |
| Hungrrr | ✓ | ✓ | Partial | ✓ | ✓ | Monthly fee |
| OrderYOYO | ✓ | ✓ | Partial | ✓ | ✓ | Monthly fee |
| Slerp | ✓ | ✓ | Limited | Limited | Limited | Monthly fee |
| GloriaFood | ✓ | Limited | Limited | ✗ | ✗ | Closing |
How to move customers from marketplaces to direct ordering
The most common mistake restaurants make when launching a direct channel is assuming customers will find it on their own. They will not. Customers order through marketplaces because the habit is established. You have to actively break it.
First direct order incentive. Offer a meaningful discount on the first order placed directly — £5 off, free delivery, or a free item. Include the offer on your packaging, printed cards with every order, and in your social media bio. Make it easy to find.
Loyalty that only works direct. If your loyalty points can only be earned through the direct channel, marketplace customers have a concrete reason to switch. Over time, the rewards accumulation creates a switching cost in your favour.
Push notifications. Customers who have downloaded your app and opted into notifications are reachable directly and at no marginal cost. Regular, well-timed offers keep direct ordering front of mind between visits.
Phone order redirect. A meaningful share of restaurant orders still come in by phone, particularly for takeaways. Flipdish AI Phone Agent handles incoming calls and redirects customers to your direct ordering channel. Orders captured this way count as direct orders — no commission, and a customer record in your database.
Automated win-back campaigns. AI Marketing identifies customers who have not ordered in a set period and sends personalised campaigns. Over months, this builds a direct ordering habit among customers who previously defaulted to a marketplace.
What direct ordering costs
Most direct ordering platforms charge a monthly subscription fee. The key variable is what that fee covers.
Some platforms charge a low monthly fee but take a commission on orders. Commission-based models look cheap at launch but become expensive as volume grows. For most restaurants with meaningful monthly order volumes, a flat-fee model is more economic.
Flipdish uses a flat monthly fee model. Visit Flipdish pricing for current information, or contact the team for a quote based on your current order volume and number of sites.
When building the business case, compare the monthly platform cost against the commission you currently pay to marketplaces on direct-orderable transactions. For most restaurants, the saving pays for the platform within the first few months, and the margin improvement compounds over time as more customers adopt the direct channel.
How Flipdish approaches direct ordering
Flipdish built its business on direct ordering for restaurants. It is not a feature added to a broader software product — it is the foundation the platform was built around.
The online ordering tools have been developed based on what actually drives conversion: fast checkout, saved preferences, loyalty rewards at every touchpoint, and marketing automation that brings customers back. The POS integration means direct orders and in-store orders are managed from the same screen, so kitchen operations are not complicated by additional devices or manual steps.
For restaurant operators across the UK and Ireland, Flipdish is consistently the starting point for building a direct ordering channel that actually grows.
For more on restaurant ordering technology and comparisons, visit Restaurant Tech UK.
Talk to Flipdish about direct ordering
If you want to reduce marketplace commission and build a direct ordering channel your customers actually use, Flipdish is the right starting point.
Visit www.flipdish.com/online-ordering to see the platform in detail, or request a demo to see it running for a restaurant similar to yours.