What an online ordering system should cost

An online ordering system should cost you a monthly fee per site, plus at most a small share of your card orders: a few pence in the pound, not a marketplace's cut. To judge a quote, work out what it would have cost you on last month's real orders and put that next to your marketplace statement.

There are only three ways an ordering system can charge you, and the difference between them is worth more than any feature comparison. Work out which one you are being quoted and the rest of the decision gets much simpler.

The three charging models

A big share of every order. This is how the marketplaces work, and how some ordering systems work too. It feels cheap because you only pay when you sell. It gets expensive because the share is large, it comes off before the money reaches you, and it applies to your regulars just as much as to the customers the platform found.

A monthly fee, sometimes with a small share of card orders. This is the model to expect from an ordering system, and it is how we charge. The monthly fee is the same in a busy month and a quiet one. Where there is a per-order share, it should be small, it should count only what the customer ordered, and it should apply only to card orders. You pay the fee in a quiet month, and in exchange most of every order stays with you in a busy one.

Free, with a catch. Sometimes the catch is fair (a free tier that stops short of what you need). Sometimes it is card processing at a rate you did not choose, or your customer data being worth more than the subscription. Ask what the business model is. There always is one.

What to add up before comparing anything

A monthly price is not a cost. Get these in writing before you sign:

• The per-order share, if there is one. The percentage, what it counts and which orders it applies to. The items only, or delivery fees and tips as well. Card orders only, or cash too.
• Who builds the menu. If you are typing in two hundred dishes with all their options yourself, that is days of your life. Ask whether they do it.
• Card processing. Whose account, whose rates, and when does the money reach you. A system that holds your takings and pays out weekly is a cash flow decision, not just a fee.
• Apps, if you want them. Often a separate line, sometimes a much bigger one.
• Extra locations. Per site, or one price for all of them.
• What happens to your customer list if you leave. Ask this one before you need the answer.

Three things to watch for

A setup fee you hear about late. Several hundred pounds is common, and it is sometimes mentioned only after you have said yes. Ask for it on the first call, in writing. It is often negotiable or waived early on.

A per-order fee on cash orders. Some systems charge per order whether the customer paid by card or in cash. Ask, and put it in your sum, because a busy cash night adds up.

A long lock-in. Twelve months is common, and some contracts run longer or renew themselves. Rolling monthly means you can leave if it is not working. Read the notice period as well as the term.

Doing the comparison properly

Take your actual monthly order count, your average order value, and how many of those orders are paid by card. Work out the annual cost of each option:

• Marketplace: the total fees on your last statement, times twelve.
• Ordering system: the monthly fee times twelve, plus its share of a year of your card orders, plus setup, plus your own card processing.

Run it at today's volume and again at the volume you want in a year. That second number is the one people wish they had calculated. A big percentage that looks reasonable at two hundred orders a month is a different conversation at six hundred. Our commission calculator will do the marketplace side with your own figures.

Where the money goes on a card payment

Whatever the system charges, a card payment carries its own cost. It is worth knowing who is taking what:

• The card networks and the customer's bank take the largest share, and nobody avoids that.
• Your payment provider adds their margin. This is the rate you negotiated, or the default rate if you never asked.
• Your ordering system may take its own share. Ask whether it bills you for it separately, or takes it off the payment by routing the money through its own account and paying you later.

The question to ask is not "what is your card rate" but "whose account does the money arrive in". If it is yours, you keep the relationship and you can go and negotiate a better rate later. If it is theirs, you cannot.

What Tekeats charges

For the sake of a concrete number in a guide about numbers: Starter is £59 per site per month and Growth is £89 a month per site, both ex VAT and rolling monthly. On top of that we take 2.5% of the items on completed card orders. Delivery fees, charges and tips are not counted, and cash orders cost nothing extra. On £20 of food paid by card, our share is 50p. There is no monthly minimum.

Card payments go through your own payment account at the rates you agreed with your provider, so we never hold the money. We add our 2.5% to your monthly invoice rather than taking it from the payment. Setup is normally £250, once, and it is free for the first 10 restaurants that join. It covers building your menu, connecting your payments and getting you live. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.

We do not handle VAT calculation and there is no till. If you need those, we are the wrong answer today and it is better that you know now.

The short version

Ask what the model is, get every fee in writing, and run the sum on your real card and cash orders at next year's volume rather than this year's. A big share of every order is the most expensive thing you can agree to. A monthly fee with a small share of card orders is what a fair quote looks like.

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If you want to see it working on your own menu, book a demo. It is a short call and there is no card required.