How to Replace Foodhub With Direct Online Ordering
Should you replace Foodhub?
Plenty of UK takeaways went onto Foodhub because it cost less than Just Eat or Uber Eats. Fair enough. But cheaper isn't free, and Foodhub still sits between you and the person eating your food.
When someone orders through Foodhub, Foodhub gets their details and you get the order. If Foodhub puts its rates up, you pay more. If the takeaway two streets over is listed on the same screen as you, the customer sees both. None of that is your call.
Direct online ordering means the customer orders from your own website or your own app. There's no per-order commission. The customer's name, number and order history come to you, and you can get in touch with them whenever you like.
You don't have to rip Foodhub out in one go, either. Most takeaways that make the move do it bit by bit.
What direct ordering actually means
The customer orders through a channel you control - your website or your app - instead of a marketplace you have no say in.
When someone orders from your own site or app:
- you keep the order value, minus card processing, which usually runs at about 1-2%
- you get their contact details
- you can send them offers directly by email, SMS or push notification
- next time they're hungry, they think of your name, not Foodhub's
The ordering page looks like your shop. It has your menu, your opening hours and your photos. There's no list of other takeaways down the side trying to pinch the order.
Why it's easier than it used to be
A few years ago a proper ordering website and app was something only the bigger chains could pay for. You needed developers, a payment setup and someone to keep it all running. Independents stayed on the marketplaces because the alternative looked like running a second business.
That's not the case any more. Platforms like Flipdish sell a branded website and app as a product. You set it up. You don't build it.
The cost of staying put keeps adding up in the meantime. Every order through a marketplace is a customer you're renting.
How to replace Foodhub step by step
1. Pick a direct ordering platform
You need something that runs your branded website and handles each order from menu to kitchen. Look for:
- an ordering website that looks like your takeaway, not a template with your logo stuck on top
- an iOS and Android app under your own name
- a connection to your POS, or POS and ordering in one system, so nobody has to re-type orders
- customer data that belongs to you
- promotion and loyalty tools to get people ordering again
Flipdish online ordering does all of these. You get a branded website, a branded app, POS integration and direct access to your customer data.
Whoever you talk to, ask them straight out: if I leave, do I keep my customer list? If the answer is vague, that tells you what you need to know.
2. Build the menu properly
On a direct site your menu does the selling. There's no counter staff to explain what's in the special. Spend an afternoon on it.
Write a real description for every item. "Chicken burger" isn't a description. "Buttermilk chicken thigh, slaw, pickles and chipotle mayo in a brioche bun" is, and it sells more burgers.
Add photos where you can. Decent phone photos taken in daylight beat stock images, because customers can tell.
Set honest prep times. If you say 20 minutes and it's 40, you'll hear about it, and the customer may not come back to your site.
Group items the way people actually order: mains, sides, drinks, desserts. Then set up the upsells - extra cheese, large fries, a drink with the meal, a dip for 50p.
People ordering online in their own time read descriptions and add extras, because there's nobody waiting behind them in a queue. That's where average order value goes up.
3. Get your customers onto it
This is the step most people skip, and it's where most of the work is. Your Foodhub customers picked your food. A lot of them will switch if they know the direct option exists and have a reason to use it.
Start with the door and the counter. A sign or a card saying "Order direct at yoursite.com - no fees for you or us" converts more people than you'd expect. Many customers would rather order from the restaurant itself once they know they can.
Then packaging. Your bags, boxes and cups go straight into the hands of people who already like your food. A QR code sticker linking to your ordering page costs pennies, and it keeps working on every order you send out - including the ones that came through Foodhub.
When people ring up to order, tell them they can order online directly next time. Ask if they've got the app.
If you've got any customer details from previous orders, send a short email or text explaining how to order direct. Keep it to a couple of lines.
Post about it on social media more than once. People need to see it several times before it sticks.
A first-order incentive helps too. A free side or 10% off the first direct order is enough. The direct option has to be slightly better than Foodhub, not just the same.
4. Give people a reason to come back
The main reason customers drift back to marketplaces is habit. They open the app they always open. A loyalty programme on your direct channel gives them a concrete reason to open yours instead.
Flipdish includes loyalty tools as part of the platform. Customers earn points on direct orders and spend them on future ones. The ones who collect points come back, spend more, and order through a marketplace less often.
Keep the rules simple. "Every tenth order gets a free burger" is easy to understand. A tiered points scheme with expiry dates and bonus multipliers mostly confuses people.
5. Wind Foodhub down gradually
You don't have to switch overnight. Plenty of takeaways run direct ordering alongside Foodhub for a while and put their marketing effort into the direct side as it grows.
Track one number each week: direct orders against Foodhub orders. When that split moves, you can decide whether to:
- stay on Foodhub but at a smaller scale
- take your listing down altogether
- move the money you spend on marketplace promotions into your own loyalty programme
Some takeaways come off Foodhub completely. Others keep a listing for new customers who've never heard of them and treat it as advertising. Both work. The difference is that the marketplace is now one channel you choose to use, not the only way people can order from you.
What about delivery?
If you've been using a marketplace's drivers as well as its orders, going direct means sorting delivery yourself.
The easiest start is collection-only on your direct channel. Collection customers tend to be local regulars, and they're often the easiest to move across.
For delivery, you can run your own drivers in a set radius, or book drivers through a third-party service such as Uber Direct or Stuart for each order. Flipdish's delivery tools manage your own drivers alongside the ordering platform, so you can see where each order is.
What does direct ordering cost?
Less than Foodhub, once you count commission.
Take a takeaway doing £15,000 a month through a marketplace at 15% commission. That's £2,250 a month going out the door. At 10% it's still £1,500. Foodhub's rates depend on your contract, so check your own statements rather than trusting anyone's example, including this one.
A direct ordering platform like Flipdish charges a subscription, but no per-order commission. Card processing on that same £15,000 at 1-2% comes to £150-£300. Add the subscription, and the gap is still large.
Pull your last three months of Foodhub statements. Add up everything they charged - commission, fees, card charges, any promotions you paid into. That's the number to compare against. Most owners have never added it up, and the total is usually higher than they guessed.
Common concerns
"My customers use Foodhub. They won't find me without it."
Most customers are more loyal to the takeaway than to the app. If the food is good, a note telling them where to order direct goes down well. The habit of opening Foodhub can turn into the habit of opening your app, but only if you keep reminding them.
"I don't have time to manage two systems."
You don't have to. With direct ordering connected to your restaurant POS, orders arrive the same way whatever channel they came from. The kitchen sees one queue, not a stack of tablets on the counter all beeping at once.
"I need the volume Foodhub brings in."
In the short term, maybe you do. That's why you keep Foodhub running while the direct side grows. But that volume comes with commission and with dependency. Each customer who moves to your direct channel is one less order you're paying a cut on.
"How will new customers find my website?"
Put your ordering link on your Google Business Profile. A lot of people search the takeaway's name on Google, and an "Order online" link there sends them straight to you instead of to a marketplace listing. Add the same link to your Instagram and Facebook bios.
Using Flipdish to replace Foodhub
Flipdish is used by restaurants and takeaways across the UK and Ireland to run their own direct ordering. It covers a branded website, a mobile app, POS, loyalty and marketing tools on one platform, with one contract.
If you want to see what the numbers would look like for your takeaway, the Flipdish team can go through them with you using your current order volume. More at flipdish.com.
