How much do delivery apps really eat into a restaurant's profit?

"How much do delivery apps really eat into a restaurant's profit?" is one of the questions that comes up most when the owner sits down to close the month's books. Revenue through the apps looks healthy, but the amount that actually lands in the cash drawer tells another story. The reason isn't a single number — it's the sum of several charges that, together, take a bigger slice than it seems.

The key point: delivery marketplaces don't charge "just one fee." They charge commission on the order, online payment fee and, depending on the plan, a cost tied to delivery. Each one alone looks small. Added together, and applied to revenue, they eat a good part of the margin — especially in restaurants working with a low average order value.

In this post, we'll open up that math realistically, without demonizing the marketplaces, and show how to balance the operation so the profit doesn't evaporate.

The main solution: see the total cost per order, not just the commission

The most common mistake is looking only at the commission percentage and thinking that's all there is. The real cost of selling through a marketplace is the sum of all the charges on each order. Without that number on paper, you don't know whether you're making a profit or just moving money around.

The charges usually break down like this (the percentages vary by the plan you contract and change over time):

• Per-order commission: marketplaces typically charge somewhere between 12% and 30% per order, with the lower end on basic plans (without platform delivery) and the higher end on plans with delivery included.
• Online payment fee: an additional percentage on orders paid through the app.
• Delivery cost: embedded or shared, depending on the model.

The values above are illustrative and change by plan, region, and period. Always confirm the current conditions in your contract before calculating.

The math that scares those who've never done it

Take a R$ 50 order on a plan with 23% commission plus a payment fee. Add it all up and it's not rare for the platform cost to top R$ 13 to R$ 15 alone — before you pay for ingredients, packaging, and staff. If your COGS (cost of goods sold) is already 30% to 35%, little is left. On low-ticket dishes, some orders can even come out break-even or negative.

That's why Sebrae's material on pricing and margin in small businesses is so useful: without pricing that factors in the commission, the restaurant sells more and earns less without realizing it.

The marketplaces aren't the villain — dependence is

It's worth separating two things. Delivery apps deliver reach: they put the restaurant in front of people who have never heard of it. That has real value, especially for those just starting out or wanting to test a region.

The problem appears when 100% of sales go through there. Then every recurring customer — the one who has already ordered several times and would come back anyway — keeps costing commission. You pay an acquisition fee for someone who was already yours.

How to balance the operation

• use the marketplaces as a storefront to attract new customers;
• create your own channel to receive the customer who already knows the restaurant;
• offer a clear reason for the customer to order direct (a perk, lower delivery fee, service);
• track how much of revenue comes from each channel every month.

The goal isn't to zero out the apps. It's to reduce dependence so commission stops applying to those who are already loyal customers.

Indicators to track every month

To really know how much the delivery apps eat into your profit, track:

• the percentage of revenue that comes from the marketplaces;
• the total platform cost per order (commission + payment + delivery);
• the average order value on the apps vs. on your own channel;
• the net margin per channel, not just gross revenue;
• how many recurring customers still order only through the apps.

With these numbers, the decision stops being emotional. You start knowing exactly where you're losing margin and how much you'd gain by migrating part of the volume.

How Quickap can help

Quickap gives the restaurant its own ordering channel, where sales come in directly without the per-order commission charged by marketplaces. You keep the digital menu, receive the order via WhatsApp or your channel, and keep the customer's history. Using the marketplaces to acquire and Quickap to retain the loyal customer, the month's math changes — and the profit that was being "eaten" comes back to the cash drawer.

Conclusion

How much the delivery apps eat into profit depends on the plan, the ticket, and the share of sales that goes through them — but it's almost always more than the isolated commission suggests. The path isn't to fight the apps, but to stop depending only on them: using the marketplaces to attract and your own channel to keep the recurring customer without paying commission on every purchase.

Run your total cost-per-order math today. If it's squeezing your margin, start building the direct path with the customer — that's where the profit reappears.

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