How to Replace Foodhub With Direct Online Ordering
Foodhub launched as a lower-fee alternative to Just Eat and Deliveroo. For restaurants frustrated with high marketplace commission, it offered a more palatable version of the same model.
But even at reduced rates, marketplace dependency creates real problems. Foodhub owns your customer relationships. You have limited access to your customers' data. Your brand lives inside their interface, not yours. And when they change terms, adjust their algorithm, or reduce coverage in your area, your orders change with them.
Moving to direct online ordering solves all of this. This guide covers how to do it: what you need, how to convert your Foodhub customers to direct orders, and what to expect from the transition.
Why restaurants leave Foodhub
The specific reasons vary, but several themes come up consistently:
No customer data. Foodhub keeps the customer relationship. You can see order totals but you cannot contact your Foodhub customers directly, run a loyalty programme for them, or build a CRM from marketplace order history.
Brand dilution. On Foodhub, customers are loyal to the platform, not to you. Your restaurant is one option among many. On your own channel, the experience is entirely yours — your name, your interface, your relationship with the customer.
Fee dependency. Foodhub's fees are lower than some competitors, but they are still a percentage of every order. At volume, a fixed monthly subscription for direct ordering is almost always cheaper per order than percentage-based commission.
Platform risk. If Foodhub changes its terms, adjusts its ranking algorithm or reduces coverage in your area, your revenue changes with it. That is a business risk you carry for every order that goes through the marketplace rather than your own channel.
Loyalty limitations. You cannot run a meaningful loyalty programme for Foodhub customers because you do not control the ordering interface or the customer data. Direct ordering makes loyalty genuinely possible and genuinely effective.
What you need to replace Foodhub
A direct ordering setup requires four core elements:
- An ordering website — branded, with your menu and direct payment processing
- A mobile app — optional, but significantly better for building repeat orders
- Kitchen integration — online orders must reach your kitchen without manual re-entry
- Customer data and marketing tools — email, push notifications, loyalty programme
Platforms like Flipdish provide all of this in one place: a branded ordering website, a mobile app if you want one, integration with a restaurant POS so orders go directly to the kitchen, and loyalty and marketing tools built into the same platform.
Step-by-step: moving from Foodhub to direct ordering
Step 1: Choose your direct ordering platform
Look for a platform that provides:
- A branded ordering website with your menu and payment processing
- Access to your customer data — not just order totals
- Integration with your POS or kitchen system
- Built-in loyalty and marketing tools
- A subscription model rather than per-order fees
Flipdish is built for exactly this transition, working with UK and Irish restaurants from single-site takeaways through to growing chains. The platform was developed specifically to help restaurants take back the customer relationship from marketplaces.
Step 2: Get your ordering channel live
Work with your platform's onboarding team to set up your menu. This is also the right time to configure upsells, meal deals and cross-sell prompts. A well-configured direct ordering menu consistently outperforms a default marketplace listing for average order value — because you control what customers see and when.
Create a short, memorable URL for your ordering channel and connect it to your Google Business Profile as the primary ordering link. This drives meaningful organic order volume from customers who find you through Google rather than through a marketplace app.
Step 3: Tell your Foodhub customers
Your Foodhub customers are your most valuable asset in this migration. They already know and like your food. The goal is to reach them before they default to Foodhub for their next order.
Tactics that work:
- Packaging insert with every Foodhub order: a card with your direct ordering URL and a first-order discount. This reaches your most active customers — the ones who are already ordering from you.
- Google Business Profile: set your direct ordering URL as the primary ordering link. Many customers find restaurants through Google rather than marketplace apps, and this converts them to your channel before they ever reach Foodhub.
- Social media: promote your new direct channel consistently for the first three months with a clear offer for first-time direct customers.
- In-store signage: QR codes on menus, counter displays and receipts pointing to your ordering URL.
A first-order incentive — 10–15% off the first direct order, or a free item — dramatically improves conversion rates. Once a customer has ordered directly once and had a good experience, they are likely to do it again, especially if you have a loyalty programme rewarding direct orders.
Step 4: Run both channels in parallel
Do not close your Foodhub listing immediately. Run both for three to six months while your direct order volume builds. Closing Foodhub too soon, before direct volume is established, means losing revenue you have not replaced.
Some restaurants treat Foodhub as a long-term acquisition channel: they accept marketplace orders knowing they will use packaging inserts to convert some of those customers to direct orders over time. The economics work when your conversion rate is strong enough to offset the commission cost of acquiring each customer through the marketplace.
Step 5: Use loyalty to lock in direct ordering behaviour
A loyalty programme tied to your direct channel gives customers a concrete reason to keep ordering through your app or website rather than going back to Foodhub. Points or stamps earned on your platform cannot be redeemed on Foodhub, which creates retention that simply does not exist on a marketplace.
Flipdish includes loyalty tools in the platform. You do not need a separate loyalty vendor — it is part of the same system as your ordering website and app.
Building your own audience
One of the less obvious benefits of moving to direct ordering is that you start building an audience you can talk to directly. Every customer who signs up to your ordering platform becomes part of a database you control.
Over time, that database is one of your most valuable business assets. You can:
- Send targeted offers based on what people have ordered before
- Run automated win-back campaigns for customers who have not ordered recently
- Promote new menu items to the customers most likely to order them
- Build a loyalty programme without additional software
Foodhub does not give you any of this. The customer relationship lives on their platform, not yours.
Flipdish's AI marketing tools make this practical: campaigns run automatically based on real customer behaviour, so you are not spending time writing individual emails every week.
Delivery: what about the logistics?
Foodhub provides delivery logistics for restaurants that use it. When you move to direct ordering, you need to handle delivery separately or connect to a delivery partner directly.
Options include:
- Your own drivers: full control, but employment costs and management overhead
- Third-party courier platforms (Stuart and similar): pay per delivery, available on demand without employment costs
- Flipdish delivery integration: connects your direct ordering platform to delivery logistics partners
For many takeaways moving off Foodhub, collection-only ordering is a sensible first step — it is simpler to manage and keeps your direct ordering costs lower while you build volume.
Cost comparison
| Model | Structure | Predictability |
|---|---|---|
| Foodhub | Percentage fee per order | Scales with every order |
| Direct ordering platform | Fixed monthly subscription | Same cost regardless of volume |
At low volumes, Foodhub's percentage model may cost less in absolute terms. At moderate volumes — typically a few hundred orders per month and above — a fixed subscription becomes cheaper per order. Run the numbers on your actual order volume to understand your break-even point.
Flipdish pricing for online ordering is outlined at the Flipdish pricing page.
What to do about your Foodhub reviews
Your Foodhub reviews cannot be migrated. If you have built up a strong review profile on the platform, closing your listing means losing visibility of those reviews.
The practical response: focus on building your Google Business Profile reviews instead. Google reviews are visible to anyone searching for your restaurant regardless of the ordering channel they use. They influence purchasing decisions more broadly than marketplace-specific reviews and will outlast your presence on any individual platform.
Encourage direct customers to leave Google reviews, particularly once they have switched from Foodhub to ordering directly through your channel.
How long does the transition take?
- Technical setup: one to three weeks depending on menu complexity
- First direct orders from existing customers: within the first month with active promotion
- Direct volume matching Foodhub volume: typically three to six months with consistent marketing activity
- Full transition away from Foodhub dependency: six to twelve months for most restaurants
Migration speed depends almost entirely on how actively you market your direct channel. Restaurants that treat it as a passive switch see slow results. Restaurants that run an active conversion campaign see meaningful direct volume within weeks.
Getting started
If you are ready to build a direct ordering channel and reduce your dependence on Foodhub, Flipdish is designed for exactly this. It works for single-site takeaways and for restaurant groups, and the platform scales with you as you add channels, sites and capabilities.