Online Ordering for Restaurants: Uber Eats, Skip & DoorDash — What It Really Costs (2026)
For most Edmonton restaurants, delivery apps are no longer optional — but they’re expensive. Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes, and DoorDash take a commission of roughly 15% to 30% on every order, and the difference between using them well and using them badly is the difference between a profitable channel and one that quietly loses you money. Here’s how the costs actually break down, and how to make these platforms work for you instead of against you.
What the Delivery Apps Actually Cost
The big three charge a commission on each order, plus other fees. The headline numbers:
Commission (15%–30% per order): The platform takes a cut of every order’s value. The exact rate depends on the plan you choose — the apps offer cheaper tiers with less visibility, and pricier tiers that push you higher in the listings. Many restaurants don’t realize they can choose.
Customer-side fees: Delivery and service fees are charged to the customer, not you — but they affect your prices’ competitiveness and your customers’ willingness to reorder.
Marketing and promotions: Each app sells in-app ads and promotions (percent-off deals, “buy one get one”). These can drive volume, but they stack on top of commission, so a poorly set-up promo can wipe out your margin entirely.
The takeaway: a 30% commission on a thin-margin menu item can mean you’re making almost nothing on that order. Your menu, pricing, and plan choice all have to account for the cut.
Should You Build Your Own Ordering Instead?
A direct-ordering system on your own website avoids commission, but it’s not free either — you pay for the software, you handle your own delivery (or use a flat-fee courier), and crucially, you have to drive your own traffic. The delivery apps’ real value is their built-in audience of hungry people already browsing.
For most independent Edmonton restaurants, the answer isn’t “apps or your own site” — it’s both. Use the apps for discovery and reach, and nudge your regulars toward direct ordering (or in-house pickup) where you keep the full margin. The mistake is treating the apps as set-and-forget.
The Hidden Work: Managing the Apps
Here’s what most owners underestimate. Each platform is its own dashboard, and to make them profitable you have to actively manage:
- Menus and pricing kept in sync across three apps (and often priced slightly higher on apps to offset commission)
- Photos for every item, because items with good photos sell dramatically more
- Promotions turned on and off strategically, not left running and bleeding margin
- Hours, availability, and “busy mode” so you don’t get orders you can’t fill
- Ratings and reviews monitored and responded to on each platform
That’s hours a week, across three systems, on top of running the kitchen. It’s the part that slips — and when it slips, your ranking in the app drops and orders dry up.
How to Make Delivery Apps Profitable
A few principles that separate restaurants that profit from delivery from those that don’t:
Price for the commission. Menu prices on the apps should account for the cut so you’re not subsidizing every delivery order.
Photograph everything. Items with appetizing photos consistently outsell those without. This is the single highest-ROI change you can make on a delivery app.
Run promotions with the math done. A “20% off” promo on top of 25% commission needs to drive enough new volume to be worth it. Plan it, don’t guess.
Keep the menu tight and travel-friendly. Foods that survive a 20-minute drive get reordered. Foods that arrive soggy get one-star reviews.
Respond to reviews on every app. Delivery customers can’t see your dining room or your staff — the reviews are your reputation on that platform.
What OnePoint Does
Managing three delivery-app dashboards well is exactly the kind of ongoing work that falls off a busy owner’s plate. OnePoint Solutions offers order-app management for $149/month — we handle your Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes, and DoorDash accounts: menu updates, pricing, photos, promotions, availability, and reporting, so the channel stays optimized instead of slowly drifting.
It pairs naturally with the rest of restaurant marketing in Edmonton — your social feed and Google Business Profile drive discovery, and the ordering channels capture it.
The Bottom Line
Delivery apps cost Edmonton restaurants 15%–30% per order, and that’s the price of reaching customers who are already looking to order. They become profitable when you price for the commission, photograph every item, manage promotions with the math done, and keep all three platforms actively maintained. The cost isn’t just the commission — it’s the attention. Restaurants that give the apps that attention win; the ones that set and forget slowly lose money on every order.
OnePoint Solutions manages restaurant delivery-app accounts for $149/month and builds restaurant websites and social media across Canada. Get in touch to talk through what makes sense for your restaurant.