Reducing Food Delivery Platform Dependency: A Strategy for Turkish Restaurants

What percentage of your monthly revenue goes to delivery platforms?

If you're active on Yemeksepeti, Getir, and Trendyol Yemek, the commission on each order is typically between 20% and 30%, sometimes more depending on category and promotion level. On top of that, visibility in the app costs extra — being listed isn't the same as being seen.

Run those numbers on a typical month and the figure is sobering. For a restaurant doing ₺100,000 in delivery revenue, somewhere between ₺20,000 and ₺30,000 leaves before you've paid a single supplier invoice.

So why is almost every restaurant in Turkey still on these platforms? Because the traffic is real, and walking away from it without a plan is worse than paying the commission.

The right answer isn't to leave the platforms. It's to stop being entirely dependent on them.

Three Costs, Not One

Most conversations about delivery platforms focus on commission percentage. But there are actually three distinct costs worth understanding:

Direct commission: The per-order cut, typically 20–30%. Variable based on your agreement and any promotional participation.

Visibility spend: Being listed in a category isn't enough to get meaningful orders. Sponsored placement, promotional participation, and ranking boosts all cost money on top of the base commission. For competitive categories (pizza, burgers, sandwiches), this can add another 5–10% effectively.

Data loss: This is the cost that rarely shows up in a financial model but compounds the most over time. Every customer who orders through Yemeksepeti is their customer, not yours. You receive no phone number, no email address, no history of what they ordered or how often. You cannot reach them independently. You cannot enrol them in a loyalty programme. You cannot send them a promotion. If they stop using the platform, they disappear from your world entirely.

That third cost is what makes platform dependency genuinely strategic, not just financial.

Why "Just Leave the Platforms" Doesn't Work

Some consultants advise simply exiting delivery platforms to reclaim the margin. In practice, this rarely works — especially for restaurants that have grown significantly through platform traffic.

Platforms create demand that wouldn't otherwise exist for you. A customer opens Getir, searches for something to eat nearby, sees your restaurant, and orders. That customer had no prior relationship with you. Without the platform, they wouldn't have found you at all — not because you're hard to find, but because they weren't looking for you specifically.

For newer locations or restaurants entering a new neighbourhood, platform visibility is essentially a paid customer acquisition channel. The economics only break down when you pay for the same customer repeatedly — when a customer who already loves your food keeps ordering through the platform because you've given them no reason to order directly.

That's the problem to solve.

The Strategy: Build Your Own Channel Without Burning the Platform Bridge

The goal is not platform-free — it's platform-balanced. Here's how that works in practice:

Step 1: Convert Platform Customers into Direct Customers

A platform introduces you to a new customer. That introduction cost you a 25% commission. The second order doesn't have to cost the same.

Practical tactics that work:

The package insert. A small card in every delivery order: "Order directly next time and get 10% off. No minimum order." Include a QR code linking to your direct ordering page. The cost is a few grams of cardboard and a QR print. The payoff is a customer who never pays platform commission again.

The loyalty card. Same insert, different offer: "Join our loyalty programme and earn points on every order — only for direct orders." Frame it as an exclusive benefit rather than a discount. Customers who want the points now have a reason to order directly.

A thank-you note with your handle and website. Not every customer will act on the first insert. But they see your brand in its own voice, not mediated through the platform. Repeated low-cost exposure builds the habit of thinking of you directly.

Step 2: Set Up Direct Ordering Infrastructure

This means a web-based ordering page or QR menu system that handles orders without a platform intermediary. No commission, no visibility spend — and crucially, every customer gives you their name, phone number, or email to complete the order.

The technical requirements:

• Mobile-optimised ordering interface (browser-based, no app install)
• Reliable payment integration (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay)
• Real-time order confirmation and status updates
• Address validation and delivery zone management

This doesn't need to be complex. A clean, fast-loading ordering page with good photos and a smooth payment flow outperforms a bloated app in most use cases.

Step 3: Connect Direct Orders to Loyalty

Every direct order earns points. Platform orders don't. This is the clearest incentive for a customer to switch channels — especially after they've accumulated a few points and can see how close they are to a reward.

The platforms don't offer loyalty integration to restaurants. They have their own points systems, which build loyalty to the platform, not to you. Your loyalty programme is the counter-weight: it builds attachment to your brand specifically.

Step 4: Track the Channel Mix

Set up a simple monthly report: what percentage of orders came through each platform, and what percentage came directly? Track this consistently.

Don't set a target of zero for platforms — that's not realistic and not the goal. Set a directional target: grow direct orders from 5% to 20% of total delivery volume over the next year. That's a meaningful shift in economics without abandoning the traffic that platforms provide.

What the Economics Look Like Over Time

Here's a rough model for a restaurant doing ₺500,000 in annual delivery revenue:

Year 0 (platform-only):

• ₺500,000 revenue
• Platform commission: ₺125,000 (25% average)
• Direct orders: ₺0

Year 1 (building the direct channel):

• ₺550,000 total delivery revenue
• Platform: ₺440,000 → commission ₺110,000
• Direct: ₺110,000 → commission ₺0 (loyalty programme cost: ~₺15,000)
• Net saving vs. Year 0: ~₺15,000, plus complete data on 20% of your delivery customers

Year 2 (direct channel established):

• ₺600,000 total delivery revenue
• Platform: ₺360,000 → commission ₺90,000
• Direct: ₺240,000 → commission ₺0
• Loyalty programme cost: ~₺20,000
• Net saving vs. Year 0 trajectory: ~₺35,000+, plus first-party data on 40% of delivery customers

The compounding benefit is the data. Customers in your loyalty programme can be re-engaged with campaigns. Their purchase history informs your menu. Their visit frequency tells you whether you're growing or losing market share.

Renegotiating Your Platform Agreements

If your monthly volume is significant, you have leverage in commission negotiations. Platforms maintain flexible agreements for high-volume restaurants — they won't advertise this, but they will respond to a conversation.

The important prerequisite: go into that conversation with an alternative ready. "I'm building direct ordering capacity and could reduce my platform presence" is a credible position when you actually have that capacity. Without it, you're negotiating with no leverage.

Posanto's Direct Ordering Channel

Posanto's web ordering module provides a commission-free direct ordering channel with mobile-optimised UX, payment integration, real-time order tracking, and direct connection to the loyalty programme. Every direct order builds your customer database — contact details, order history, and lifetime value all in one place.

The channel sits alongside your platform presence, not instead of it. You keep the discovery benefit of platforms while building the data and economics of a direct relationship with your customers.

Request a direct ordering demo →