How to Replace Foodhub With Direct Online Ordering
Restaurants that rely on Foodhub—or any food delivery marketplace—for their online orders share the same fundamental challenge: the marketplace owns the customer relationship, not you.
When a customer orders from your restaurant on Foodhub, Foodhub holds the customer data. You receive the order. That customer may order from a competitor on the same platform next week. You have no way to contact them directly, no ability to build loyalty, and no way to bring them back on your own terms.
Building a direct ordering channel changes this. When customers order through your own branded website or app, you own the relationship. You hold their contact details, their order history, and the ability to reach them with offers, news, and loyalty rewards whenever you choose.
This guide explains what that looks like in practice, what technology you need, and how to make the transition without disrupting your current order volume.
The real problem with marketplace ordering
Foodhub's fee structure differs from Just Eat or Uber Eats. Foodhub markets a model with no per-order commission for restaurants, with fees charged differently. But the strategic problem is the same regardless of the fee model: you are not building your own customer base.
Every order that goes through any marketplace builds that marketplace's database. The customer relationship belongs to the platform.
Direct ordering reverses this. A restaurant with thousands of customers in its own database—with full order histories, contact details, and loyalty balances—has built a genuine business asset. That data powers effective marketing, personalised promotions, and loyalty programmes that keep customers coming back to your restaurant specifically, not to a generic marketplace.
What a direct ordering channel includes
A complete direct ordering channel typically includes:
A branded restaurant website with online ordering. The customer stays on your domain, sees your branding, and orders directly from your menu. Orders go straight to your kitchen without going through a marketplace interface.
A branded mobile app in the App Store and Google Play. The customer downloads and uses your app—not a marketplace app. Push notifications, loyalty points, and in-app offers create a direct relationship between you and the customer.
A loyalty programme that rewards customers for ordering directly, giving them a clear reason to choose your channel over a marketplace.
POS integration so that online orders reach your kitchen the same way in-store orders do—displayed on a kitchen screen without manual entry.
Customer marketing tools that use order data to drive return visits automatically.
Platforms like Flipdish provide all of this as a single integrated system, including a POS that handles both in-store and direct online orders together.
How to move customers from Foodhub to direct ordering
This is a transition, not an overnight switch. Here is how successful restaurants approach it.
Step 1: Set up your direct channel before you promote it
Before promoting the change, confirm that your direct ordering experience works end to end:
- A working branded website or ordering page with your full, accurate menu
- Payments processing correctly on mobile (the majority of online orders are placed on a phone)
- Integration with your kitchen or POS so orders appear on screen without manual steps
- A test order placed and fulfilled correctly
With a platform like Flipdish, a restaurant is typically live for direct ordering within a few weeks of starting setup.
Step 2: Tell your existing customers
Many regular customers will switch to a direct channel when asked, particularly if there is an incentive. A simple message works well: "Order directly from us and earn loyalty points on every order."
Reach them through:
- A card or flyer in every delivery bag with a QR code for your ordering page
- Social media posts directing followers to your website
- A message on your marketplace listings, where permitted
- Any existing contact details you hold from in-store sign-ups or loyalty cards
Step 3: Incentivise the first direct order
A small discount or bonus loyalty points for the first direct order converts a significant number of marketplace customers. Once a customer has ordered directly and had a good experience, they are likely to continue. The incentive cost is typically recovered within two or three subsequent orders.
Flipdish's loyalty tools make it straightforward to run this kind of targeted promotion without manual tracking.
Step 4: Make the direct experience easy
The single most important factor in converting marketplace customers is making your direct channel as convenient as the marketplace. A slow website, a multi-step checkout, or a payment process that fails on mobile will send customers back to Foodhub.
Flipdish-powered ordering websites and apps are designed for mobile-first users, with checkouts optimised for conversion. This is not an area where a custom-built solution tends to outperform a purpose-built platform.
Step 5: Promote consistently over time
Building a direct customer base takes several months of consistent promotion. Most restaurants see meaningful direct order growth after two to three months. The compounding effect becomes clear after six months—customers who have ordered directly, collected loyalty points, and received a push notification about a new menu item are significantly more likely to become regulars who never need a marketplace.
Technology you need
To build a real direct ordering channel, you need:
- Online ordering software that handles the customer-facing experience: menu, checkout, and payments
- POS or kitchen integration so direct orders reach your kitchen without manual steps
- Customer data tools to capture and use the data your direct orders generate
- A loyalty programme that rewards direct ordering over marketplace ordering
- Marketing tools to use that data to drive return visits
The most straightforward approach is a single platform like Flipdish. Trying to piece this together from separate tools—a website builder, a loyalty app, a separate POS—creates integration complexity and rarely delivers a smooth customer experience.
Delivery logistics
If you already fulfil your Foodhub orders with your own drivers, the transition to direct ordering is simple—you are taking orders through a different channel with the same delivery process.
If you use a third-party delivery network, you will need a delivery solution for direct orders. Flipdish supports delivery management as part of its platform, including dispatch tool integration.
Running direct ordering alongside Foodhub
You do not need to leave Foodhub immediately. Many restaurants run both channels in parallel: they maintain their marketplace presence for customers who prefer it, while actively building their direct base.
As direct ordering grows and the economics of the two channels become clearer, the decision about reducing marketplace dependence becomes more straightforward. The goal in the first year is to build meaningful direct order volume. The goal in the second year is to make direct ordering your primary channel.
The compounding value of a direct channel
Direct ordering compounds in ways marketplace ordering never can.
A marketplace customer who orders from you this week may order from a competitor next week. A customer in your own database who has ordered directly, received loyalty points, and seen your push notifications is building a habit around your brand specifically.
Over 12 months, a restaurant that captures several hundred customers in its own database—with real contact details and full order histories—can generate significantly more revenue from that group through targeted marketing than from a marketplace audience of the same size. The marketplace customer you cannot contact; your own customer you can.
Flipdish's AI marketing tools are built around this principle. They identify which customers are most valuable, which are at risk of lapsing, and what offer is most likely to bring each back—then run the campaigns automatically.
How Flipdish helps
Flipdish provides everything a restaurant needs to build and grow a direct ordering channel:
- A branded restaurant website with integrated ordering
- A branded mobile app published in your name in the App Store and Google Play
- A cloud POS that handles direct and in-store orders together
- Loyalty tools that reward and retain direct customers
- AI Phone Agent for restaurants that still take a significant volume of phone orders
- AI marketing automation that turns your customer database into campaigns without manual effort
Flipdish works with restaurants across the UK and Ireland to reduce marketplace dependency and grow direct revenue. To see how the platform would work for your operation, visit the Flipdish products overview.