Eateries beg customers to ditch delivery platforms and order in-store

Queensland hospitality operators hard-hit by the Omicron wave say a trend is leaving them with little to no profit and have begged diners to change their habits to keep their businesses viable.

La Niña’s wet weather and Omicron have had Queenslanders turning to eating in and food delivery platforms in record numbers.

But hospitality operators warn the trend could spell the end for local eateries, pleading with customers to dine-in or order in-store instead.

Delivery services like Deliveroo have revealed experiencing a massive increase in sales over summer, with many diners too scared to eat out because of the Covid wave, and others not wanting to venture out in the rain.

In fact on Valentine’s Day, which is typically one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants, Deliveroo estimated 2.3 million Australian chose to stay home and order in.

But with such platforms taking between 30 to 55 per cent commission on each order, food operators say they’re left with little to no profit, making their businesses unviable.

Chloe Stevenson at Jack & Will's Takeaway and Burger Joint in Boondall, which is encouraging customers to ditch delivery apps and order in-store. Picture: Richard Walker

After continually losing his profits to the likes of Uber Eats, Nick Copping from Jack & Will’s Takeaway and Burger Joint in Boondall, in Brisbane’s north, put a plea on Facebook to his customers, begging for them to order over the phone or in person, rather than on the apps – even offering them a discount to do so to help save his business.

“Foot traffic has been 70 per cent down since Omicron started while our online ordering exploded,” Mr Copping said, revealing that of the 2000 burgers cooked in a single week, 1800 were ordered through Uber Eats.

“But what Uber Eats has done is you still have to pay 30 per cent commission just to be on the platform, but if you want to be visible on there you have to promote yourself, so you have to offer deals and promotions and if you don’t do it, you’re not even seen on the platform.”

Such promotions include lunch specials offering set dollar values off when customers spent a certain amount, with all discounts funded by the individual restaurants.

For Mr Copping, Uber Eats would then take its percentage off the gross total of the order rather than the discounted price, meaning his business was often paying up to 55 per cent commission on a single order.

On his popular Uber Eats lunch special of $14 for a burger and drink, usually $17, Mr Copping said he was losing $5.10 in fees just to the delivery platform, while paying higher PAYG taxes and GST, as they both had to be calculated on the gross amount, instead of the discounted price.

Brisbane eateries are encouraging customers to order directly with the restaurant. Picture: Rafael Henrique

To try to encourage diners back in store, he has begun offering discounts of up to 30 per cent for those who order on the phone or in person, and even with such a discount he said he still came out ahead financially compared to using the delivery platforms.

“There’s way more left over and for customers, they get their food hot and fresh, they pay a lot less, they get it quicker and half their order doesn’t go missing (thanks to delivery drivers eating or losing it),” he said.

While he insisted delivery platforms had a place and could be helpful, he encouraged diners to order in-store at their local eatery, believing many businesses would face collapse if people didn’t change their buying habits.

“When you have to fork out 50 per cent to third parties it can’t be how the industry does their business going forward,” he said.

“It’s got to a point where people have gotten so used to ordering through a third party we’re becoming the new dairy farmers in the modern world.”