Online Food Ordering System for Restaurants: Why It’s Essential


Once upon a time, most orders happened over the phone—or in person at the counter. Today, the majority of food orders begin online. Whether it’s a customer scrolling through their mobile during a work break or planning Friday takeaway with the family, they expect to be able to browse, choose, and pay for their meal digitally.
Having an efficient online food ordering system for restaurants is no longer optional; it’s an essential part of running a successful business in 2025. Not only does it improve customer experience, but it also helps you increase revenue, streamline operations, and compete with the bigger players—all without sacrificing your brand.
Many restaurants begin with third-party platforms. They’re easy to set up and come with a built-in audience. However, they also come with drawbacks—high commission rates, limited customer data access, and brand dilution. Your customers remember the platform name more than your restaurant.
A branded restaurant online ordering system helps you:
The result? More repeat orders, higher average spend, and less reliance on external platforms.
Let’s talk numbers. While third-party marketplaces provide visibility, they can charge commissions ranging from 15% to 35% per order. That might not sound much at first, but across hundreds of orders, it adds up to thousands of pounds each month. That’s money you could reinvest into better ingredients, staff wages, marketing, or simply keep as profit.
An online ordering system that you control means you can offer fair prices to customers while keeping more of what you earn. Foodhub’s model, for example, removes unnecessary commissions and gives restaurants a predictable, transparent way to grow.
Your website or app isn’t just a utility—it’s part of your identity. When customers use your restaurant's ordering system, they’re interacting with your brand directly, not a third-party aggregator.
You get to control:
It’s your restaurant, your food, your voice.
A professional online food ordering system for your restaurants doesn’t just look good—it also works efficiently for customers and staff alike.
Features to look for include:
All of these features combine to improve order accuracy, reduce pressure on staff, and give customers the seamless experience they expect.
For takeaway businesses, every second counts. During peak times, mistakes can cause delays, refunds, and frustrated customers. A good online ordering system for takeaways simplifies everything.
Here’s how it helps:
And because orders are placed digitally, you get a full audit trail in case something needs reviewing later.
Your ordering system shouldn’t operate in a silo. It needs to work with your POS, your delivery operations, your marketing tools, and your customer relationship software.
Foodhub’s ordering system integrates seamlessly with your kitchen workflows, delivery partners, and even customer engagement tools, giving you a truly connected platform that grows with your business.
One of the biggest benefits of owning your restaurant's online ordering system is that you also own the data. You’ll know who your customers are, how often they order, what they prefer, and what time of day they’re most active.
This means you can send targeted:
When you use Foodhub, all of this is baked into the platform—no separate tools or expensive CRM integrations required.
Let’s be honest. The “zero commission” pitch from some platforms often comes with hidden charges or inflated fees elsewhere. At Foodhub, we take a different approach.
We offer a fair pricing policy that ensures:
Restaurants and takeaways that partner with Foodhub keep more of their profits and gain long-term value, not short-term gimmicks.
Some owners worry that setting up an online food ordering system for restaurants will be complicated or expensive. But with the right partner, it’s fast, affordable, and tailored to your needs.
With Foodhub:
Plus, we help you launch with marketing materials, in-store signage, and digital promo assets to help you hit the ground running.
In 2025, customers expect digital convenience. If they can’t find you online—or if your ordering experience is clunky—they’ll go elsewhere. But with the right ordering system for restaurants, you can turn your website into your best-performing location.
You’ll own the relationship. You’ll keep more of your earnings. And you’ll build a stronger brand that customers remember and return to.
Contact Foodhub for Business to explore how we help independent restaurants and takeaways take control of their digital presence—and keep more of their profits.