Every time an order arrives through a delivery app, a percentage leaves with it before you have touched a single ingredient. The headline rate is bad enough, but by the time service charges, marketing fees and promotional contributions are counted, the margin that remains can be smaller than the cost of making the dish. You know the maths. You have done it on a Tuesday afternoon when the platform sent a slow week's sales report alongside a fee breakdown that seemed to grow each time.

The answer the platforms offer is to sell more — to push volume through their channel until the absolute takings feel worthwhile even if the percentage does not. But that logic deepens the dependency rather than breaking it. This guide explains what Daviah does differently, step by step, so you can weigh it against your current arrangements. It also says plainly where Daviah does not yet reach, because no tool solves every part of this problem.

What the fee structure actually costs you

Platform fees are rarely a single number. There is the commission on each order, the delivery fee structure, the paid placement that keeps you visible, and the occasional promotional discount the platform runs on your dishes without asking. Each charge is disclosed somewhere in a document you signed at a time when getting orders in felt more urgent than reading the small print.

The result is that a dish priced to make sense at the counter can return almost nothing when it travels through a third-party channel. And because the platform owns the customer relationship, you cannot easily move those ordering habits elsewhere — each order placed through their app reinforces theirs, not yours.

Publishing your menu without paying for ordering

The first step is putting your menu in front of customers on your own website, without owing anyone a percentage just for displaying it. On any paid Daviah plan, you can publish a menu on your website without paying for the ordering feature. Your dishes, your choices and extras, your prices — visible to anyone who visits your site.

Your own people add and update dishes through the office. No developer, no specialist, no waiting for a platform to approve a price change. If a dish sells out or a price shifts, the person who runs your website can fix it the same afternoon.

Taking orders directly — and keeping the full amount Stripe charges

On the Website and Members plan, customers can order for pickup from your website and pay by card. The payment goes straight to your own Stripe account. You are the merchant. You pay Stripe's fees directly, and Daviah takes no cut of the money.

That is the structural difference. A third-party platform sits between you and the money and takes its percentage before passing the rest across. With direct ordering through your own site, the payment lands in your Stripe account, and you pay only what Stripe charges for processing the card.

This addresses the cost of each individual order. It does not address delivery fees if you use couriers, and it does not help you exit a platform contract you are already locked into. Those remain your own arrangements to manage.

Controls that keep ordering manageable at the counter

A direct ordering channel is only useful if the kitchen can keep up with it. Ordering can be paused with a message to customers, limited to your opening hours, and switched on or off per menu. If a quiet Tuesday becomes unexpectedly busy, whoever is running the counter can pause online orders until things settle, with a message that tells customers why.

If an order comes in and nobody on the counter responds, the system sends reminders to the order screens, then alerts to staff phones, and finally pauses online ordering so new orders are not taken while the unanswered one sits waiting. Orders can also be refunded from the office when something goes wrong.

Building a direct relationship with customers who order from you

One reason the platform fee feels inescapable is that the customer's ordering habit belongs to the platform. They open the app, not your website. Every repeat order still carries the platform's commission because the customer never needed to come to you directly.

A newsletter sign-up box appears in the footer of your Daviah website on every plan. Customers who visit your site can subscribe, and on the paid plan you can write to them directly from the office — announcements, seasonal menus, anything you want them to know. This is a starting point for a direct relationship, not a full loyalty programme. The facts do not confirm that order data is automatically connected to your subscriber list, and building a structured loyalty programme is not something Daviah currently addresses.

What this guide does not cover

Daviah's direct ordering is pickup only. Delivery orders — with couriers, routing and tracking — are not part of what the product does. If delivery is a meaningful share of your revenue, the platform dependency for that channel remains.

If you are currently in a contract with a third-party platform, Daviah does not help you exit it. The contract terms, notice periods and exclusivity clauses are between you and the platform. What changes is that you have a direct ordering option alongside whatever existing arrangements you keep.

The maths of switching depends on your current order volumes, your platform contract terms, and how many of your customers you can move to ordering directly. This guide explains what the product does; the commercial judgement is yours to make.

Questions

Does Daviah take a percentage of each order?

No. Card payments go to your own Stripe account. You pay Stripe's fees directly. Daviah takes no cut of the money.

Can I show my menu on the website without turning on ordering?

Yes. On any paid plan you can publish your menu on your website without paying for the ordering feature. Customers can see your dishes and prices. Ordering — where they pay by card through the site — requires the Website and Members plan.

Does Daviah do delivery orders?

No. Online ordering through Daviah is for pickup only. Customers place and pay for an order on your website, then collect it from you. Delivery with couriers is not part of the product.

What happens if an order comes in and the counter is busy?

If an order is not answered, the system sends reminders to the order screens and then alerts to staff phones. If it still goes unanswered, online ordering is paused so further orders are not taken while the outstanding one waits. You can also pause ordering manually at any time, with a message to customers explaining why.

Can I keep my existing platform while also taking direct orders?

Yes. Adding a direct ordering channel on your own website does not require you to leave any existing platform. If you are in a contract, that continues on its own terms. The two can run alongside each other while you work out whether and when to reduce your platform dependency.

What does the Website and Members plan cost?

It is $79.99 a month, or $819.99 a year — about $68 a month paid yearly, saving $139.89 against the monthly rate. There is no contract; it runs month to month. Signing up is free and asks for no card.