Online Ordering System for Restaurants 2026: 7 Criteria for the Right Choice
Find the perfect online ordering system for your restaurant. Avoid expensive commissions & keep your customer data. ✓ Checklist ✓ Cost comparison
The days when restaurants relied exclusively on phone orders are long gone. Today, your guests expect seamless online ordering – preferably directly through your own website. However, choosing the right online ordering system can determine the success or failure of your digital business. In this guide, you’ll learn what really matters and how to avoid costly mistakes.
Why Your Own Online Ordering System Has Become Essential
40% of all restaurant orders are already digital – this figure shows that online ordering is no longer an add-on option but part of the core business. Nevertheless, many restaurant operators still rely on platforms like Lieferando, Uber Eats, or Foodora. The problem: This dependency doesn’t just cost you money, but also control over your business.
Let’s take a concrete example: Your restaurant generates €10,000 in revenue through Lieferando per month. With a commission of 13-15%, you pay between €1,300 and €1,500 monthly to the platform. Projected over a year, that’s up to €18,000 – money that’s directly deducted from your profit.
Even more serious is the loss of direct customer relationships. When a guest orders through a third-party platform, their data belongs not to you, but to the platform operator. You can’t run your own marketing campaigns, build loyalty programs, or develop customer relationships, and you’re completely dependent on the algorithms and fee changes of the platform.
| Cost Comparison Over 12 Months | Lieferando (13% Commission) | Own System (€300/month) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly revenue: €8,000 | €12,480 commission | €3,600 fixed costs |
| Monthly revenue: €12,000 | €18,720 commission | €3,600 fixed costs |
| Monthly revenue: €20,000 | €31,200 commission | €3,600 fixed costs |
These numbers speak clearly: From about €2,300 monthly online revenue, your own system already pays off.
Criterion #1 - Cost Model: Properly Evaluating Commission vs. Flat Rate
The cost model is often the first thing restaurant owners look at – and here lies the first major pitfall. Many providers advertise seemingly affordable commission models of “only” 8-12%. However, this calculation rarely works out when you factor in hidden additional costs.
For a restaurant with €5,000 online revenue per month, the following scenarios emerge:
Commission Model (10% + hidden costs):
- Base commission: €500
- Payment fees: €75 (1.5% of revenue)
- Marketing surcharges: €100
- Total costs: €675 monthly
Flat Rate Model:
- Fixed monthly fee: €350
- All features included
- Predictable costs without surprises
The break-even point here is around €3,500 monthly online revenue. Everything above that means direct savings through the flat rate model.
“Since we switched from commission to flat rate, we save over €800 every month. The best part: I can finally calculate again because the costs are predictable.” - Marco Weber, operator of three pizzerias in Munich
Planning security is an often underestimated advantage. While commission models become exponentially more expensive with growing success, flat rate costs remain constant. This enables clean calculations and makes growth profitable instead of costly.
Criterion #2 - Retaining Customer Data and Marketing Control
Customer data is your restaurant’s most valuable asset – but with third-party platforms, it doesn’t belong to you. With your own online ordering system, you collect every name, every email address, and every order history in your own database.
The numbers speak for themselves: Returning customers have a 67% higher average order value than new customers. Email marketing in gastronomy achieves an ROI of an average of €42 per euro invested. You can only tap these potentials with your own customer data.
5 marketing actions that only work with your own customer data:
- Personalized birthday offers – Automatic vouchers on their special day
- Reorder reminders – “Your last pizza was 2 weeks ago…”
- Weather-based offers – Hot soups in cold weather, salads in summer heat
- Order history marketing – Suggest new variations of favorite dishes
- VIP loyalty programs – Exclusive advance information about new dishes
A practical example: Your Italian restaurant can automatically send all customers who ordered a pizza in the last 30 days an email about the new pasta special. With a database of 2,000 active customers and a conversion rate of just 3%, you generate 60 additional orders – from a single email alone.
Criterion #3 - Technical Integration and User-Friendliness
78% of all online orders now come from smartphones – so your ordering system must work primarily on mobile devices. However, technical integration goes far beyond responsive design.
The most important technical requirements:
POS System Integration: Your online ordering system should communicate seamlessly with your existing POS system. This avoids duplicate data entry and reduces sources of error.
Kitchen Printer Connection: Orders must automatically arrive in the kitchen – ideally sorted by courses or preparation times.
App Availability: A dedicated restaurant app increases customer loyalty by an average of 34%, as it provides direct access from the smartphone home screen.
Setup time varies greatly between providers:
- Simple systems: 1-2 weeks
- Medium complexity: 3-4 weeks
- Enterprise solutions: 6-12 weeks
Minimize training effort: The best system is useless if your staff can’t operate it. Look for intuitive user interfaces and German-language instructions.
All-in-one solutions like GastroSystem eliminate many interface problems because all components work together from the ground up. This reduces both setup time and error susceptibility during operation.
Criterion #4 - Adaptability to Your Brand and Menu
Your website and ordering system are often the first digital contact customers have with your restaurant. Branded apps and websites have a 23% higher conversion rate than generic white-label solutions.
White-Label vs. Co-Branding:
- White-Label: Completely in your design, no reference to the system provider
- Co-Branding: Your logo plus “Powered by XY” – often cheaper but less professional
- Template Systems: Pre-made designs with limited customization options
The menu is the heart of your online system. Different gastronomy concepts have different requirements:
Pizza Configurator: Size, dough, topping combinations, allergen information Sushi Restaurant: Set menus, individual rolls, soy sauce and wasabi options Burger Grill: Patty variants, side upgrades, drink combinations
“Our barbecue restaurant lives on individual meat combinations. The standard template wasn’t enough for us – we needed a configurator that flexibly combines portion sizes, sides, and sauces. Since the changeover, our average order value has increased by 15%.” - Sandra Klein, Smokehouse Berlin
Design customization without programming knowledge is now standard. Modern systems offer drag-and-drop editors that let you adjust colors, fonts, and layouts without hiring a web designer.
Criterion #5 - Support and Availability in Germany
When your online ordering system fails, it directly costs money. An average of €150 per hour is lost by a medium-sized restaurant during complete system failure. Therefore, reliable, fast support is crucial.
Support response times compared:
- Premium providers: < 2 hours (business hours)
- Standard support: 4-8 hours
- Budget providers: 24-48 hours
- International providers: Often only English-speaking
GDPR compliance is not optional in Germany. International providers with servers outside the EU can cause legal problems. German providers are often the safer choice here, as they consider local data protection requirements from the ground up.
Local server locations ensure better performance. An ordering page that takes 3 seconds to load loses 40% of potential customers. German servers mean shorter loading times for German customers.
GastroSystem as a German provider offers German support during business hours, GDPR-compliant servers in Frankfurt, and understands the specific requirements of the German gastronomy market.
Uncovering Hidden Costs of Various Providers
The advertised price is rarely the price you end up paying. Hidden costs can amount to 30-50% of the advertised price – here are the most common cost traps:
Setup fees: €200-2,000 for installation and customization Transaction costs: €0.30-0.50 per order in addition to the base fee Premium features: Online payment, statistics, marketing tools often cost extra Cancellation periods: 6-24 months minimum contract terms bind you long-term Scaling costs: Higher fees from certain order volumes
| Provider Comparison Over 24 Months | Advertised Price | Real Total Costs | Hidden Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget Provider A | €99/month | €4,800 | €2,400 (100%) |
| Standard Provider B | €299/month | €9,600 | €2,424 (34%) |
| Premium Provider C | €499/month | €12,500 | €524 (4%) |
Lock-in effects are particularly dangerous. Some providers deliberately make it difficult to switch:
- Data export only for additional fee
- Long cancellation periods
- Technical dependencies on proprietary systems
Look for transparent pricing models without hidden costs and short cancellation periods that maintain your flexibility.
Checklist: The Right System in 5 Steps
Step 1: Inventory
- Current online revenue per month
- Number of orders daily
- Existing systems (POS, website, etc.)
- Budget for online ordering system
Step 2: Define Requirements
- Menu complexity (simple dishes vs. configurator)
- Payment methods (EC, PayPal, purchase on account)
- Integration into existing systems
- Design customizations needed
Step 3: Conduct Demo Tests
- Test phase duration: At least 4-6 weeks for meaningful results
- Test ordering from customer perspective (smartphone + desktop)
- Staff training and collect feedback
- Check performance during peak times
Step 4: Review Contract Terms
- Cancellation periods and minimum terms
- Data ownership and export options
- SLA (Service Level Agreement) for availability
- Cost development with growing business
Step 5: Calculate ROI and Decide
- ROI should show within 3-6 months
- Include not just system costs but also time savings
- Potential for revenue increase through better customer service
Downloadable Checklist with 20 Check Points:
✓ Cost model transparent and predictable ✓ Mobile optimization tested ✓ POS system integration available ✓ German-speaking support ✓ GDPR compliance confirmed ✓ Test phase without setup costs ✓ Cancellation period under 3 months ✓ Customer data remains in your possession ✓ Backup and failure security guaranteed ✓ Payment methods complete ✓ Design customization possible ✓ Menu flexibility sufficient ✓ Statistics and evaluations included ✓ Marketing tools available ✓ Performance tested during peak times ✓ Staff can operate system ✓ References and reviews checked ✓ Scalability for growth given ✓ Exit strategy for provider change clear ✓ Total costs calculated over 2 years
Choosing the right online ordering system is a strategic decision that will shape your restaurant for years. Take the time for thorough evaluation – the invested hours pay off through years of better performance and lower costs.
If you’re looking for a risk-free testing opportunity, GastroSystem offers a free test phase without setup fees. This way you can test the system in your restaurant under real conditions before committing. Because the best online ordering system is the one that fits your restaurant – not the one with the prettiest brochure.
