Today: the marketplace stack
- A tablet per platform4 screens
- Re-key every address by hand
- No live view of where drivers are
- Commission on every order25-35%
Orders scattered across devices, drivers managed on a group chat.
Delivery that pays for itself
Deliver direct. Keep the margin.
Third-party platforms take 25-35% of every order. Delivering with your own drivers, or on-demand drivers through Uber Direct and Deliveroo Express, costs a fraction of that, and the rest stays in your pocket. You keep the customer, the data and the margin on every direct delivery.
Next Order
DriversBatchesDeliveriesMap
Unallocated5Batches2
- Batch 1
- #4632Corban
12 Brick Lane, London
Due in 12 mins · 7:30pm
- #5458Katie
21 Kingsland Road, Hackney
Due in 18 mins · 7:35pm
- #8760Alicia
47 Brushfield Street, London
Due in 22 mins · 7:50pm
- Batch 2
- #7956Lee
14 Camden High Street, Camden
Due in 25 mins · 7:58pm
- #5575Johnny
88 Old Street, London
Due in 1 hour · 9:12pm
Assign Batch
The dispatch board
Direct, marketplace, own-driver. One map, one record
The fleet you see is the fleet the kitchen prepped for. ETAs, run distance and on-time % travel on the same record from order to handoff.
1
dispatch board
Direct, marketplace and own-driver orders all land on the same live map. The dispatcher sees the full fleet at once.
4
marketplaces unified
Every supported marketplace ticket carries the order channel all the way to dispatch. Packaging is obvious.
Live
driver ETAs
Customer-facing delivery tracking, driver-by-run timing and on-time % all run from the same record the kitchen wrote.
Per mi
distance-based pricing
Base fee for the first 1 mile, per mile after. Far-out addresses pay fairly; the close ones still feel cheap.
Ditch the tablet pile
Four marketplace tablets, or one dispatch board
Every platform wants its own screen and a third of every order. Direct delivery puts the whole floor on one screen and keeps the margin.
On Next Order
- One board, every channel1 screen
- Assign or batch in a single tap
- Live tracking for every driver
- Your delivery cost~5%
Direct, marketplace and phone orders on one record from kitchen to doorstep.
The real cost of third-party delivery
On a £60 order, a third-party platform takes up to £21. Direct delivery costs you £3.
With on-demand drivers through Uber Direct and Deliveroo Express, the delivery fee on that same order might be £6 total. Your customer pays £3, you cover £3. That is 5% of the order value instead of 25-35%. With your own drivers at volume, the maths are even better.
25-35%
Third-party platform commission
~5%
On-demand driver (your share)
Even less
Your own drivers at volume
Three ways to deliver. Pick what fits
You do not have to choose one forever. Start with what works today and change as your business grows.
Your own drivers
Full control. Lowest cost per order at volume.
Your drivers download the Next Order driver app. When an order is ready, they get notified, pick it up and the customer automatically receives an SMS with a live tracking link. You see every driver on shift, their status and location from one centralised dispatch screen.
- Batch nearby orders into delivery runs using the map view on the POS. Fewer trips, faster service
- Driver cash float reports printed or viewed in the admin panel at end of shift
- Average delivery times, revenue by suburb and on-time percentage in your reporting
- Drivers see their queue, earnings and delivery details in the app
- Drivers just download the app. No extra hardware or setup needed
- Duplicate prevention. The system stops two drivers being sent to the same address
- Drivers clock in and out of shifts from the app. Track hours and deliveries per shift
On-demand drivers
No drivers to employ. Same tracking experience.
Use Uber Direct or Deliveroo Express in supported regions to get a driver for each delivery without hiring, rostering or managing a fleet. Orders placed on your website or through the POS can request a driver automatically, or your team can trigger it with one tap.
- Customers get the same live tracking as any delivery app. Map, driver details and SMS updates
- Driver status shows right on the POS screen. No separate tablets or apps to check
- Auto-assign every order or let your team decide order by order
- Works for website orders and POS delivery orders. Same workflow either way
- See the delivery fee before you request a driver. No surprises on cost
- Photo proof of delivery for dispute resolution
- Cancel a driver request before pickup if the order changes
Hybrid. The approach most groups settle on
Own drivers when busy. On-demand when quiet.
Most restaurants find the sweet spot is a mix. Run your own drivers during peak periods when you have enough orders to keep them busy, then switch to on-demand drivers during quieter times when paying a driver to wait around costs more than paying per delivery.
- Reporting shows revenue per hour and cost per delivery by day. So you see exactly when each model pays off
- Compare own-driver shift costs versus on-demand per-order fees side by side
- Switch between models any time. No lock-in, no configuration changes needed
- Start with on-demand, add your own drivers as volume grows. Or the other way around
The dispatch board
One view runs the whole delivery floor.
Assign a run to your own driver, hand off to an Uber Direct driver when nobody is on shift, watch it to the door, then batch the close-together drops into a single trip. Same screen, no whiteboard.
Next Order
All OrdersPickupDeliveryDine-in
ActionsCurrentExpected Time
Search
Katie BellVIP
Overdue 12 minsPOS
Table 32£62.50Cho Chang
Due in 2 minsUber Eats
Delivery #5623£73.25Johnny Appleseed
Due in 10 minsWebsite
Delivery #4302£105.10Romilda Vane
Due in 13 minsPhone
Pickup #6452£94.60Lee Jordan
Due in 22 minsDeliveroo
Delivery #9830£24.40
Collection 20 minsDelivery 45 mins
Johnny Appleseed
12 Brick Lane, London
CallMessage
- £28.50
Seafood Risotto
Add Squid
- £19.50
Nutella Pizza
Add Ice Cream
- £12.60
Garlic Bread
Double serve
- + 3 more items
Total Paid £105.10
CurrentFutureHistory
See the dispatch board liveWe will run your real order volumes through it. Tailored to your venue, not a generic demo.
Your customer watches it from store to door
The moment the driver picks up, the customer gets a branded live map, a real ETA and staged status updates. When it lands, the loyalty points are already on their account. Same experience whether it is your own driver or an on-demand driver.
OFOsteria Fiore
Food is being prepared
Osteria Fiore · about 25 min
Delivery by 6:45 PM · Apple Pay · £17.00
Branded SMS sentLive tracking link
One record, every surface
Driver, customer and dispatcher all read the same order
The fleet you see is the fleet the kitchen prepped for. The same record powers the driver app, the customer's tracking link and the dispatcher's board.
Your drivers
A driver app that runs the whole shift
Your drivers download the Next Order driver app and the whole run lives in it: the queue, turn-by-turn navigation, the drop, proof of delivery and the end-of-shift cash close. You see where every driver is and what they are carrying in real time. The walkthrough below steps through every screen.
- Queue, navigation and slide-to-arrive in one app
- Clock in and out of shifts; hours and runs tracked
- End-of-shift cash float, printed or in the admin panel
- Duplicate prevention stops two drivers on one address
Next OrderProfile
7:12 pmORD314
12 Brick Lane
London
10 minsView Order
7:20 pmORD316
47 Brushfield Street
London
14 minsView Order
7:32 pmORD319
88 Old Street
London
20 minsView Order
7:41 pmORD323
21 Kingsland Road
Hackney
26 minsView Order
Enter Delivery CodeAdd Other Delivery
Tonight’s runs in one list, ordered by due time.
Your dispatcher
One screen for every driver and every order
See who is on shift, where they are, what they are carrying and what is next. Colour-coded by status, so the coordination that used to live in a group chat is all on one screen.
- Assign and reassign with one tap, logged for accountability
- Available, en route and running-late at a glance
- Filter by zone or driver across multiple stores
- Driver cash and delivery stats on the same record
Next Order
All OrdersPickupDeliveryDine-in
ActionsCurrentExpected Time
Search
Katie BellVIP
Overdue 12 minsPOS
Table 32£62.50Cho Chang
Due in 2 minsUber Eats
Delivery #5623£73.25Johnny Appleseed
Due in 10 minsWebsite
Delivery #4302£105.10Romilda Vane
Due in 13 minsPhone
Pickup #6452£94.60Lee Jordan
Due in 22 minsDeliveroo
Delivery #9830£24.40
Collection 20 minsDelivery 45 mins
Johnny Appleseed
12 Brick Lane, London
CallMessage
- £28.50
Seafood Risotto
Add Squid
- £19.50
Nutella Pizza
Add Ice Cream
- £12.60
Garlic Bread
Double serve
- + 3 more items
Total Paid £105.10
CurrentFutureHistory
Select a driver
Delivery will be assigned to the selected driver and appear in Next Order — Driver App.
- Myrtle Warren
- Oliver Wood
- Johnny Appleseed
- Demelza Robins
- Graham Montague
- Marcus Flint
Your numbers
Know when to use your own drivers and when to switch
Next Order breaks delivery cost down by hour, day and method. "Friday dinner, own drivers £5 a delivery" versus "Tuesday lunch, on-demand £6 but no idle wages." The report makes the call for you.
- Revenue per hour and order count by day of week
- Own-driver shift cost vs on-demand per order, side by side
- Average delivery time and on-time % by zone and driver
- Revenue by suburb; exportable for your accountant
Reports · Delivery economics
When your own drivers pay for themselves
Orders by hour
Own driversOn-demand
11a
12p
1p
2p
3p
4p
5p
6p
7p
8p
9p
On-time
93%
+1ptDirect mix
68%
+6ptCost per delivery
- Fri dinner · own driver£4.50
- Tue lunch · on-demand£5.80
- Marketplace (blended)25–35%
How delivery works
From order to doorstep in four steps. Whether you use your own drivers or on-demand drivers.
- 1
Order comes in
A delivery order arrives from your website, app or POS. It hits the kitchen queue alongside all other orders. No separate tablet.
- 2
Dispatch to a driver
Assign to your own driver from the dispatch board, or request an on-demand driver from Uber Direct or Deliveroo Express with one tap. Batch nearby orders into a single run.
- 3
Driver picks up and goes
Your driver uses the Next Order driver app with built-in navigation. On-demand drivers use their own app. Either way, the customer gets a branded SMS with a live tracking link.
- 4
Customer tracks to the door
Live map showing the driver location, estimated arrival and staged status updates. If there is a delay, an automatic notification goes out before the customer has to ask.
See how much you could save
Adjust the numbers to match your restaurant. Compare what third-party platforms cost you versus delivering direct.
Delivery zones and fees that match how your crew runs
Flat delivery fees look simple until a long-distance drop wipes out the margin on a small order.
Draw zones on a map, set different fees and minimum order values for each, and let the system enforce them at checkout. Customers see transparent pricing before they pay. No surprises.
- Polygon or radius zones with different fees, minimums and promised delivery times
- Surge pricing for storms and peak windows. Transparent to customers before they check out
- Service exclusions for areas that are too far or too expensive to deliver to profitably
- Split delivery fees between customer and restaurant for promotions or loyalty perks
Phone orders land in the same delivery queue
Caller ID ties to saved addresses so repeat customers do not spell the suburb again.
Phone orders hit the same dispatch queue as website orders. With delivery instructions, payments and kitchen throttles kept in sync. Whether the order came from a call, your website or the POS, it follows the same delivery workflow.
- Delivery instructions captured once and passed to driver notes and customer messages
- Card-on-file speeds up repeat phone orders
- When the kitchen pauses delivery, phone and online orders respect the same limit
Batch nearby orders into one run
Pending deliveries plotted on a map. Group the close ones into a single trip so a driver takes three orders, not one. Fewer trips, less fuel, faster service.
Next Order
DriversBatchesDeliveriesMap
Unallocated5Batches2
- #4632Corban
12 Brick Lane, London
Due in 12 mins · 7:30pm
- #5458Katie
21 Kingsland Road, Hackney
Due in 18 mins · 7:35pm
- #8760Alicia
47 Brushfield Street, London
Due in 22 mins · 7:50pm
- #7956Lee
14 Camden High Street, Camden
Due in 25 mins · 7:58pm
- #5575Johnny
88 Old Street, London
Due in 1 hour · 9:12pm
Create Batch
Batch dispatch · Step 1 of 3
Every pending drop, plotted and listed
Five deliveries waiting. Each one shows on the map and in the list, sorted by due time so the most urgent runs surface first.
Hybrid delivery: your drivers + on-demand overflow
Run your own drivers when the maths work. Overflow to Uber Direct or Deliveroo Express when they don't. Customers see the same tracking either way.
In-house drivers
Driver roster, dispatch board, earnings reports and editable delivery fees. The most economic option when you have the drivers in-house.
Uber Direct
On-demand handoff with route, ETA and driver tracking. Configurable to be the default for all orders or a fall-back lane.
Deliveroo Express
On-demand driver network as a fall-back lane. Use it for late-night, suburb edge cases or when your own drivers are short.
Need-drivers-for-all-deliveries
Fallback toggle that ensures every order gets a driver. In-house first, on-demand second, never sitting because dispatch is short.
Dispatch controls that survive Friday
Editable fees mid-shift, mobile in-store payment terminal handoffs, delivery statistics by driver, zones and radius-based pricing. Every operational lever in admin.
- Editable delivery charge mid-shift. Busy night, rain, distance edge. Adjust the fee per order
- Mobile delivery terminal. Driver hand-off via tap-to-pay from a phone
- Delivery Statistics. Runs, on-time %, average distance per driver
- Delivery Areas with zone-based pricing, radius, min cost and cost-per-mi
- Drivers admin. Driver roster with detail view, earnings and run history
- Other-Delivery Statistics. Separate reports for on-demand driver networks
Price every mile fairly; protect every short trip
Radius-based delivery sets a minimum cost out to a base distance, then charges per mi beyond it. Long runs cost what they cost; short runs stay profitable. Free delivery over a threshold and free first-delivery acquire customers; minimum-order-value protects the kitchen from unprofitable tickets.
- Radius-based delivery. Distance-driven pricing, not flat zones
- Delivery min cost. Fee floor even on close-by jobs
- Min cost distance. The base distance covered by that floor
- Cost per mi. Per-mi rate after the base, applied to far runs
- Delivery free over threshold. Order-size giveaway encourages bigger orders
- First delivery free. Way to win first-time customers without discounting food
- Mobile delivery terminal. Drivers tap-to-pay from a phone, no extra device
- Editable delivery charge. Manager override mid-shift for VIPs, complaints, edge cases
- Minimum delivery order value. Stops the kitchen sending a small low-margin ticket out the door
Frequently asked questions
What operators ask us before they sign.
Do I need my own drivers to use this?
No. You have three options and can switch between them at any time. Use your own drivers with our driver app for full control and the lowest per-order cost. Use on-demand drivers through Uber Direct or Deliveroo Express in supported regions, when you do not want to employ drivers. Customers still get live tracking. Or run a hybrid: your own team during busy periods and on-demand drivers when it is quieter. Most restaurants start with one model and evolve as they learn their delivery patterns.
How does on-demand delivery work with Uber Direct and Deliveroo Express?
When a delivery order comes in from your website or the POS, a driver is requested automatically or with one tap from your team — you choose which. The driver picks up from your store and delivers to the customer, who gets the same live tracking experience they would on any delivery app: a live map, driver details and status updates via SMS. On your end, the driver status shows right on the POS screen, with no separate app to manage and no extra tablets on the counter.
How do I know when to use my own drivers versus on-demand drivers?
Next Order shows you revenue per hour, order count by day and time, and delivery cost breakdowns so you can see exactly when your own drivers pay for themselves and when on-demand is cheaper. For example, Friday and Saturday dinner rush with 15+ deliveries an hour. Your own drivers are far more cost-effective. Tuesday lunch with 3 orders. On-demand drivers cost a few pounds per drop with no shift wages to cover. The reporting makes the decision obvious.
What does the customer see?
The same experience regardless of which delivery model you use. When the order is on its way, the customer gets a branded SMS with a live tracking link showing the driver on a map, estimated arrival time, and staged status updates (preparing, on the way, nearby). If there is a delay, they get an automatic update rather than calling your store. Whether it is your own driver or an on-demand driver, the tracking experience is identical for the customer.
How much does direct delivery cost compared to third-party platforms?
On a third-party platform, you typically pay 25-35% commission on every order. On a £60 order, that is £18-£21 gone. With direct delivery through on-demand drivers, the delivery fee might be £6 total. Your customer pays £3, you cover £3. That is 5% of the order value instead of 25-35%. With your own drivers the maths are even better at volume. Use the calculator on this page to model your actual numbers.
Can I batch deliveries to save time and fuel?
Yes. The POS shows pending delivery orders on a map so you can see which ones are close together and group them into a single run. Your driver takes two or three nearby orders in one trip instead of going back and forth. This is one of the biggest advantages of running your own drivers. It cuts delivery time, saves fuel and means each driver handles more orders per hour.
See how much you could save on delivery
Walk through a delivery economics demo and we will model your costs. Your own drivers, on-demand drivers or both. With your real order volumes.