June 11, 2025
For restaurant owners across North America, third-party delivery platforms like Uber Eats present both opportunities and challenges. While these services open doors to new customers and additional revenue streams, they come with a significant price tag that can dramatically affect your bottom line.
According to Statista, food delivery services generated over $23 billion in revenue in the United States alone, with Uber Eats capturing approximately 24% of the market share in 2024.
For many restaurants, especially during the pandemic, these platforms became essential to reach customers when in-person dining was limited. However, beneath the promise of expanded reach lies a complex fee structure that surprises restaurant owners.
With commission rates sometimes reaching 30% per order, many establishments ask the difficult question: Is the visibility worth the cost?
As restaurants rebuild and adapt to changing consumer preferences, understanding what you're paying for, exploring alternatives that might better serve your business goals has never been more important.
Let's examine what Uber Eats really costs Canadian restaurants, and what options exist for those seeking greater control and profitability.
Uber Eats is a popular online platform that helps restaurants like yours reach more customers. It helps you easily connect with people in your area who are looking to order food for delivery.
By joining Uber Eats, you tap into a large pool of users who are already using the app to find places to eat. This means you can get your food in front of more potential customers without needing to spend heavily on your marketing.
With more people working remotely and seeking flexible dining options, restaurants can capture new revenue streams by offering delivery services through platforms like Uber Eats.
Uber Eats handles the online ordering process and provides a delivery network. When customers order from your menu through the app, you'll receive the order directly in your kitchen. Uber Eats can also take care of getting the food to the customer using their drivers, saving you the hassle of managing your delivery staff. It's a straightforward way to boost your sales and make it easier for people to enjoy your food at home.
By partnering with Uber Eats, restaurants can meet the expectations of modern consumers while benefiting from efficient order management, real-time tracking, and access to a vast customer base.
Getting started with Uber Eats for business is straightforward and quick. Here's a detailed guide for restaurants to onboard and start serving business clients:
To begin, visit the Uber Eats website and click on "Get Started" to create an account. Provide basic information about your restaurant, such as the name, address, and payment details.
This step ensures that your restaurant is set up to start accepting orders from business clients.
Once your account is set up, you can tailor your menu specifically for business clients. Consider offering group-friendly meals, customizable meal options, or special packages designed for corporate events, meetings, or employee perks.
You can also define meal pricing and meal bundle options that will meet business needs, making your offerings more appealing to large orders or organizations.
After setting up your menu, your restaurant will be listed on the Uber Eats platform, making it visible to businesses in your area. When businesses need meal solutions for their teams or events, they can easily discover your restaurant and place an order.
Once an order is received, you can start preparing and fulfilling it, managing orders efficiently through the Uber Eats system.
Uber Eats enables you to track orders in real-time, from preparation to delivery, ensuring your restaurant meets the delivery expectations of clients. This feature offers transparency, allowing you to monitor the status of all orders.
Furthermore, you can access detailed reports to track business-specific orders, which helps optimize operations and enhance customer satisfaction.
By following these simple steps, your restaurant can easily integrate with Uber Eats for Business, open doors to new opportunities, and streamline the way you serve business clients.
Understanding the true cost of partnering with Uber Eats requires looking beyond the headline commission rates. The platform's fee structure comprises several components that work together to determine the total cost of the service.
When your customers order through Uber Eats, they're typically charged a delivery fee that varies based on distance, time of day, and market demand. However, restaurants also absorb costs on their end of the transaction.
Uber Eats charges service fees in addition to delivery costs, covering its technology platform, payment processing, and customer service. These fees, typically a percentage of the total order value, constitute a substantial portion of the overall commission structure.
Many restaurant owners are surprised to discover that Uber Eats also charges a commission on pickup orders—transactions where customers order through the app but pick up the food themselves, eliminating the need for delivery services.
Essentially, restaurants are paying a substantial fee for an order that could have been delivered directly to their restaurant.
Unlike third-party platforms, iOrders provides commission-free online ordering that integrates seamlessly with your website and point-of-sale system. This allows you to eliminate fees while retaining control over the customer experience.
Now that we understand the basic fee structure, let's examine the specific commission rates that make up the largest portion of what restaurants pay to Uber Eats.
For restaurants in Canada and North America, Uber Eats offers an effective way to reach more customers and increase sales in today's digital-first food market. While there are challenges, many eateries find real value in the platform's offerings.
Uber Eats is a top player in North America's food delivery scene, with millions of active users across Canada and the U.S. This large customer base means your restaurant can connect with people who prefer ordering food online rather than dining out.
This kind of exposure can introduce your restaurant to new neighborhoods and customer segments you might not reach otherwise.
Managing deliveries in busy cities like Toronto, Vancouver, New York, or Chicago can be expensive and logistically tough for restaurants without their fleet. Uber Eats simplifies this by providing a reliable network of drivers ready to pick up and deliver your orders.
Uber Eats offers several marketing features that help your restaurant stand out in a crowded marketplace:
Restaurants often see sales spikes when they leverage Uber Eats' promotional tools, making it a smart tactic during slow periods or when launching new menu items.
Uber Eats provides reports on overall sales, popular dishes, and peak ordering times, but customer data is not shared with restaurants.
Many Canadian restaurants find this challenging, as growing repeat business usually requires direct customer relationships.
Uber Eats integrates smoothly with popular North American POS systems such as Toast, Square, and Lightspeed, making order management easier by syncing delivery orders directly with your kitchen workflow.
While Uber Eats offers these benefits, pairing it with iOrders can give your restaurant even more control and profitability.
iOrders offers commission-free online ordering directly from your website or app. It also manages flexible delivery options and engages customers with personalized marketing, all focused on helping Canadian and North American restaurants grow sustainably.
Next, let's dive into some challenges restaurants face when using Uber Eats to get a complete view.
Uber Eats provides advantages, but restaurants in Canada and North America face challenges when relying on the platform. Recognizing these hurdles can help balance delivery partners and ordering systems.
One of the biggest concerns for restaurants using Uber Eats is the cost. The platform charges commission fees on every order, which can range from 15% to 30% depending on your agreement and location. Add delivery fees and other charges, and the profit margins start to shrink significantly.
You must carefully review your Uber Eats fee structure and consider how it affects your pricing strategy and bottom line.
Uber Eats controls most customer information, which means restaurants miss out on building direct relationships with their diners.
This loss of control can make it difficult for restaurants to establish a unique identity and customer loyalty beyond the app.
Operating through Uber Eats means you are subject to their terms and policies, which can change unexpectedly.
Because Uber Eats handles delivery and payment, restaurants have limited control over customer service related to orders.
Given these challenges, many Canadian and North American restaurants turn to solutions like iOrders to regain control. iOrders' commission-free online ordering, flexible delivery options, and direct customer engagement tools help restaurants build their brand, protect margins, and provide better service.
Next, let's explore how iOrders can help restaurants overcome these challenges and take back control of their business.
In Canada and North America, using the right platform can help you cut costs, increase control, and boost customer loyalty. iOrders empowers restaurants with a suite of services designed to help them thrive in the digital age.
Let's have a brief idea of how you can gear up your restaurant operations.
One of the major benefits of iOrders is that it enables commission-free online ordering. This means that you don't have to worry about sharing your revenue with third-party platforms like Uber Eats, which can take up to 30% per order.
By encouraging customers to order directly through your website or app, you can significantly reduce costs and boost long-term profits.
With website and QR code ordering, iOrders allows your customers to place orders directly from your restaurant's website or by scanning a QR code.
By integrating these tools, you not only simplify the ordering process but also reinforce your restaurant's branding.
iOrders' Delivery-as-a-Service comes with multiple flexible options, giving you control over how deliveries are managed.
This flexibility helps Canadian and North American restaurants provide a seamless delivery service while maintaining profit margins and avoiding third-party fees.
iOrders offers managed marketing services designed to keep customers engaged and coming back. With smart campaigns, you can send personalized messages, promotions, and offers based on customer data and behavior.
Insight: Using these data-driven campaigns helps you stay top-of-mind with your customers, encouraging them to choose your restaurant over competitors.
iOrders' AI-powered review system helps restaurants maintain a positive relationship with their customers by providing personalized responses to their reviews, feedback, and frequently asked questions.
The white-label mobile app gives your restaurant a custom-branded ordering platform for dine-in, takeout, and delivery orders.
iOrders provides a comprehensive, flexible solution that is designed to help your restaurant thrive in the digital-first landscape.
Next, let's wrap things up with a conclude our discussion.
While Uber Eats offers valuable benefits, such as increased visibility and convenience, it also comes with high commission fees and limited control over customer data.
iOrders provides a more profitable and customizable solution for restaurants in Canada and North America. With commission-free online ordering, flexible delivery options, and targeted marketing services, we enable restaurants to build stronger, more direct relationships with their customers.
In today's competitive restaurant landscape, controlling your digital ordering and delivery processes is key to long-term success.
Stop giving away a third of your revenue. Contact iOrders today to regain control of your restaurant's profitability. Your customers will enjoy convenience, and you will keep your profits.
