Converting Marketplace Customers to Direct

The phrase “converting marketplace customers” can encourage the wrong approach. A takeaway should not treat marketplace order details as a marketing list or interfere with a platform transaction. The sustainable objective is to build a strong direct channel that customers can discover and choose voluntarily when they next want to order from the business.

Start with the rules and the customer relationship

Before using packaging, receipts, inserts or platform-related messages:

• check the current marketplace agreement;
• confirm what branding or promotional material is permitted;
• understand which customer information is available only for fulfilment;
• do not export contact details into email or SMS marketing without a valid basis;
• do not disrupt support, refunds or other platform processes;
• avoid claims that the marketplace price or service is unfair unless the statement is accurate and appropriate.

Build the direct route through the takeaway's own brand presence, service and lawful marketing choices.

Make the direct channel worth choosing

Customers need a practical reason to order directly. Useful advantages may include:

• a fast mobile website;
• clear collection availability;
• accurate local delivery times;
• easy reordering;
• a broader menu where operationally suitable;
• transparent loyalty rewards;
• direct access to the takeaway's support;
• scheduled ordering.

Do not promise lower prices, faster delivery or exclusive items unless the business can maintain that promise consistently.

Strengthen owned discovery first

Before printing inserts, make sure customers can find the direct route through:

• the official website;
• the Google Business Profile website link;
• social profiles owned by the business;
• the premises and collection counter;
• branded packaging where permitted;
• searches for the takeaway's name.

Use one memorable domain and keep the ordering route stable. A customer who searches by brand should not have to distinguish between several unofficial-looking domains.

Packaging and receipt messages

Where permitted, a simple message can help customers find the official route next time. It should be useful rather than hostile to the channel through which the current order was placed.

A practical insert may contain:

• the takeaway name and official web address;
• a QR code to the mobile ordering page;
• a short explanation of collection, loyalty or direct support;
• significant promotional conditions where an offer is included;
• contact details for feedback about the food or restaurant service.

Test whether the message remains readable after delivery and whether the QR destination works on common phones.

Use incentives without creating permanent discount dependence

A first-direct-order incentive may be appropriate when it has:

• a clear objective;
• a defined budget;
• transparent eligibility;
• an end date or review point;
• visible exclusions and minimum spend where relevant;
• fraud and duplicate-use controls;
• a plan for measuring the next full-price order.

A vague “save more direct” message can be misleading. State the actual benefit and the conditions that materially affect it.

Do not confuse order messages with marketing permission

A phone number or email address may be needed for fulfilment, receipts or service updates. Those purposes do not automatically allow promotional messages.

If the business wants to send email or SMS marketing, it must use an appropriate process. Consent should be specific where relied upon. A soft opt-in can apply only when all relevant conditions are met, including an opt-out when details are collected and in every message.

Do not preselect a marketing box or make marketing acceptance a condition of completing an ordinary order.

App downloads are not the main success measure

Where an app exists, promote it only to customers for whom it has a useful repeat-ordering role. A download incentive can create inactive installs that never produce a second order.

Measure:

• completed first orders;
• active customers after the launch period;
• repeat orders without continuing discounts;
• support requests and failed notifications;
• incremental contribution after app and marketing costs.

Measure the channel shift honestly

Use campaign-specific links or codes where possible, but do not claim that every direct order was taken from a marketplace. Customers may have found the business through search, the premises, recommendation or previous direct experience.

A useful measurement view includes:

Measure	What it helps explain
Branded website visits	Whether more customers actively seek the takeaway
Direct checkout completion	Whether the owned journey works
First direct orders using a specific code	Response to a defined campaign
Repeat direct orders without an incentive	Whether the channel has lasting value
Marketplace order and contribution trend	Whether retained marketplace demand remains useful
Kitchen accuracy and on-time performance	Whether the new mix is operationally sustainable

A controlled rollout

1. Fix the direct website, menu, payment and support journey.
2. Check marketplace agreements and data restrictions.
3. Make the official direct route easy to find in owned locations.
4. Test one clear message or offer.
5. Limit promotion to a level the kitchen can absorb.
6. Review repeat behaviour, contribution and service quality.
7. Retain marketplace coverage where it continues to provide useful demand.

The objective is not to “take” a customer from a platform. It is to make the takeaway's own service trustworthy enough that customers recognise and choose it in future.

Related guides

• Restaurant Marketing and Customer Retention — the main guide for the wider topic.
• Customer Acquisition — the broader guide that frames this implementation.
• Acquiring First-Time Customers — a closely related operational control to review alongside this page.
• Win-Back Campaigns for Lapsed Customers — a closely related operational control to review alongside this page.

Official guidance checked

• Information Commissioner's Office: electronic mail marketing rules
• Information Commissioner's Office: planning direct marketing
• ASA and CAP: promotional terms and significant conditions

Guidance checked: 24 July 2026. Check the current marketplace agreement before placing direct-channel promotions in marketplace order packaging or communications.