How do you get customers to order direct instead of through DoorDash?

The app is how strangers find you. DoorDash says as much on its own direct-ordering page. It calls the commission “the cost of discovery,” and it adds that this works. A first-time guest who finds you while scrolling is worth that cost. A regular who orders every week found you long ago. Each repeat order still pays the full commission.

You can see that split for each store. In the DoorDash Merchant Portal, go to the Customers section and select Customer Insights. DoorDash says it shows the percentage of new, occasional and frequent customers. It also notes that the insights available vary by account. Start with the stores where frequent customers make up a large share. Those stores have the most to gain from a direct link.

DoorDash charges a commission on each delivery order. Its pricing page lists 15% on Basic, 25% on Plus and 30% on its highest plan. Pickup orders cost 6% on every plan. Orders through its own Online Ordering tool are commission-free but carry a payment processing charge.

The last row uses Square’s online card rate on its paid plans, 2.9% plus 30¢, as an example. Your own processor’s rate will differ a little. For a regular who orders every week, the gap between the first and last rows comes back every week. A perk for direct orders is paid out of that gap.

No, because guests still lean on them. The National Restaurant Association said in May 2026 that 68% of delivery customers had used a third-party service in the past six months. Leaving the apps would cut you off from those guests. Many owners still make little or nothing on those orders.

There is a practical reason to stay, too. DoorDash’s commission-free Online Ordering is available only to restaurants with an active DoorDash store. Leave the app, and that low-cost direct route closes with it.

Use the online ordering that comes with a system you already have. If your point-of-sale system offers an ordering page, start there. If you sell on DoorDash, its Online Ordering tool gives you a page with no commission. DoorDash says an active DoorDash merchant can activate it in minutes through the Merchant Portal. Customers pay the delivery fees on those orders.

Give every store its own link. A shared link sends guests to the wrong store, and it hides which store earned the order. Place one test order per store before any cards go out. Fix anything that fails on a phone, because that is where the QR code lands.

Guests who search your name on Google may see an Order online button. Delivery apps can show up there without your help. Google lists third-party providers automatically when they state they have an authorized relationship with your business. You can add a custom ordering link and set your preferred online order provider. You can also remove an app’s link. Under Google’s food ordering rules, the provider must take it down within 5 business days.

Repeat this for each store’s profile, with each store’s own link. If your profiles are not set up yet, start with our guide to a restaurant Google Business Profile. Ask who has access to each profile before you edit.

Keep it to one card with one job. The guest already enjoys your food, so skip the sales pitch. Tell them what they get for ordering direct, and show them how. Print a different QR code for each store, so each card opens the right menu. DoorDash suggests promoting its ordering page through direct mail campaigns via QR code.

Put the card in app delivery bags first, not pickup bags. Delivery orders cost you the most, so moving them saves the most. Read your delivery app’s merchant agreement before you start, since it sets the terms for orders placed through that app.

The lowest-cost perk is a price you already charge. Eighty-three percent of limited-service operators told the association they charge more for app orders than at the counter. Among full-service operators, the share was 66%. If your app menu is marked up, your direct menu can simply use counter prices. The guest saves money, and you still keep more than an app order leaves you.

Pick one perk and use it at every store, so guests who visit two stores see the same deal. Get your franchisor’s yes before you change a price or launch an offer. DoorDash pickup has its own condition, too. Its 6% pickup rate requires pickup menu prices to match in-store prices. For points, our guide to starting a loyalty program covers the costs.

In many franchise systems, the brand owns the website, the ordering platform and sometimes the Google profiles. A franchisee may not be allowed to set up a separate ordering page. Some brands already run a direct channel and want stores to promote it. Ask before you build anything. A short email with the plan and a sample card is enough to start.

If the brand already has a direct channel, your job gets simpler. Print the brand’s link with a store code added, and skip the setup. Our guide to getting franchisor approval fast shows how to frame the request.

The five stores without the card are what made the result readable. Without them, a busy month would have looked like a working card.

Count direct orders by store code each week. Compare the stores with cards against similar stores without them. Watch the app numbers too. If frequent customers fall on the app while direct orders rise, the card is moving the right guests. A vendor report adds a reason to care. Paytronix, which sells first-party ordering, found that guests ordering direct ordered 35% more than guests on third-party apps.

Give the test a full month before you judge it. A week of bad weather can swing delivery orders on its own. Our guide to tracking results without promo codes covers store-level comparisons in more detail. The same thinking applies when you check whether a creator brought you customers.

The app keeps doing that job, as long as you stay on it. Other channels help too. A game-day crowd, covered in our football season guide, brings first-timers in. So does a short video of your food from someone local. Some restaurants use TikTok videos of one dish to start that search.

A group that wants those videos without running them in-house can use CreatoRain. Its in-house team invites creators from its food-creator network to visit the group’s stores. The team pays them and follows up until each video is posted. Every store pays one flat rate, $300 a video, creator pay included. Ask each creator for a closing shot of the bag and the card. If guests appear on camera, our guide to filming customers covers asking first.

Start small and go in order. Set up the links first, because a card with a broken link wastes a regular’s goodwill. Clear the plan with the brand. Then test at a few stores before you print for all of them.

Read the numbers after the fourth week. Roll the card out to the stores where regulars moved. Leave the rest alone, and keep the app working for new guests.