SaaS helps restaurants avoid demand destruction
Hadi Rashid, co-founder of Lunchbox, on vertical SaaS for restaurants
The real risk is not the fee itself, it is demand destruction. When restaurants raise menu prices on third party apps to recover 20% to 30% commissions, they can preserve gross dollars on each order while quietly losing order frequency and the customer relationship. That makes first party ordering strategically important because a fixed SaaS cost lets the restaurant keep direct prices lower, track who ordered, and use loyalty and messaging to pull that person back again.
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Lunchbox is built around this exact tradeoff. The product handles web and app ordering, loyalty, and marketing, then sends orders into the POS or kitchen flow. The point is not only cheaper economics, it is owning the diner record so the restaurant can see repeat behavior and trigger email, text, and app campaigns.
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The alternative stack is meaningfully cheaper than a marketplace order. Restaurant software providers like Lunchbox and ChowNow pair subscription software with delivery integrations, producing a blended cost around 10% to 11% versus roughly 30% for marketplace ordering. That gap is what gives restaurants room to keep prices closer to in store levels.
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This is also why pickup has become more important. In the Lunchbox interview, pickup had moved from about 62% before the pandemic to more than 70%, because delivery fees still get passed to the customer even in first party flows. Lower friction and lower total checkout price make pickup the cleanest way to protect frequency.
The market is moving toward a split model. Marketplaces will keep winning convenience and logistics, while restaurant software wins on customer ownership and margin protection. The strongest platforms will be the ones that let restaurants use third party delivery when needed, but concentrate repeat customers into direct channels where pricing stays sane and demand compounds over time.