The ticket is the same. What reaches the restaurant isn't.
At Ice House Steaks & Pizza, a delivery order averages about $40 whether it comes through DoorDash or through our own phone and website. After fees, DoorDash pays the restaurant about $32 of it. On an in-house order, about $36 stays.
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What reaches the restaurant from each order
Top-line sales look alike across channels. This is what is left after each channel takes its costs.
of a $40.38 average order
89.8% reaches the restaurant
$38.20 (94.6%) before estimated card fees, payroll taxes and insurance.
of a $40.60 average order
79.4% reaches the restaurant
After commission, discounts the restaurant funds and error charges.
of a $35.84 average order
75.6% reaches the restaurant
After marketplace fees, ad spend and chargebacks.
Of every $100 customers ordered, about $90 reached the restaurant in-house, $79 through DoorDash and $76 through Uber Eats.
One average order, line by line
Averages per order across 5,702 in-house deliveries, 1,773 DoorDash orders and 401 Uber Eats orders.
In-house delivery
Driver wages: $6.83 an hour spread over 1.76 deliveries per driver-hour.
DoorDash
Uber Eats
The commission rate isn't the whole cost
On Ice House's statements, the commission line alone came to about 13 to 14% of sales. Once the discounts and ads that keep the orders coming are counted, the apps kept 21 to 24%.
| Share of app sales | DoorDash | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Commission and fees | 13.4% | 14.2% |
| Discounts and ads the restaurant funds | 6.1% | 9.7% |
| Error charges and chargebacks | 1.0% | 0.6% |
| Kept by the app, all in | 20.6% | 24.4% |
What in-house delivery gives you
You keep the delivery fee
Ice House charges $4 a delivery. Half goes to the driver and half stays with the house. On an app order, the delivery fee goes to the app.
The customer stays yours
A direct order comes with a name, a number and an order history. On an app order, the app holds that relationship and decides what the customer sees next time.
You decide the promotions
On the apps, discounts and ads cost Ice House $2.50 to $3.47 an order. Direct, you choose whether to discount at all.
Your drivers, your standards
Your own drivers know your menu and your streets, and a mistake is yours to fix. Remakes and redeliveries cost Ice House about 31 cents an order.
What the apps are still good for
The apps put you in front of people who have never ordered from you. About a quarter of Ice House's delivery orders came through them this summer. That is why our advice is to keep them running and move your regulars in-house over time.
Don't drop the delivery apps yetIn-house only pays when your drivers stay busy
The largest in-house cost is driver wages: $3.88 an order at Ice House. That number moves with how many deliveries each driver-hour covers. Drivers waiting at the door and cars leaving half-loaded push it up.
| Where the $3.88 comes from | Ice House, summer 2026 |
|---|---|
| Driver wages per hour (labor report, including overtime) | $6.83 |
| Deliveries per driver-hour | 1.76 |
| Wage cost per delivery (wages per hour divided by deliveries per hour) | $3.88 |
The same $6.83 hour spread over more deliveries costs less per order: about $2.73 at 2.5 deliveries per driver-hour and $1.95 at 3.5. On top of wages, the driver gets $2.00 of the $4.00 delivery fee on each delivery.
Orders land on the board
Delivery orders come in from your POS, or you type in an address.
Runs build themselves
Ready orders headed the same way are grouped and put in driving order.
Drivers scan and go
Two QR codes, one for Apple Maps and one for Google Maps, open the full route.
BottomLine builds the runs, so each trip carries more of the orders that are ready.
How we got these numbers
Where the figures come from
Ice House Steaks & Pizza in Pottstown, PA, June 1 to September 20, 2026. In-house figures come from the restaurant's point-of-sale sales and labor reports. App figures come from the restaurant's own DoorDash and Uber Eats statements for the same dates.
What is estimated
Three in-house costs are estimates: card processing at 3% of the order and delivery fee, employer payroll taxes at 8% of driver wages, and delivery insurance at 0.76% of delivery sales. Without them, the in-house figure is $38.20 an order, or 94.6%.
Where the driver cost comes from
The restaurant's labor report shows $22,116 in driver pay over 3,239 driver hours, which is $6.83 an hour. The restaurant made 5,702 in-house deliveries in those hours, or 1.76 per driver-hour. Dividing $6.83 by 1.76 gives $3.88 in wages per delivery. The separate $2.00 is the driver's half of the $4.00 delivery fee.
What is left out
Food cost, which is the same on every channel. Sales tax and tips, which pass through. Grubhub, which was about 1% of delivery orders. The app figures include pickup orders placed through the apps.
Will my numbers look like this?
Not exactly. This is one restaurant over one summer. Your commission tier, driver pay, delivery fee and order volume will all move the result.
Bring your regulars in-house.
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