Delivery Order Cost: What One Order Really Costs

Profit on a delivery order = order price − dish cost − packaging − delivery cost − aggregator commission − discount and bonus. Most people count only dish cost, so profit from delivery turns out smaller than it looks.

In this article we go through the formula step by step and compare the same order through an aggregator and through your own channel.

Key points:

• Cost includes packaging, delivery, commission and bonus, not only the dish.
• Calculate profit for each channel separately.
• Your own channel has no commission, but it has a platform subscription and the cost of bringing in customers.

What does delivery cost consist of?

Six things: dish cost, packaging, delivery cost, channel commission, discount or bonus, and the payment system's commission (if any). Operator and kitchen time is also a cost, but it is hard to count separately, so it is usually looked at in total costs.

• Dish cost. Ingredients and preparation.
• Packaging. Box, bag, extra containers. In delivery it differs from the dining room.
• Delivery. The part of a courier's salary that falls on one order, or an external service fee.
• Commission. 15–35% at an aggregator, none in your own channel.
• Discount and bonus. Promo code, cashback, free delivery.
• Payment system commission. In online payment, depending on your contract with the payment system.

How do you split courier cost per order?

Divide a courier's monthly salary by the number of deliveries in the month. For example, if the salary is 3 million UZS and there are 300 deliveries a month, one delivery costs 10,000 UZS. If orders drop, one delivery becomes more expensive: in quiet hours the courier is still paid.

With an external service, each delivery is paid at the service's rate. Which is cheaper depends on order volume: we compared them in delivery without couriers.

Example: the same order, two channels

Suppose the average check is 100,000 UZS, dish and packaging cost is 40,000 UZS, and delivery is 12,000 UZS. In the first case the order came through an aggregator, commission 25%. In the second, through your own bot.

To see how the subscription splits per order in your own channel: Delever's Start plan is 1.3 million UZS and includes 1,000 orders, which comes to about 1,300 UZS per order when the limit is reached. Each order above the limit costs 1,950 UZS (1,000 UZS on the Enterprise plan).

These are approximate numbers for an example. Important note: bringing customers to your own channel also costs advertising and bonuses, and these must be subtracted from profit. At an aggregator the platform brings the new customer. So the comparison is not "which is better" but "which customer goes to which channel". The commission calculation.

Where to start?

The easiest way: for the last month, collect order count, average check and commission for each channel, and fill in the table above. Then you see in which channel profit remains and in which almost none does.

In a channel with small profit you have two paths: review price or cost, or move customers from that channel to your own. It also helps to offer more profitable dishes: menu ABC-XYZ analysis.

Conclusion

• Add packaging, delivery, commission and bonus to cost.
• Calculate profit for each channel separately.
• In a channel with small profit, review price, cost or redirect customers.

We do the calculation together using your own numbers: delever.io or @delever_bot on Telegram.