If you're running an independent pizzeria in Australia right now, you're probably on delivery apps. And you're probably paying more than you think. Let's start with the number that doesn't appear on any invoice.
30% on every order. Every time.
Delivery apps charges Australian restaurants up to 30% commission per order for standard delivery. That means on a $50 pizza order, $15 goes to delivery apps before you've covered a single ingredient, paid a single staff member, or accounted for a single overhead cost. That's not a service fee. That's a business partner taking nearly a third of your revenue on every single transaction.
Now multiply that across a month.
$40k delivery apps revenue
any other expense
A pizzeria doing $40,000 in monthly delivery apps orders hands over $12,000 in commission. Every month. That's $144,000 per year — gone before you've considered the cost of flour, wages, or rent.
A major platform is gone. You have fewer options than ever.
A major platform ceased operations in Australia at midnight on 26 November 2025, after almost 20 years in the market. At its peak it held around 24% of Australia's food delivery market — sitting behind delivery apps at 54% but ahead of delivery platforms at 15%.
With a major platform gone, you have two choices: delivery apps or delivery platforms. That's it. Less competition means less pressure on the platforms to keep their rates reasonable. They know you need them more than they need any individual restaurant — and their pricing reflects it.
The commission is the visible cost. The invisible cost is bigger.
The 30% you see on your invoice is only part of what you're actually paying. The larger cost is the one that doesn't show up anywhere: the loss of your customer relationship.
Next time that customer wants pizza on a Friday night, they open the delivery apps app. Your restaurant is one of dozens on a list. You start from zero every single time. There is no loyalty to your brand — there is only loyalty to the app.
Restaurants that leverage direct customer data — like targeted email campaigns or loyalty incentives — see up to 20–30% higher repeat order rates compared to those that treat delivery as a black-box transaction. You can't do that when the data belongs to someone else.
Delivery apps vs direct — what each order actually means
| What happens | Via delivery apps | Via Direct ordering |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | Up to 30% per order | 0% — you keep it all |
| Customer data | Delivery apps owns it | You own it |
| Repeat orders | Customer opens delivery apps app | Customer comes back to you |
| Branding | Your restaurant is one of dozens | Your page, your brand |
| Marketing | You pay for delivery apps promotions | You SMS your own list directly |
| Google presence | Delivery apps ranks, not you | Your page ranks on Google |
Direct ordering. 0% commission. Live in 24 hours.
Direct ordering means customers order from you — through your own page, your own brand. You keep 100% of the order value. You own the customer's details. You build a relationship instead of renting one.
The goal isn't to eliminate third-party platforms entirely. It's about shifting the primary ordering channel toward direct orders, where your business controls both the transaction and the relationship. Keep delivery apps for discovery. Use direct ordering for everything else.
Crusto is built specifically for Australian independent pizzerias. It plugs into your existing POS, gives you your own branded ordering page, and has you live in 24 hours. No new hardware. No new website. Your POS keeps running exactly as it does today — you just stop giving 30% away on every order.