How Deliveroo ranks restaurants in Dubai
Deliveroo is one of the few apps that writes down how it ranks restaurants. Here is what it says, in plain words, and what you can do with it in Dubai.
"Why is that restaurant above me on Deliveroo?" We hear it every week.
Most apps keep their ranking secret. Deliveroo is different: in Europe, it publishes a partner ranking policy that lists the parameters it uses. The UAE site does not publish its own version, so we cannot promise the weights are identical in Dubai. But it is the best official description of how Deliveroo thinks, and it matches what we see on the storefronts we manage.
Deliveroo in the UAE has been part of DoorDash since October 2025. The app restaurants and customers use has not changed.
The one question Deliveroo asks
Deliveroo's policy says its main ranking parameter is the likelihood that a customer will order from the restaurants shown to them.
Read that twice. Deliveroo does not rank the best restaurant. It ranks the restaurant this customer is most likely to order from, right now.
That is why two people standing in the same building can see two different lists.
What Deliveroo looks at
The policy groups its signals in three families.
The customer. Their order history and how often they order. Someone who orders sushi every Thursday sees sushi higher. You cannot change this, but it explains why your own phone is a bad way to check your position.
The order. The time of day, the distance to the customer, and how long they can expect to wait. A restaurant far from the customer, or with a long expected delivery time, starts with a handicap.
The restaurant. Your rating, whether you belong to a chain, and whether you are running a promotion right now. The European policy also mentions the use of imagery.
Then come secondary parameters: the cuisines that are trending, Deliveroo's own revenue and costs, and the availability of items. When a dish is unavailable, Deliveroo may show alternatives from other restaurants.
Finally, paid placements. Restaurants can pay Deliveroo to appear in certain places, such as a highlighted carousel. Those spots are labelled as paid.
What you control in Dubai
You cannot move your kitchen closer to the customer. Here is what you can change.
Your expected delivery time. It is part of the order signal. Check your preparation time against three busy nights. If the kitchen is always late, set an honest time, then work on making it shorter. A promise you miss hurts twice: in ranking, and in reviews.
Your rating. Ratings move slowly, so protect them every day. Missing items, wrong items and cold food are the usual causes of bad ratings, and they are operational fixes, not marketing ones. Read your last twenty reviews and group the complaints.
Your item availability. A dish that is often unavailable sends customers to someone else. Either keep it in stock or remove it.
Your images. Deliveroo accepts JPEG images only. A menu with a clear photo on every dish converts better, and conversion is exactly what "likelihood to order" measures. Our photo checklist is in Menu photos that get the tap.
Your promotions. Running an offer is listed as a ranking signal. It is also the most expensive one. Before you launch one, read The real cost of a 50% discount on delivery apps and do the maths with your own numbers.
Paid placements. They can work for a launch or a new dish. Ask your Deliveroo account manager what is available in the UAE: some programmes you read about online exist only in the UK or Ireland.
The loop that pushes you up, or down
Put the pieces together and you see a loop.
A restaurant that is shown, converts well and delivers on time gets more orders. More good orders bring a better rating and a stronger history with customers. Deliveroo shows it more.
A restaurant with missing photos, unavailable dishes and late orders converts badly. Deliveroo learns that customers rarely order there, and shows it less.
You enter the loop through your storefront and your kitchen, not through the algorithm.
What to do this week
- Check your expected delivery time against reality, and make the promise honest.
- List every dish that was unavailable last week. Restock it or remove it.
- Add a JPEG photo to every dish in your first two categories.
- Read your last twenty reviews and fix the most common complaint.
- Ask your account manager which paid placements and promotions exist in Dubai today, and what each one costs.
The general signals shared by all apps are in How delivery apps decide who shows up first.
Where we come in
We rebuild and manage Deliveroo storefronts in Dubai: menu order, names, dish images in the right format, and one clear offer reviewed with you every two weeks. We prepare the questions for your account manager, so every meeting moves something.
Want to know where your Deliveroo storefront loses orders? Send us the link. Your score out of 100 lands in your inbox in minutes, then we go through it with you, with no upfront investment.
Source: Deliveroo partner ranking policy, as published on its European websites (checked October 2026).
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