The real cost of a 50% discount on delivery apps

When orders slow down, the first idea is almost always the same: launch a big discount. Orders come back fast. The screen looks busy. It feels like it worked.

Then the payout arrives, and the number is smaller than expected.

This is not bad luck. It comes from one simple detail in how commission is calculated.

Commission is taken before your discount

On the invoices we have checked from Talabat, Deliveroo and Keeta, the commission was calculated on the menu price, not on the price the customer actually paid.

In simple words: when you fund a discount, the platform still takes its commission on the full price. The discount comes out of your share only.

Check your own invoices. Contracts are different from one restaurant to another.

A simple example

Let's take one dish:

• Menu price: AED 40
• Platform commission in this example: 30% of the menu price, so AED 12
• Food cost in this example: AED 12

Now look at what you keep with no discount, a small discount, and a 50% discount.

At 50% off, you lose AED 4 on every plate of this dish. Before rent, before salaries, before packaging.

Your own numbers will be different: your commission, your food cost, your prices. Take ten minutes and fill this table for your three most discounted dishes.

So is a 50% discount always a bad idea?

No. It depends on how you use it.

A big discount is expensive when it runs forever, on many dishes, or on a dish that does not make money even at full price. That is the version that quietly eats your margin.

The same discount can work as a door. One strong offer, on one dish, brings customers to your storefront. Many of them add a drink, a side, a dessert or a second main at full price. The loss on the offer dish becomes the price of bringing a new customer in.

The difference is control.

How to use a big discount the right way

1. One dish, not the whole menu. One strong offer is easier to see than small discounts everywhere. It brings the customer in. The rest of the menu does the work.

2. Choose a dish that makes you money at full price. Pick it from your list of profitable dishes, not just your best sellers. You want customers to discover a dish you are happy to sell again at the normal price.

3. Know what it costs you. Fill the table above for that dish. Then you know exactly what each offer order costs, and you can decide if it is worth it.

4. Look at the whole order, not only the dish. The real question is: what do customers add next to the offer? If most orders are the offer dish alone, change the dish or change the offer.

5. Review it every two weeks. A discount that never stops becomes the normal price in the customer's mind. Look at the real numbers every two weeks, then keep it, change it or stop it.

6. Fix the storefront first. A discount sends customers to your page. If the page has missing photos and a confusing menu, you pay for visits that do not order. Fix the page, then push it.

What to do this week

• List every discount running on every app right now.
• For each one, fill in the table above with your real numbers.
• Stop any offer that loses money and brings nothing else to the basket.
• Keep one clear offer, on one dish that makes you money, and check it every two weeks.

If you want us to check your offers with you, send us your storefront. Your score out of 100 lands in your inbox in minutes, then we go through it with you, with no upfront investment.