E-Commerce & Retail
Custom Platform Replacing Third-Party Dependencies and Their 30% Commission
Building a bespoke ordering and delivery management platform for a premium meal delivery service, eliminating dependency on third-party marketplaces and their commission structure.
What We Were Solving
The client was a premium meal delivery service operating in three cities, generating 85 percent of orders through Deliveroo and UberEats at a combined commission rate of 30 percent. On 1.8M GBP annual revenue this represented 540K GBP in commission fees. They had a basic WordPress website that generated minimal direct orders because the user experience was poor compared to marketplace apps. Customer data belonged to the marketplaces, preventing direct marketing. Menu updates required manual changes across multiple platforms. The founder estimated that direct orders needed to reach 50 percent of volume for the business to be sustainably profitable.
Our Strategic Approach
We built a bespoke ordering platform with a mobile-first experience designed to compete with marketplace convenience. The menu management system updates once and publishes across the website and any remaining marketplace channels simultaneously. Order management handles the full lifecycle including kitchen display, driver assignment, and real-time customer tracking. A loyalty programme incentivises customers to switch from marketplace ordering to direct. Automated marketing sequences target marketplace customers who transition to the direct platform. Delivery zone management with dynamic ETAs ensures accurate promise times.
Deliverables
- Mobile-first ordering platform with marketplace-grade UX
- Centralised menu management with multi-channel publishing
- Order management with kitchen display and driver assignment
- Real-time delivery tracking for customers
- Loyalty programme with points and tier-based rewards
- Automated marketing sequences for marketplace migration
- Delivery zone management with dynamic ETA calculation
- Revenue dashboard with direct vs marketplace comparison
Project Timeline
UX Research and Architecture
Analysed marketplace UX patterns. Mapped ordering flow for mobile-first conversion. Designed loyalty mechanics to incentivise direct ordering.
Platform Build
Ordering flow, menu management, order lifecycle, kitchen display system and driver assignment.
Delivery and Marketing
Real-time tracking, delivery zone management, loyalty programme, and marketplace migration campaigns.
Launch and Optimisation
Staged city-by-city launch, A/B testing on conversion flow, and two-month optimisation period.
Measurable Results
Want Results Like These?
Tell us about your project. We'll look at the fit and put together a focused proposal after a 30-minute strategy call.
More Case Studies
See how we've helped businesses in other sectors and with different challenges.
Financial Services
From 8-Second Load Times to Sub-Second Performance
Complete infrastructure rebuild for a payment processing platform handling 50,000+ daily transactions, eliminating critical bottlenecks and achieving 99.97% uptime.
Financial Services
12x Lead Generation Improvement with Conversion-First Architecture
Engineering a conversion-focused website for a wealth management firm that transformed their digital presence from a brochure into their primary source of qualified leads.
Financial Services
6 Person-Days of Monthly Billing Reduced to Fully Automated Overnight Run
Automating the entire billing cycle for a 120-client commercial insurance brokerage, eliminating manual reconciliation and reducing late payments from 28% to under 4%.
Financial Services
Month-End Processing Cut from Five Days to One
Building a secure client portal for a 60-person accountancy practice that eliminated email-based document exchange and achieved full compliance with professional body requirements.
Financial Services
Sub-200ms Data Processing for 500,000 Daily Market Events
Re-architecting a proprietary trading platform backend to process real-time market data feeds with sub-200ms latency, enabling the firm to compete on execution speed.
Financial Services
73% of Members Moved to Self-Service Within 90 Days
Building a secure member portal and automated loan processing system for a regional credit union, reducing branch visit dependency and cutting loan approval time from 5 days to same-day.
Facing a similar challenge?
Tell Us About Your Project.
We'll look at your brief and let you know if there's a good fit. Honestly and without pressure.
Schedule a Consultation