Here’s How Much Restaurants Mark Up Prices on Delivery Apps

Many fast-food restaurants offer instant meals at a reasonable price — unless you order through an aggregator.

When you pay for restaurant delivery through one of these third-party websites and apps, such as DoorDash, you might pay more for your meal than you realize.

Restaurants that adjust prices for orders from aggregators typically charge an average of 24% more for these meals compared to what you would pay if you visited the restaurant itself or ordered from its website, according to the 2022 Restaurant Friction Index from PYMNTS and Paytronix.

PYMNTS is a news source that covers e-commerce and online payment methods while Paytronix provides software solutions to restaurants. They surveyed more than 500 restaurant managers on topics such as meal ordering, payments and fulfillment as well as more than 2,100 consumers to learn about their restaurant-ordering habits.

Quick-service restaurants — more commonly known as fast-food restaurants — are most likely to hike the costs of meals listed on aggregators. In fact, 27% of managers at these establishments acknowledge raising prices on meals ordered for delivery through third-party apps.

By contrast, just 14% of table-service restaurant managers engage in such practices.

Although such a markup may sound high, it is unlikely to discourage people from using aggregator services. This year’s index notes that many people are aware of these extra costs but still use aggregators because of their convenience.

Among folks who use delivery service via aggregators, nearly 63% say they do so because it’s “fast and convenient.” Around 38% say they use aggregators because it is the only way to have food delivered from a restaurant of choice.

Still, some people are resistant to the fees associated with delivery apps. Around 40% of the people who do not use aggregators say their reluctance is grounded in their desire to avoid such extra costs.

Even if you order directly from a restaurant, you can expect to pay a little more these days. For more, check out “11 Restaurants That Have Hiked Prices — or Soon Will.”