MicroSky Food

Online ordering

Online Food Ordering and Delivery Platform

An online food ordering and delivery platform is the restaurant's own checkout for pickup and delivery: an imported menu, zones you set, your domain, and a branded storefront a wizard can stand up. Set it next to marketplace apps and ChowNow-style services before you sign.

6 min read

Restaurant owner reviewing a branded ordering site on a laptop, with a pickup bag and a hand-drawn delivery radius on a neighborhood map

What an online food ordering and delivery platform has to do

Owners who search for an online food ordering and delivery platform want the next meal without handing the guest to someone else's app. A person on a phone should see your name, choose pickup or delivery, pay, and produce a ticket the kitchen will cook. A PDF, or a button that hops to a marketplace, is not that job.

Restaurant-owned means the checkout address is yours: your domain, your photos, your prices, and an account that reorders from you. How the wizard scans and builds the site is restaurant website builder. Stay here for pickup, delivery, and whose checkout it is. The live cart and printed ticket are on demand food delivery platform. If a platform cannot sell a pie with half and half toppings and close the cart when you lock the door, it is the wrong one.

Marketplace apps keep the guest

DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub can introduce a stranger. They also list you beside other kitchens, and they often charge 15 to 30% of the sale. The app keeps the habit. You keep the bag. You do not have to delete those apps on day one. Give the reorder a door you own once a test ticket looks right, and leave the apps for people who will only order there.

Points accrue on storefront purchases on every plan, and you set what they are worth. A marketplace receipt does not build that list. Accounts and the cart are part of online ordering.

ChowNow-style services, compared without a fake fee table

ChowNow is widely sold as first-party ordering. The guest checks out under the restaurant's identity, not inside a marketplace. That is the same job as this page. Do not invent its prices. Ask ChowNow for a dated quote, then read it next to a published plan.

Compare launch time, whether you keep your card processor, whether the ticket prints on the printer you trust, and whether the monthly is public. The longer scorecard is ChowNow alternative. MicroSky Food's wizard is aimed at about 10 minutes. Bring Stripe, Authorize.net, or Electronic Payments. Apple Pay is available on Growth and Growth Plus plans, through Authorize.net. Admin runs in a browser, and orders print to the printer you have or to the optional $500 hardware package. Keep the old site up until the new ticket is boring.

Illustration of menu import on a laptop, a pickup order on a phone, and one delivery radius around a restaurant

Pickup and delivery without a fleet

Delivery means the guest can choose it, see a zone you defined, and pay a fee you set. MicroSky Food does not dispatch drivers, run a fleet, or offer geofencing. A vendor who leads with cars is selling a different product.

Zones, radius, and the fee

You define where you deliver, down to the mile, and what it costs. Radius and zones cover the usual case, for example free delivery within 4 miles and a fee past that, or no delivery past a road you will not cross. The guest should see the limit before they pay.

Pickup stays obvious for the regular already in the car. If a dish will not survive the ride, leave it off the menu you publish. Pickup and delivery share that menu. How many items to publish is small restaurant menu.

Hours that close the cart

Ordering opens and closes with the hours you posted. A shop that locks the door at nine should not take a midnight delivery. Update the hours for a holiday. The same hours apply to pickup and delivery. Staff see the order in restaurant admin with the other live tickets. Someone on the shift needs a login that is not the owner's password. If the ticket does not print, fix the printer before you advertise the zone.

Menu import, your domain, and the branded storefront

The wizard can scan an existing website and import menu items, prices, modifiers, and images, then put the branded storefront on your own domain. WooCommerce, Slice, ChowNow, and 15 or more other platforms are on the published import list. Read every item. A scan is not a blessing.

Profile, menu, hours, delivery zones, and billing are the guided path. Most restaurants finish that the same day, often in under an hour. Photos and odd modifiers take the afternoon. How it works is the short version. Categories and the cart are online ordering menu. The site is mobile-first on every plan. A branded iOS app is not required for pickup and delivery. The app is on Growth and Growth Plus, after 3 months on Standard. Do not wait for an install before a guest can use a link.

What to put next to the quote

On Standard, choose $249 per month plus 5% of net sales, or $499 per month with no commission. Growth is $499 per month plus 7% of net sales. Growth Plus is $999 per month plus 10% of net sales. There is no long-term contract. The $500 hardware package is optional. Run last month's online sales through the percentage you would pick, and set it beside the 15 to 30% marketplace band and beside any ChowNow quote you asked for.

Ask whose domain the guest sees, whether the line can remove a sold-out item, and whether the order prints. An online food ordering and delivery platform that leaves the ticket in an inbox will not survive a Friday.

  • A scan or import you then read item by item.
  • Your domain on the checkout.
  • Pickup, plus a delivery zone with a radius and a fee.
  • Hours that close the cart when the kitchen is closed.
  • A test order you pay, print, and can refund.

How to use the first week

On day one, start the trial and let the wizard scan. Draw the delivery zone to match the area you already serve, and turn pickup on. On day two, photograph the top sellers and place one paid pickup order and one inside the zone. On day three, fix the modifier that printed as a riddle.

Restaurants already on the platform are on the clients page. Questions go through contact. See a storefront in the live demo. Start 30 Day Free Trial. Call (888) 960-1359.

Keep going

Related reading for this decision

The product pages below are the surfaces this guide is talking about. The blog posts cover neighboring decisions so this page does not repeat them.

FAQ

Questions about online food ordering and delivery platform

Is an online food ordering and delivery platform a marketplace app?

Not this one. Guests order on your domain, from your menu. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub are marketplaces, and they often charge 15 to 30% of the sale. MicroSky Food is the restaurant's own storefront.

Do you dispatch drivers or run a delivery fleet?

No. You set where you deliver, the radius, and the fee. Pickup is a separate path with a ready time. MicroSky Food does not dispatch drivers, run a fleet, or offer geofencing.

How should I compare this with ChowNow?

ChowNow is a first-party ordering service, not a marketplace. Do not invent its fees. Ask ChowNow for a current quote, then set it next to published MicroSky Food plans, launch time, whose card processor you keep, and whether orders print on the printer you already have.

Can guests order pickup and delivery from the same site?

Yes. You can enable pickup, delivery, or both. Delivery uses the zones, radius, and fees you configure, for example free delivery within 4 miles. The cart closes when your posted hours say you are closed.

What does the platform cost?

On Standard, choose $249 per month plus 5% of net sales, or $499 per month with no commission. Growth is $499 per month plus 7% of net sales. Growth Plus is $999 per month plus 10% of net sales. Both Growth plans require 3 months on Standard. Hardware is $500 once if you need a print server and receipt printer. Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial.

Take the next order on your own site

Start a 30-day free trial, call (888) 960-1359, or open the live order demo and place a test ticket.

Standard is $249/month + 5% commission on net sales, or $499/month with no commission. Growth is $499/month + 7%. Growth Plus is $999/month + 10%. Growth plans require 3 months on Standard. $500 one-time hardware package. No long-term contract.