Updated September 2026. This guide replaces our 2025 version. It is for restaurant, café and bakery owners in Canada who want customers to order and pay online, for pickup or delivery, directly from the restaurant.
Still deciding how to take orders at all: in person, by phone, through delivery apps or online? Start with our overview, How to accept orders at your restaurant in Canada. This guide starts from the point where you have decided to take orders online yourself.
Why take online orders directly?
Delivery apps help new customers find you. But when people who already know you order through an app, you pay the app’s commission on every order. On Uber Eats and DoorDash in Canada, that is 20% to 30% of each order their couriers deliver, depending on the plan (their published rates, September 2026). The customer’s contact details also usually stay with the app.
When customers order from your own page instead:
- you pay card processing and a smaller per-order fee, or a fixed monthly fee, instead of an app commission;
- you get the customer’s name and contact details, so you can serve them better next time;
- you decide the menu, the prices, the photos and the pickup times.
Before you start: a quick checklist
- Your full menu, with prices, sizes and add-ons.
- A few clear photos of your best-selling dishes.
- Your opening hours, and how long a typical order takes.
- The sales tax rates you charge (see Step 4).
- One person on each shift who is responsible for online orders.
Step 1: Decide what you will offer
Start simple. You can add more later.
- Pickup is the easiest place to start: no drivers, no delivery area, and the customer comes to you.
- Delivery reaches more people, but you need a plan for who brings the food (see Step 6).
- Scheduled orders let customers order for later today or for another day. They are useful for bakeries, caterers and busy lunch restaurants.
Also decide when you stop taking online orders each day. If you stop 30 minutes before closing, for example, the kitchen is not rushed at the end of the night.
Step 2: Choose an ordering platform
Online ordering platforms charge in one of these ways:
- A per-order fee with no monthly fee. You pay a percentage only when you get an order, so a slow month costs little. Platesready works this way: a 5% platform fee on completed orders, plus GST/HST on that fee and Stripe card processing (2.9% + 30¢), with no monthly fee and no setup fee.
- A fixed monthly fee. You pay the same amount every month, plus card processing, no matter how many orders you get. This is cheaper per order when you have many orders.
- An add-on to your POS. If you already use a POS system (a computer cash register) such as Square or Toast, its online ordering connects to that system. Check the monthly plan and the card fees.
- A website product from a delivery app. Some delivery apps also sell a separate ordering website for your restaurant. Ask them what it costs.
Whichever you choose, ask these questions before you sign up:
- Who owns the customer list: you or the platform?
- How and when do you get paid?
- Is there a contract, a setup fee or a cancellation fee?
- How do new orders reach the kitchen: a tablet, a phone alert or a printer?
- Can you pause online orders when the kitchen is too busy?
- Can you offer delivery, and who provides the drivers?
- Can customers order in a web browser, without downloading an app?
Step 3: Build your online menu
Online, there is no staff member to answer questions, so your menu has to answer them first.
- Keep it shorter than your dine-in menu. Leave out dishes that do not stay good in a takeout container.
- Use clear names and short descriptions. Say what is in the dish, how big it is, and whether it is spicy, vegetarian or contains common allergens.
- Add photos of your best sellers. A phone camera in daylight is enough. Show the real portion.
- Set up choices properly. If customers must pick something, like a size, a sauce or a side, make it a required choice. Extras like “add cheese” should be optional, with the price shown.
- Mark items as sold out as soon as they run out, so nobody pays for food you can’t make.
Step 4: Set your prices, payments and tax
Prices. Some restaurants charge the same online as in the restaurant; others charge a little more online to cover fees. Whatever you choose, show the full price on your menu rather than adding surprise fees at checkout.
Card payments. Customers pay online by card, and card processing has a cost. Stripe, for example, charges 2.9% + 30¢ per payment with a Canadian card (Stripe’s published rate, September 2026). Check whether your platform includes processing in its fee or bills it separately.
Sales tax. Restaurant meals and drinks are usually taxable in Canada. Depending on your province, you charge GST or HST, and in some provinces PST or QST as well. Some grocery items, such as bread, can be tax-free. Ask your accountant which taxes and rates apply to you before you start taking orders, then enter them in your ordering platform.
Tips. Decide whether customers can add a tip online, and how tips reach your staff.
Step 5: Get the kitchen ready
- Decide where orders appear. A tablet in the kitchen, with the sound on, is the simplest setup. Make sure someone watches it on every shift.
- Set realistic preparation times. Add extra minutes at rush hour. It is better to promise 30 minutes and be early than to promise 15 and be late.
- Stock the right packaging: containers that close tightly, bags, napkins, cutlery and labels.
- Make a pickup spot near the door, with orders labelled by name, so pickup customers do not have to wait in the same line as dine-in guests.
- Check every order before it leaves: items, add-ons, sauces and drinks.
Step 6: Plan pickup and delivery
Pickup. Tell customers exactly where to go and what to do, for example: “Pickup shelf to the right of the door. Give your name at the counter.”
Delivery. You have three options:
- Your own drivers. You have full control, but you need drivers, insurance that covers delivery, and a plan for busy nights.
- A courier you book for each order. Courier services such as Uber Direct and Trexity deliver orders placed on your own page, so you don’t need your own drivers. You pay a fee for each delivery, which you can charge to the customer as a delivery fee. Platesready supports both services in supported cities.
- A delivery app. The app finds the customer and the courier, but you pay its commission and the customer orders through the app.
Choose a delivery area you can serve on time, and set a minimum order amount if small deliveries lose money.
Step 7: Test before you start
- Open your ordering page on your own phone and place a real order.
- Check that the kitchen sees it right away, and that the customer gets a confirmation.
- Check your menu, prices, photos and opening hours one more time.
- Ask a friend or a staff member to place an order without your help, and watch where they have trouble.
Step 8: Tell your customers
An ordering page only works if people can find it. Put the link everywhere your customers already look:
- Your Google listing. Add your link in your Google Business Profile and set it as your preferred ordering option. Our guide shows every step: How to add your own order link to Google Business Profile.
- Instagram and Facebook. Put the link in your bio and in posts about new dishes.
- Your website. Add a clear “Order online” button near the top of the page.
- In the restaurant. QR codes on the tables, at the counter and on receipts.
- Your staff. Ask them to mention it when regulars call or pay.
If you tell customers by email or text message, follow Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). You need the customer’s consent first; a customer who bought from you in the last two years usually counts. Every message must also say who it is from, give your mailing address and a phone number, email or web address, and include a way to unsubscribe.
Step 9: Watch a few numbers
Once a week, look at:
- how many online orders you got;
- your average order size;
- how many customers ordered again;
- what you paid in fees, as a share of your online sales;
- whether orders were ready on time.
If orders are slow, the usual reason is that people cannot find your link. Make sure it is on your Google listing and your Instagram, and that your staff mention it.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Putting the whole dine-in menu online, including dishes that do not stay good in a takeout container.
- Promising preparation times the kitchen can’t meet on a busy night.
- Forgetting to mark sold-out items.
- Nobody on shift watching for new orders.
- Starting quietly and waiting for orders to come by themselves.
- Choosing a platform on price alone, without asking who owns the customer list.
Starting with Platesready
Platesready is one way to do everything in this guide. It gives Canadian restaurants their own ordering and table booking page:
- a 5% platform fee on completed orders, plus GST/HST on that fee and Stripe card processing (2.9% + 30¢), with no monthly fee and no setup fee;
- pickup, scheduled orders, and delivery through Uber Direct and Trexity in supported cities;
- table booking included at no extra charge;
- new orders in the Platesready Order Manager app, on an Android tablet or phone, or in a web browser;
- help setting up your menu, hours and ordering page.
Apply to Platesready or see our pricing.
Sources
- Uber Eats, Pricing (Canada), checked September 2026.
- DoorDash, Merchant fees and pricing (Canada), checked September 2026.
- Stripe, Pricing and fees (Canada), checked September 2026.
- Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST: which rate to charge.
- Government of Canada, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation.
Uber Eats, DoorDash, Uber Direct, Trexity, Square, Toast and Google are trademarks of their respective owners. Platesready is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the delivery apps or POS companies named here. Fees change; check each company’s current pricing.