Plenty of restaurants notice the same thing: sales rose after joining the delivery apps, and the bank balance did not improve nearly as much. The reason is not an accounting mystery — commission is charged on revenue, while margin is what is left after it.
The same sum, on the same dish
Take a dish that costs ₪12 in ingredients and sells for ₪35. In the dining room the margin is ₪23, or 66%. Now put the identical dish through an app taking 25% commission, and add ₪1.50 of packaging.
Selling price
App commission (25%)
Ingredient cost
Packaging
Net
Margin
| Line | Dining room | Through the app |
|---|---|---|
| Selling price | ₪35.00 | ₪35.00 |
| App commission (25%) | ₪0.00 | −₪8.75 |
| Ingredient cost | −₪12.00 | −₪12.00 |
| Packaging | ₪0.00 | −₪1.50 |
| Net | ₪23.00 | ₪12.75 |
| Margin | 66% | 36% |
Why the sales report hides this
Because most reports show revenue in aggregate. A figure of ₪40,000 for the month does not tell you that ₪24,000 of it carried commission, so what you actually received is closer to ₪34,000. Channel is not a column in most POS systems, so sales get measured without context.
Three decisions this changes
- 01Channel-specific pricing: many restaurants raise the app price slightly to offset commission. That is a legitimate decision, but it needs the gap measured first.
- 02A different menu on the app: low-margin items may simply not be worth listing there.
- 03Your own delivery: every restaurant has a break-even point where self-delivery costs less than commission. Calculate it rather than guess it.
This is exactly what Noqta calculates automatically: margin per item and per channel, with commission and packaging inside the cost of the order — so you see which item earns in the room and loses on the app, before the effect shows up at month end.