The cloud kitchen trap
Without a dining room, marketplaces are your only shopfront - which means they set the terms. You pay commission on every order including repeat customers, you cannot contact anyone who bought from you, and your growth is capped by someone else's algorithm. With Uber having absorbed Glovo in Kenya, that dependence is now on fewer platforms than before.
What delivery-only operators face
No walk-ins means no fallback.
[01]
Commission on every single order
There is no walk-in revenue to balance it. 15 to 30 percent comes off everything you sell.
[02]
No customer relationship
Repeat buyers are still the platform's customers. You cannot text them an offer or even know their name.
[03]
Several brands, one kitchen
Many cloud kitchens run multiple concepts. Keeping menus, orders and stock separate is a real operational problem.
[04]
Delivery you do not control
Late riders and cold food come back as your bad review, decided by someone else's dispatch.
What Orderly changes
- Your own ordering site and app per brand, on your own domain
- Zero commission on direct orders - a flat monthly fee instead
- Every customer is yours - name, number and order history
- Our riders deliver for you, with the fee going to the rider, not to us
- TikTok and Instagram embeds so your food videos link straight to an order button
- All orders in one queue, including marketplace orders you keep running
Keep the marketplaces for discovery. Move the regulars to your own channel. That is the model that works.
| If you are | Plan | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One delivery brand | Orderly Growth | Ordering site, riders, kitchen screen and reports |
| Multiple brands or high volume | Orderly Pro | Your own apps, full stock control and customer wallet |
Cloud kitchen questions
Yes. A professional, mobile-friendly site on your own domain, with your menu, photos, story and ordering built in.
Marketplaces typically take 15 to 30 percent of every order and keep the customer details. On a KES 3,000 order that can be up to KES 900 gone, on demand you already owned, from repeat customers who would have come to you anyway.
Not necessarily. The smart model is hybrid: use marketplaces for discovery, then move known customers to your own channel where you keep the margin and the relationship.
You do. Names, phone numbers and order history sit in your account, so you can build real loyalty instead of renting access to your own customers.
Yes. Take and confirm orders, and send updates, on the channel Kenyans actually use.
Yes, on Orderly Pro and Enterprise - your own branded customer app for iOS and Android.