Nine questions to ask before you sign an online ordering contract

Restaurant owners hear a software pitch most weeks. The demos look alike. The contracts do not. These nine questions get past the demo.

Cost

1. What is the total cost of one order? Ask for every charge on a single order: commission or service fee, card processing, and any per-order extras. Then ask what is charged monthly whether or not you take an order.

2. Who pays each fee, the restaurant or the guest? A fee added to the guest’s total and a fee taken from your payout are different things, even at the same percentage.

3. What costs extra later? Hardware, marketing placement and premium support are common add-ons.

Terms

4. How long is the contract and how do I cancel? Ask for the notice period and any cancellation charge in writing.

5. What do I keep if I leave? Find out whether the ordering page, the web address, the menu and the customer list go with you or stay with the vendor.

Customers and brand

6. Who owns the customer data? Ask whether you can see each guest’s name and contact details, and whether the vendor may market other restaurants to them.

7. Whose name does the guest see? Check the web address, the receipt and the card statement. If all three show the vendor, the guest will remember the vendor.

Money and operations

8. Who holds the money and when am I paid? Some systems collect payments and pay you later. Others process payments in your own merchant account. Ask how many days pass between an order and the money reaching your bank.

9. Does it work with my POS and my delivery setup? Ask which integrations are live today, not which are planned.

Kitchn’s answers

• Cost: the Basic plan has no monthly fee. A 5% service fee is added to the guest’s total. Catering orders carry a flat $7 fee, also paid by the guest
• Card processing: your own Stripe account, at Stripe’s published rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents for domestic cards
• Paid plans: Essential is $100 a month and Premium is $300 a month, with 20% off for annual billing
• Contract: no long-term contract. You can cancel at any time and the plan runs to the end of the period you paid for
• Customers: guests who order through your storefront are your customers
• Payouts: most orders are paid into your own Stripe balance and paid out on Stripe’s schedule, daily by default. Courier-delivered orders are charged by Kitchn and your share is transferred to you
• Integrations live today: Square for POS and Uber Direct for delivery