FoodTech & Restaurant Delivery Glossary
All the technical terms of delivery and connected catering, explained simply and concretely.
Order aggregator
Software that centralizes orders from multiple delivery platforms (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Just Eat, Glovo) on a single screen or tablet. Examples: Fooderise, Otter, RusHour, Deliverect.
Adjustment
Financial correction applied by a platform to a restaurant's payment. Deliveroo adjustments, for example, deduct amounts for customer refunds, order errors or promotions. Many are contestable.
Ranking algorithm
Automated system used by platforms to determine the display order of restaurants in search results. Factors: rating, preparation time, acceptance rate, order volume, promotional engagement.
Click & Collect
Order mode where the customer orders online and picks up their order at the restaurant. Advantage: reduced platform commission (7-10% on Just Eat) and direct contact with the customer.
Platform commission
Percentage taken by a delivery platform on each order. Ranges from 15% (Uber Eats Lite) to 35% (Deliveroo with delivery). It is the main delivery cost for restaurant owners.
Direct order
Order placed via the restaurant's own website or app, without going through a third-party marketplace. Advantage: 0% platform commission, direct relationship with the customer.
Dark kitchen
Restaurant designed exclusively for delivery, with no dining room. Also called ghost kitchen, cloud kitchen or phantom kitchen. Advantage: reduced rent. Disadvantage: no walk-in customers.
Deliverect
Belgian middleware order aggregation company. Sits between delivery platforms and the restaurant POS. Competes with Fooderise and Otter in the integration segment.
Driver screen
Dedicated screen displayed in the order pickup zone. Tells drivers which orders are ready. Improves kitchen flow and reduces wait times.
Food cost
Cost of raw materials for a dish expressed as a percentage of the selling price. A healthy food cost is between 25% and 35%. Beyond that, the dish is not profitable for delivery after commission.
Franchise
Business model where a franchisor grants the right to operate its brand and concept to independent franchisees. Fooderise offers multi-franchise management to manage a network from a single dashboard.
Ghost brand (virtual brand)
Restaurant brand that exists only on delivery platforms, with no dedicated physical premises. A single restaurant can operate multiple ghost brands from the same kitchen to multiply its visibility.
POS injection
Process of automatically sending platform orders to the restaurant's cash register system. Eliminates manual re-entry and reduces errors.
KDS (Kitchen Display System)
Digital screen installed in the kitchen that displays ongoing orders, their statuses and preparation times. Replaces paper tickets and improves production efficiency.
Live monitoring
Real-time monitoring of your restaurants' status on platforms. Automatic alerts if a restaurant goes offline, if preparation times increase or if items are marked unavailable.
Markup
Price increase on delivery platforms compared to in-house prices. Authorized by most platforms (up to 30%). Partially offsets commissions.
Marketplace
Online marketplace connecting restaurant owners and customers. Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat are food marketplaces. The marketplace takes a commission on each transaction.
Menu engineering
Menu optimization technique based on analyzing the popularity and profitability of each item. Used to identify "stars" (popular + profitable) and "dogs" (unpopular + not profitable).
Middleware
Intermediate software that bridges two systems. In catering, middleware connects delivery platforms to the restaurant POS.
Multi-platform
Strategy of being present on multiple delivery platforms simultaneously (Uber Eats + Deliveroo + Just Eat). Increases visibility but complicates order management.
POS (Point of Sale)
Restaurant cash register system. Modern POS systems are cloud-based and integrate with delivery platforms. French examples: Zelty, Popina, Innovorder, L'Addition.
Abusive refund
Refund granted by a platform to a customer without verification with the restaurant. "Serial refunders" exploit automatic refund policies to eat for free.
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation. European legislation imposing strict rules on the collection and processing of personal data. Important: American platforms (Otter, Uber Eats) sometimes transfer data outside the EU.
Acceptance rate
Percentage of orders accepted compared to orders received. A rate below 95% penalizes your algorithmic ranking on most platforms.
Average order value
Average amount of an order. In delivery, the average order value is generally 15 to 25% higher than dine-in, thanks to delivery fees and order suggestions.
Delivery VAT
In France, VAT on delivered dishes is 10% (same as takeaway). Alcoholic beverages remain at 20%. Fooderise reports automatically separate VAT rates.
Real-time notification
Automatic alert sent instantly by a platform when an event occurs (new order, cancellation, refund). This is what allows your order screen to update in real time.