Commission-Free QR Menu — Escape the 25–30% Platform Commissions

Food delivery platforms in Türkiye — Yemeksepeti, Getir Yemek, Trendyol Yemek, Migros Hemen — typically charge restaurants commissions between 25% and 30%. On top of that, with 1–2% transaction fees, campaign costs and "featured listing" advertising packages, restaurants pay a net 30–35% of revenue to third parties.

By contrast, restaurants working with their own QR menu — especially for dine-in — escape this commission entirely. In this article, we make a real cost comparison and concretize which restaurant types make QR menu transition meaningful.

How do platform commissions work?

A quick reference:

Services included in these commissions: order receiving, payment, customer visibility, courier (in courier model). Not included: customer data (not given to you), phone number (not shared), future marketing rights (closed to you).

Commission load example: 100-seat restaurant in Diyarbakır

Consider a restaurant in central Diyarbakır, averaging 80 orders per day, with a basket average of 320 ₺. Monthly revenue is approximately 768,000 ₺.

Let's say this volume comes 60% dine-in and 40% takeaway:

• Dine-in: 460,800 ₺/month
• Takeaway (platform): 307,200 ₺/month

If 28% commission is applied to platform-sourced takeaway revenue:

• Commission cost: 307,200 × 0.28 = 86,016 ₺/month
• Annual: 1,032,192 ₺

This is not a small sum. Even an hour of accounting observation makes it crystal clear.

QR menu alternative: 0% commission on dine-in

QR menu solves the three things food platforms offer for dine-in (order receiving, payment, visibility) in different ways:

• Order receiving: The customer scans the QR, selects products, calls the waiter, or goes directly to POS (if online ordering module is on).
• Payment: In-person card or fixed-commission (1.6–2.5%) providers like iyzico/PayTR.
• Visibility: Restaurant's own brand channels (Instagram, Google Maps, exterior QR) + Google organic search.

The cost of a QR menu platform is a fixed monthly subscription (e.g. 299 ₺ Pro, 599 ₺ Premium). Independent of order volume.

Same restaurant's QR-menu version

Let's switch the same 768,000 ₺ monthly revenue Diyarbakır restaurant to QR menu:

• QR menu subscription: 599 ₺/month (Premium)
• Card commission (iyzico ~2%): Dine-in 460,800 ₺ × 0.02 = 9,216 ₺/month
• Total digital cost: ~9,815 ₺/month

Monthly savings: 86,016 ₺ – 9,815 ₺ = 76,201 ₺/month

Annual savings: ~914,412 ₺

This is enough for a restaurant to employ 2–3 extra staff members or fund a full renovation.

"But what about new customers from the platform?"

This is the most common objection. The answer is nuanced: the platform does not distinguish between new customer acquisition and keeping an acquired customer on the platform. It charges the same 28% commission from both a first-time and a 50th-time customer.

Practical strategy: use the platform only as a new-customer acquisition channel, carry acquired customers to your own channels.

The way to do this:

1. 1. Put a QR-printed card in every takeaway order coming from the platform: "10% off on your next order — scan the QR"
2. 2. Collect (with KVKK consent) the phone number of the customer who comes to your QR menu.
3. 3. Direct contact via WhatsApp Business — campaign, menu change, birthday message.

This chain moves about 30% of platform-sourced customers to your own channel within 3 months. Your annual commission savings calculation compounds.

Which restaurants benefit most from QR menu?

Switching to QR menu doesn't give the same return for every restaurant. Three main profiles:

1. Dine-in heavy restaurants — high gain

Classic restaurants with 60%+ of revenue from dine-in (kebab, fish, fine-dining, breakfast). For these, QR menu means net 20–30% profit margin increase. Escaping platform commission is over 100x the savings of a fixed subscription.

2. Mixed model (dine-in + takeaway) — medium gain

Cafes, patisseries, coffee shops where half the revenue is dine-in, half takeaway. QR menu takes dine-in revenue commission-free, and for takeaway the platform can continue, or direct ordering still works through your own takeaway page.

3. Delivery-only (cloud kitchen) — low gain

Cloud kitchens without customer locations, working only on takeaway. QR menu alone is not enough for these; own brand channel + Google Maps + Instagram parallel investments are essential.

Transition strategy: 90-day plan

Closing the food platform overnight is an uncontrolled move. The recommended plan:

0–30 days

• QR menu setup + theme selection + product entry (the setup guide above details this step)
• QR sticker placement on tables
• Staff training: "How do you explain this if the customer asks?"
• Don't close the platforms — run in parallel

30–60 days

• 80% of dine-in orders should come via QR
• Build customer WhatsApp database (with KVKK consent)
• "We're switching to direct ordering" campaign on Instagram + Google Maps
• Stop platform coupon packages, leave only organic traffic

60–90 days

• Measure platform takeaway orders — declining or holding?
• Order volume through your own takeaway page (if any)
• Compare lost revenue with fixed subscription savings

For most restaurants by day 90, the platform channel drops to 15–20% of total, with the rest taken by own channels. At this point, the platform's commission is no longer a compounding cost — it's an optional acquisition tool.

Conclusion

Food platforms have provided and continue to provide a great service. But 25–30% commission is not a sustainable cost in the long run. Especially for a classic dine-in restaurant, switching to QR menu is a move that recovers the restaurant's profitability within 6 months.

With NexveraQR you can set up a commission-free QR menu starting from a fixed monthly 299 ₺. And it's live in 15 minutes:

Experience the live demo menu on your phone: nexveraqr.com/demo — 10 products, 4 languages, premium template. Or request a free panel demo.