How one restaurant increased direct online ordering by 20–25% and generated more direct website revenue than DoorDash and Uber Eats combined with Orders.co

For many independent restaurants, third-party delivery apps feel like both a blessing and a trap.

DoorDash and Uber Eats can bring visibility, especially for customers who are already searching for food nearby. But they also create a hard question for restaurant owners: How much of that order really belongs to the restaurant?

Too often, the marketplace owns the relationship, controls the customer data, and takes a significant piece of the sale.

Tacos WA wanted something different.

They did not want to disappear from major delivery platforms. They still understood the value of being where hungry customers already were. But they also needed a stronger direct ordering channel, a more efficient POS system, and a better way to manage the growing complexity of online orders.

After switching to Orders.co’s direct ordering website, the change was clear.

Tacos WA saw a 20–25% increase in orders. Even more importantly, their own Orders.co-powered online ordering website became their strongest sales channel during the reporting period, generating 239 direct orders and $9,527.58 in sales.

That means their website did not just compete with the major third-party marketplaces. It outperformed them.

During the same period:

The strongest insight is not just that Tacos WA increased order volume. It is that more than half of all sales came directly through their own website.

For a small or midsize restaurant, that is more than a sales win. It is an ownership win.

Restaurant Snapshot

Restaurant: Tacos WA
Spokesperson: Iram Martinez
Industry: Independent restaurant / Mexican food
Challenge: Growing online orders while reducing operational friction and relying less heavily on third-party marketplaces
Solution: Orders.co POS system, direct online ordering website, and integrated ordering channels
Results:

• 20–25% increase in orders
• 239 direct website orders during the reporting period
• $9,527.58 in direct website sales
• Website generated 50.8% of total tracked sales
• Direct website revenue outperformed both DoorDash and Uber Eats individually
• Website revenue also slightly outperformed DoorDash and Uber Eats combined

The Challenge: More Orders Should Not Mean More Chaos

Online ordering is now part of everyday restaurant operations. Customers expect to order from their phones, choose pickup or delivery, customize their meals, and get a smooth experience without calling the restaurant.

For restaurants, that creates opportunity. But it also creates complexity.

A restaurant might have:

• A POS system for in-store orders
• A DoorDash tablet
• An Uber Eats tablet
• A website ordering system
• Separate menus across different platforms
• Different reports in different dashboards
• Staff manually checking, accepting, and entering orders

When everything is disconnected, the restaurant does not just have “more technology.” It has more work.

That is one of the biggest problems independent restaurants face today. The issue is not always demand. The issue is that demand comes from too many places at once.

A busy restaurant does not have time to jump between platforms, re-enter orders, update menus in multiple places, or guess which sales channel is actually profitable. When systems are fragmented, staff lose time, mistakes become more likely, and owners lose visibility into what is really happening.

For Tacos WA, the goal was not just to add another tool. The goal was to make ordering easier for staff, smoother for customers, and more profitable for the restaurant.

As Iram Martinez explained:

“Since switching to Orders.co, we’ve seen a significant improvement in the way our restaurant operates. The POS system is easy for both our staff and customers to use, which has helped streamline our day-to-day operations and improve the overall ordering experience.”

A restaurant POS system only works if the team can actually use it during a rush.

Why Direct Ordering Became the Bigger Opportunity

Third-party delivery apps can help restaurants get discovered. But for many operators, the real long-term growth opportunity is direct ordering.

Why? Direct orders give restaurants more control.

When customers order through a restaurant’s own website, the restaurant can create a branded experience from the first click to the final checkout. It can promote its own menu, highlight bestsellers, build loyalty, collect customer information, and encourage repeat orders without sending customers back into a marketplace full of competitors.

For Tacos WA, the direct ordering website quickly became more than a side channel. It became a primary revenue driver.

During the reporting period, Tacos WA’s Orders.co-powered website generated:

• 239 orders
• $9,527.58 in sales
• 49.3% of all tracked orders
• 50.8% of all tracked sales

By comparison:

• DoorDash generated 144 orders and $5,393.43 in sales
• Uber Eats generated 102 orders and $3,833.50 in sales

Together, DoorDash and Uber Eats generated 246 orders and $9,226.93 in sales.

Tacos WA’s website generated slightly fewer orders than both marketplaces combined, but it produced more total sales: $9,527.58 vs. $9,226.93.

That is the kind of result restaurant owners pay attention to.

It shows that a direct ordering website is not just a “nice to have.” When it is easy to use, connected to the restaurant’s operations, and promoted properly, it can become one of the strongest channels in the business.

The Orders.co Solution: One Connected System for POS and Online Ordering

Orders.co helped Tacos WA by connecting the pieces that often stay separate in a restaurant’s tech stack.

Instead of treating POS, online ordering, delivery apps, and reporting as disconnected systems, Orders.co brought the workflow into one more manageable environment.

For Tacos WA, the biggest improvements came from three areas:

1. A user-friendly POS system

The POS system was easy for both staff and customers to use. That matters because restaurant teams do not have time for complicated software, especially during peak hours.

A good restaurant POS system should reduce steps, not add more. It should help staff move faster, keep orders organized, and serve customers without confusion.

For Tacos WA, ease of use became a practical advantage. The team could adapt quickly, and the ordering experience became smoother.

2. A direct online ordering website

The Orders.co-powered website gave Tacos WA a direct sales channel owned by the restaurant.

This allowed customers to order straight from Tacos WA instead of going through a third-party marketplace. As a result, the restaurant could build stronger customer relationships and retain more of the order value within its own business.

The performance numbers show how powerful that shift became. The website generated over half of tracked sales, outperforming DoorDash and Uber Eats individually and slightly exceeding their combined revenue.

3. Fully integrated ordering channels

Tacos WA also benefited from having its POS system and online ordering channels connected.

When systems are connected, restaurants can move faster. Orders are easier to manage, service becomes more efficient, and staff do not have to waste as much time switching between tools.

Iram Martinez described the impact clearly:

“The direct ordering website has allowed us to build stronger relationships with our customers while keeping more revenue in-house. We’ve also noticed increased traffic, improved efficiency, and faster service because our POS system and online ordering channels are fully integrated.”

That is the core value of connected restaurant management software: less juggling, fewer gaps, and better control.

The Results: Higher Order Volume, Stronger Direct Sales, and Better Operational Control

The most obvious result was growth.

Tacos WA experienced a 20–25% increase in orders after implementing Orders.co.

But the more important story is where that growth came from.

The website became the strongest sales channel, generating:

• 49.3% of total orders
• 50.8% of total sales
• $9,527.58 in direct revenue

This is exactly what many restaurant owners are trying to achieve. They do not necessarily want to abandon marketplaces. They want to use them strategically as they build a stronger direct ordering base.

That is what Tacos WA did.

DoorDash and Uber Eats still contributed meaningful sales, totaling 246 orders and $9,226.93 in revenue. But the restaurant’s own website proved that customers were willing to order directly when the experience was simple and accessible.

This is an important lesson for independent restaurants:

Customers do not always need to be “owned” by third-party apps. Many will order directly if the restaurant gives them a clear, convenient path.

Industry Insight: The Future Is Not Marketplace vs. Direct Ordering. It Is Both.

One mistake restaurants often make is thinking they have to choose between third-party apps and direct online ordering.

That is not the smartest strategy for most small restaurants.

Third-party marketplaces can still help with visibility. They put restaurants in front of customers who are browsing, comparing options, or ordering from a place for the first time.

But the goal should not be to keep paying marketplace commissions forever on customers who already know and like the restaurant.

A stronger strategy looks like this:

1. Use delivery apps for visibility and customer acquisition.
2. Give customers a better reason to order directly next time.
3. Make the restaurant website easy to find and easy to order from.
4. Use loyalty, coupons, QR codes, email, SMS, and packaging inserts to promote direct ordering.
5. Track which channels are actually driving profitable revenue.

Tacos WA’s results show why this matters.

DoorDash and Uber Eats helped contribute to order volume. But the direct website became the strongest revenue channel.

That is the balance many independent restaurants need: do not disappear from the apps, but do not let the apps become the only place customers can find you.

Why This Matters for Small and Midsize Restaurants

Tacos WA’s case study is especially relevant for small and midsize restaurants because the problem they solved is common.

Many independent operators are dealing with the same questions:

• How do we get more online orders without losing control of our margins?
• How do we keep using DoorDash and Uber Eats without becoming completely dependent on them?
• How do we turn our website into a real ordering channel?
• How do we reduce staff stress during busy hours?
• How do we know which sales channels are actually working?
• How do we manage online orders without adding more systems?

The answer is not just “get a POS system.” Most restaurants already have one.

The better question is:

Is your POS connected to how your restaurant actually takes orders today?

Modern restaurants no longer operate through a single channel. They serve dine-in customers, phone customers, online pickup customers, delivery customers, catering customers, and marketplace customers.

That means a strong restaurant POS system must do more than process payments. It needs to support restaurant operations management across multiple ordering channels.

For Tacos WA, Orders.co helped turn that complexity into a clearer workflow.

The Takeaway: Direct Ordering Works When It Is Easy, Connected, and Visible

The Tacos WA story proves something important for restaurant owners:

A direct online ordering website can become a serious revenue channel when it is built into the restaurant’s daily operations.

It is not enough to simply have an “Order Online” button buried on a website. The ordering experience has to be easy for customers and staff, and connected to the POS system.

That is what happened at Tacos WA.

The restaurant did not just adopt new technology. It gained a better way to manage growth.

As Iram Martinez shared:

“Overall, our experience with Orders.co has been extremely positive. The combination of a user-friendly POS system, seamless integrations, and a powerful online ordering website has helped us grow our business, operate more efficiently, and better serve our customers. We would confidently recommend Orders.co to any restaurant looking to increase direct orders and streamline operations.”

For independent restaurants, that is the real win.

Not just more orders.

More control over how those orders happen.

FAQ

How did Orders.co help Tacos WA increase orders?

Orders.co helped Tacos WA simplify its ordering workflow through an easy-to-use POS system, integrated ordering channels, and a direct online ordering website. After implementation, the restaurant reported a 20–25% increase in orders.

Did Tacos WA stop using DoorDash and Uber Eats?

No. The goal was not to remove third-party marketplaces completely. Tacos WA continued receiving orders from DoorDash and Uber Eats while growing its direct website orders through Orders.co.

Why is direct online ordering important for restaurants?

Direct online ordering helps restaurants build stronger customer relationships, retain more revenue in-house, and reduce their reliance on third-party marketplaces. It also gives restaurants more control over the customer experience and customer data.

How did Tacos WA’s website perform compared to DoorDash and Uber Eats?

During the reporting period, Tacos WA’s website generated 239 orders and $9,527.58 in sales. DoorDash generated 144 orders and $5,393.43, while Uber Eats generated 102 orders and $3,833.50. The website accounted for 50.8% of total tracked sales.

What kind of restaurants can benefit from Orders.co?

Orders.co is built for independent restaurants, small restaurant groups, and growing operators that want to centralize orders, improve direct online ordering, simplify POS workflows, and manage delivery platforms more efficiently.

Is Orders.co only a POS system?

No. Orders.co can function as a POS system, but it also supports online ordering, delivery integrations, menu management, reporting, marketing tools, loyalty, and restaurant operations management.

What is the biggest lesson from the Tacos WA case study?

The biggest lesson is that direct ordering can become a restaurant’s strongest sales channel when the website is easy to use, connected to the POS, and part of a larger restaurant growth strategy.