Own delivery vs aggregators: when to book a courier yourself

Are you paying for the customer or the delivery?

Talabat and Careem are ordering marketplaces that can bring your restaurant a customer. Careem Express delivers an order you already have. Its courier charge pays for that delivery. Connecting Talabat or Careem orders to Nexara does not change the commission owed under your marketplace agreement.

Nexara accepts Talabat and Careem orders into the branch's live queue. It also provides commission-free branded website and installable app ordering. For your own orders, it supports dispatch through Careem Express, TopDeliver and Nashmi, or delivery with your own drivers.

You can use both. Keep profitable app demand while building a direct channel for customers who choose to order from you. Nexara's Talabat and Careem order intake and courier integrations cover both sides.

What does delivery really cost per order in Amman?

Assume an 8 JOD food basket. Compare marketplace commission scenarios of 25% and 30% with a booked courier costing 1.75 JOD. Allow another 0.45 JOD per completed direct order for incremental payment processing, a share of software costs and extra handling.

For this comparison, each marketplace commission includes delivery and the restaurant pays no additional marketplace processing, handling or courier charges. The direct column includes its separate courier charge and incremental channel costs. Food, ordinary packaging and existing branch overhead are shared costs, excluded on both sides.

At this basket size, direct delivery costs 0.20 JOD more than the 25% scenario and 0.20 JOD less than the 30% scenario. The remaining amount must still cover food and shared operating costs before there is a profit.

The example assumes no delivery-fee contribution from the customer and no spending to attract direct customers. It also assumes no taxes on provider fees, app advertising, merchant-funded discounts or failed-delivery charges. Add every applicable charge from your invoices before using the totals or break-even baskets for a decision. Use the commission base specified in your contract, rather than assuming every fee applies to the displayed basket.

For the settlement side of the calculation, see Talabat commission maths. Compare the final deductions on your statement with the charges included in this table.

At what basket value does direct delivery become cheaper?

Under the table's assumptions, the break-even basket is the direct-channel cost divided by the commission rate. At 2.20 JOD per direct order, that is 8.80 JOD against 25% commission, or about 7.33 JOD against 30%. This works only while the assumed direct cost stays constant.

A 4 JOD basket would incur 1.00 or 1.20 JOD in the two commission scenarios. Both are below the assumed direct cost. A 12 JOD basket would incur 3.00 or 3.60 JOD. Percentage-based charges rise with the basket; the courier quote may instead change with distance or service conditions.

• Subtract any delivery fee you actually retain from the restaurant's delivery cost.
• Include direct-order advertising or discounts needed to win the customer.
• Spread monthly direct-channel costs across completed direct orders, not every order the branch receives.
• Spread failed-delivery costs across successful deliveries so failures do not vanish from the calculation.

For an employed driver, divide the full shift cost by completed deliveries. Include wages and vehicle expenses, including paid waiting time. A driver waiting at the branch can cover an unexpected order, but those idle hours still cost money.

How does courier booking work in Nexara?

Nexara supports booking and cancelling dispatch from the order through Careem Express, TopDeliver or Nashmi. Careem Express supports estimates and distance validation; TopDeliver supports live and pre-order estimates; Nashmi supports multi-branch quotes.

1. Confirm the pickup branch and customer address. Check that the destination is inside the delivery area you intend to serve.
2. Review the selected provider's estimate and applicable conditions before committing to the delivery.
3. Book the courier from the order and coordinate pickup with the kitchen's preparation progress.
4. Follow delivery tracking and provider updates. If cancelling, check the provider's cancellation terms and any charges.

```mermaid flowchart LR A["Direct order received"] --> B["Check branch and address"] B --> C["Review provider estimate"] C --> D["Book courier delivery"] D --> E["Hand over food"] E --> F["Follow delivery updates"] ```

A direct order moves from address checks to courier booking, pickup and delivery tracking.

Nexara supports radius, area-based and polygon delivery zones. Careem Express and TopDeliver provide tracking; Nashmi provides delivery updates including driver location.

Growth allows one delivery provider; Pro allows unlimited providers. Free and Starter exclude courier-provider dispatch. Nexara has a free plan, then paid plans per branch in Jordanian dinar, with current rates on request.

When should you keep the order on an aggregator?

Keep an aggregator when it brings orders that cover its charges and your order costs, with enough left to help pay the branch's bills. A customer browsing Talabat or Careem may never have visited your ordering website. Removing that channel does not automatically move the same sale to your own site.

Also keep app delivery where your direct operation cannot cover the destination economically or handle delivery problems consistently. Assign a staff member to check booked pickups and contact the courier provider when food is ready but the driver is absent. Include that work in your direct-order handling cost.

Decide by delivery area and shift, rather than choosing one channel for the whole branch. Review pickup delays and failed deliveries during busy service separately from quiet periods. If direct pickups repeatedly wait after the food is ready, resolve courier coverage or narrow the direct delivery area before inviting more orders.

For the employed-driver alternative, use the guide to dispatching your own drivers. Hiring a driver and booking an external courier have different cost structures even when both deliver direct orders.

What should you test before expanding direct delivery?

Choose the areas your branch will serve and assign pickup checks to a named person on each shift. Nexara has order history with search and filters, delivery reporting and provider analytics. Use those records alongside courier invoices and payment statements to compare estimates with final charges.

• Record food basket value separately from delivery fees and discounts.
• Compare quoted courier charges with invoiced charges.
• Log failed deliveries and who paid for food that could not be handed over.
• Check pickup delays against kitchen readiness, not only the customer's final delivery time.
• Compare direct and app orders with similar baskets and destinations before changing your delivery policy.