How to Turn Third-Party Marketplace Orders Into Your Own Customers

Marketplaces like ezCater, Hangry, and other catering aggregators are useful as a lead source. They are expensive as a long-term sales channel. Most charge 25 to 35 percent commission on every order, which means a $400 catering order pays them $100 to $140 before you even cook the food.

The operators who use marketplaces well treat them as a top-of-funnel acquisition channel, not a billing system. They migrate marketplace customers to direct ordering as quickly as the marketplace contract allows, and they have a clear playbook for doing it.

This post is that playbook.

Why do marketplace customers cost you so much?

Three real costs, in order:

Commission

25 to 35 percent of the order. That is the headline cost everyone sees.

Loss of customer data

The marketplace owns the customer relationship. You do not get their email, their direct phone, their preferences. You cannot reach out, follow up, or build a real relationship.

Repeat orders also pay commission

A customer who orders from you 12 times in a year via marketplace pays the marketplace 12 commissions. The lifetime value of that customer to the marketplace is bigger than to you.

The math is brutal: a $400 monthly catering account becomes ~$4,000 of revenue to you per year, while the marketplace gets ~$1,200 to $1,600 in commission for doing almost nothing past month 1.

Is it legal to move a customer from a marketplace to direct?

Mostly yes, but read your marketplace contract carefully.

Most marketplace agreements include a clause that prohibits soliciting marketplace customers to order direct for a defined period after their last marketplace order. Typical windows: 30 to 90 days.

What this means in practice:

• You can absolutely include your direct ordering info in the delivery (a business card, a flyer in the box, a thank-you note with a URL). The marketplace cannot prohibit you from including basic business information.
• You cannot send a targeted email or text within the restricted window using contact data the marketplace gave you for a different purpose.
• After the window expires, the customer is fair game.

When in doubt, get the contract reviewed by counsel. Marketplaces sue. The cost of one lawsuit is more than years of migration savings.

What is the migration playbook that works?

Five steps. Run them in order.

1. Include direct-ordering material in every delivery

A small card in the catering box: your direct ordering URL, a QR code, your name and contact. Not a coupon, not a discount. Just information.

2. Make direct ordering easier than the marketplace

The biggest barrier to migration is friction. If your direct ordering form is worse than the marketplace's, customers will not move. Conversational ordering wins this comparison every time, because the marketplace is built around a generic form.

3. Use the post-delivery follow-up message to drive direct

After a marketplace order delivers, send a follow-up on the channel you have permission to use (often a confirmation email the marketplace did not block). Make the next order easier to place direct than through the marketplace.

4. Offer something only available direct

Not a discount (marketplaces hate those, and procurement asks why your price is suddenly lower). Better options: faster confirmation, white-glove setup, custom menu options, dedicated account manager.

5. Track migration and double down on what works

Which customers migrated? How long did it take? What was the trigger? Build the funnel and watch where customers convert. Most operators discover one specific touchpoint (often the QR code in the box) drives 70 percent of migration.

What should you NOT do?

Three mistakes that get expensive.

1. Do not use marketplace contact data to spam. Even if it works short-term, it breaks the marketplace relationship and the contract.
2. Do not stop using marketplaces entirely. The acquisition is real. Use them for new customer top-of-funnel, then migrate the best ones.
3. Do not race the contract clock. If your contract has a 90-day non-solicit window, wait 91 days for direct outreach to specific marketplace customers.

How do you measure success?

Three numbers:

• Migration rate: percent of marketplace customers who placed a second order direct within 6 months. Target: 25 to 40 percent of repeat-eligible customers.
• Commission savings: dollar amount of orders that would have been marketplace, now direct. Track monthly.
• Marketplace volume: total dollars still flowing through marketplaces. This should grow alongside migration. Marketplaces are still acquiring new customers for you.

A healthy operation in 2026 has marketplaces driving acquisition, and direct ordering carrying the lifetime value.

Key takeaways

• Marketplaces are top-of-funnel acquisition channels, not long-term billing systems.
• 25 to 35 percent commission compounds painfully over a customer's lifetime.
• Migration is mostly legal if you respect the non-solicit window and use indirect channels (QR codes, post-delivery messages).
• Better direct ordering UX (conversational, fast, white-glove) is the strongest migration lever.
• Measure migration rate, commission savings, and marketplace acquisition volume separately. All three should be growing.

If you want to give marketplace customers a direct ordering experience that beats the marketplace's, walk through AIA Online Ordering.