Pickup and Dine-In Outpaced Delivery Across 4 Million Direct Restaurant Orders, Restolabs Report Finds

NEW YORK, USA, September 2nd, 2026, FinanceWire

A 12-month analysis of 2,000 plus restaurant locations found a 60-40 split favoring pickup when guests ordered on restaurant-owned channels rather than delivery marketplaces.

Restolabs has released its 2026 Online Ordering Behaviour Report, a review of more than 4 million commission-free direct restaurant orders processed on its platform between March 2025 and March 2026. The report covers 2,000 plus locations, across more than 10 countries, representing $34.1 million in gross order value, and examines fulfillment mix, reorder timing, cuisine patterns, and average order value.

Pickup and dine-in accounted for 60.1 percent of direct orders, or about 2.4 million tickets, while delivery accounted for 39.9 percent, or about 1.6 million tickets. That 60-40 split held broadly stable across the 12 months. Restolabs said the finding challenges the common assumption that digital restaurant demand is primarily a delivery story when guests order on a restaurant-owned channel.

Cuisine patterns varied sharply. Cafe and coffee concepts ran more than 75 percent pickup and dine-in, and bakery and donut concepts more than 80 percent. Mexican concepts ran more than 60 percent pickup. Pizza sat near 40 percent pickup, while grocery and convenience ran 99.8 percent delivery. Sandwich and deli concepts recorded the highest average order value on the platform at $57.77, against a platform-wide average of $38.96.

The report also found a median gap of 8.9 days between repeat orders and a 38.2 percent repeat customer rate. Friday was the highest ordering day platform-wide, with dinner between 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. the clearest peak, and Monday the softest day. Where delivery fees applied, the average fee was $2.26.

"Many independents staff their off-premises operation around delivery because marketplaces have trained the industry to think of digital ordering primarily as a delivery channel," said Sruthi Sekar, co-founder of Restolabs. "What this data suggests is that once a restaurant controls the checkout, the bottleneck moves. It becomes a counter at 6 p.m. rather than a driver queue. That is a different hiring plan, a different kitchen layout, and a different place to put the next dollar of investment."

Restolabs said the report is intended to help independent restaurants, cafes, cloud kitchens, and multi-location food businesses set fulfillment and retention priorities using owned-channel data rather than marketplace-only assumptions.

The analysis reflects orders processed through Restolabs and is not intended to represent the U.S. restaurant industry as a whole. Restaurants using direct ordering are self-selected, and the data reflects observed behavior on owned channels rather than marketplace behavior. 

About Restolabs

Restolabs is a New York-based commission-free online ordering and restaurant growth platform used by more than 2,000 restaurants across 10+ countries. The platform includes branded web and app ordering, QR dine-in, catering, delivery management, loyalty, and analytics under a flat software model.

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