In-House Delivery vs. Sauce’s First-Party Delivery: Which Is Better for Restaurants?

When third-party delivery apps take a hefty 20–30% cut of each order, many restaurant owners feel pressure to handle delivery themselves. In-house delivery promises more control, no commission fees, and a direct connection to your customers. But running your own delivery fleet comes with hidden costs and headaches that can eat into those savings. Fortunately, there’s a better way. Sauce’s first-party delivery model lets restaurants keep the benefits of direct, commission-free ordering while outsourcing the tough parts of delivery to a professional team. This article explains what in-house delivery entails for restaurants, then compares it to Sauce’s solution – highlighting why Sauce can deliver a superior outcome with full-service support, a top-tier driver network, seamless tech integration, quick payouts, and far less hassle for you.

What Is In-House Delivery for Restaurants?

In-house delivery means the restaurant manages the entire delivery process using its own staff and resources. Instead of relying on third-party services like Uber Eats or DoorDash, the restaurant takes orders directly (via phone, website, or app) and uses its own employees (or hired drivers) to deliver meals to customers.

Why do restaurants consider in-house delivery? Mainly to avoid high third-party commissions and preserve their thin profit margins. When profit margins are only around 5–6% for the average restaurant, paying 20–30% per order to a delivery app is unsustainable. Handling delivery internally means you keep the full menu price and maintain control over the customer experience and your brand. You’re not just another listing in a delivery marketplace – customers order directly from you, which can build loyalty.

How in-house delivery works: Restaurants that go this route typically must:

• Hire or assign delivery drivers. This could mean repurposing staff or bringing on dedicated drivers, including handling their training, scheduling, and payroll.

• Provide vehicles or compensate for vehicle use. Some restaurants use company-owned scooters/cars; others rely on drivers’ personal vehicles and pay mileage.

• Manage insurance and liability. The restaurant may need special insurance to cover delivery activities, drivers, and accidents.

• Take orders via phone or online and relay them to the kitchen. Staff coordinate the timing so food is ready when a driver arrives.

• Plan delivery routes and timing. It’s on the restaurant to dispatch drivers in an efficient order, especially when multiple orders come in simultaneously.

• Handle customer service for delivery issues. If an order is late, gets lost, or a customer calls with complaints, the restaurant staff must resolve it directly.

  
  

By running delivery themselves, restaurants aim to create a “first-party” experience: the customer orders straight from the restaurant (often through the restaurant’s own website or app), and the delivery arrives branded as the restaurant’s service, not a third-party. This can reinforce the restaurant’s brand identity and let them access customer data and feedback that third-party platforms usually keep for themselves.

The Challenges of Running In-House Delivery

While the idea of in-house delivery is appealing, the execution is difficult. Many independent restaurants discover that becoming your own delivery provider is like opening a second business on top of running the kitchen and dining room. Here are some major challenges and costs associated with in-house delivery:

Labor Costs & Scheduling

You must staff drivers and possibly a coordinator. During slow periods, paid drivers may be idle (wasting labor dollars), but during rushes you might still be short-handed. It’s tricky to predict demand and schedule drivers efficiently. Hiring reliable drivers (and keeping them long-term) can also be difficult, especially if you can’t offer full-time hours or competitive pay.

Logistics & Expertise

Efficient delivery involves route optimization, traffic awareness, and timing orders precisely to keep food fresh. Professional delivery companies use algorithms for dispatching; a small restaurant doing it manually may struggle to match that efficiency. Without the right expertise, deliveries can be slow or inconsistent, hurting customer satisfaction.

Vehicle Expenses & Liability

Owning a delivery vehicle (or a fleet) means maintenance, gas, insurance, and potential liabilities for accidents. Even if using drivers’ own cars, a restaurant may need hired/non-owned auto insurance and must ensure drivers have valid licenses and coverage. These add costs and administrative burden.

Technology Integration

Taking online orders for delivery requires tech setup – a website ordering system or mobile app, plus possibly GPS tracking so customers know where their food is. If your online ordering isn’t integrated with your POS (point-of-sale) system, staff might have to re-enter orders manually, increasing errors and workload.

Customer Service & Support

When you deliver yourself, you’re on the hook for any issues. Missing item? Late arrival? The customer calls you, not a third-party call center. Your team has to field these calls and make things right, whether that means sending a replacement or issuing a refund. Managing refunds and complaints can eat up time and money, and without a dedicated support staff it gets overwhelming.

It’s no surprise that many small restaurants don’t have in-house delivery at all – it’s a resource-intensive endeavor. Even those that try it might find the operational complexity detracts from their core focus (making great food and providing hospitality). You essentially become half a restaurant, half a delivery logistics company.

Why Sauce’s First-Party Delivery Model Is a Better Solution

Imagine if you could get all the benefits of in-house, first-party delivery – zero commissions, direct customer relationships, your branding front and center – without the logistical nightmares. That’s exactly what Sauce offers with its first-party delivery platform. Sauce provides a full-service delivery operation for your restaurant under your own brand. In other words, you continue to take orders directly from customers (via your website, social media, Google, etc.), but Sauce handles the entire delivery fulfillment and support on your behalf.

Here’s a detailed look at why Sauce’s model outshines traditional in-house delivery:

Full-Service Delivery Operations (So You Don’t Have To)

When you partner with Sauce, you essentially get an outsourced delivery department that does everything your in-house delivery team would – and more. Sauce manages the delivery process end-to-end. This includes receiving the order details, dispatching a driver, navigating to the customer, and handling any issues along the way. If something goes wrong (e.g. a driver gets a flat tire or a customer can’t be reached), Sauce’s team addresses it in real time.

Sauce even takes on tasks like refund management and error resolution for deliveries. According to a Performance Foodservice report, “Sauce looks after the delivery process end-to-end and even handles refund claims with the couriers, allowing you to focus on the most important thing: making great food for your customers.”. This level of service saves you hours of administrative work and stress. Instead of your manager juggling phones to argue with drivers or fix delivery mistakes, Sauce’s support team does it for you 24/7. The result is a premium experience for your customers and far fewer headaches for your staff.

In short, Sauce provides full delivery support as if it were your own in-house team, but with specialized expertise and dedicated resources. Your guests get a seamless delivery experience branded with your restaurant’s name, while you get to focus on cooking and on-site service instead of playing traffic controller.

Access to a Top-Tier Driver Network

One of the hardest parts of in-house delivery is ensuring you have enough drivers (and fast drivers) when you need them. Sauce solves this by giving you access to an unlimited network of vetted drivers across multiple delivery partners. In practice, this means no order goes undelivered due to lack of drivers, and your food reaches customers faster.

“Extended Delivery Radius with Unlimited Drivers” is one of Sauce’s promises, meaning you can reach more customers without hiring more staff. Sauce’s platform automatically pings the optimal courier for each order from its large network, selecting based on real-time factors like distance and traffic for the quickest delivery. Whether it’s a slow Monday afternoon or a crazy Friday night, Sauce’s driver pool scales to meet your demand.

Because Sauce coordinates multiple courier services, it effectively creates a “top driver network” for your restaurant. You’re not limited to whoever is on your payroll or on-call; you benefit from thousands of drivers available in Sauce’s system. This leads to faster delivery times and the ability to expand your delivery zone to new areas your in-house team might not reach. For example, if you normally wouldn’t deliver 10 miles away because it’s not feasible to send your own driver that far, Sauce can likely handle it by sourcing a courier near that area.

Importantly, Sauce lets you leverage this network without giving up your branding. The drivers essentially act as an extension of your restaurant. Your customers still order directly from you and see your restaurant’s name/logo – they may not even realize Sauce is powering the backend. They’ll simply enjoy quick, reliable delivery that feels like it came straight from your restaurant’s own service.

(And if you do have a great in-house driver or two already, you don’t have to abandon that – Sauce’s system is flexible. You can use your own staff for certain deliveries and tap Sauce’s network as needed, or vice versa. This hybrid approach ensures no order ever goes unassigned.)

Seamless POS Integration and Tech Tools

Sauce’s platform is built to plug into your existing restaurant technology, so you won’t be struggling with multiple devices or manual processes. For example, Sauce can integrate with many popular POS systems or order management systems. When an order comes in through your Sauce-powered online channels, it can flow directly to your POS and kitchen printer just like your dine-in tickets do. This eliminates the need to re-enter orders from a separate tablet into your POS – a tedious step that many restaurants face when juggling third-party tablets or an in-house online ordering site.

Sauce also consolidates order information in one place. One Sauce feature is “Third Party Integrations - Collate and manage all your direct orders together on one device.”. In other words, Sauce can merge your delivery orders with your in-house orders for easier management. Your staff doesn’t have to monitor and reconcile multiple systems.

Additional tech benefits include real-time order tracking and customer notifications. With Sauce, you can provide customers a tracking link or updates, similar to the big delivery apps, so they can see when their food is on the way. Everything stays synchronized and automated, reducing human error (like missed tickets or wrong addresses) that often plague DIY delivery setups. The integration extends to channels like Google and social media as well – Sauce helps add order links on your Google Business profile, Instagram, Facebook, etc., and funnels all those orders directly into your system.

In summary, Sauce’s first-party delivery isn’t just a dispatch service – it’s also a technology solution that ties into your restaurant’s operations. You get a modern online ordering interface for customers and a streamlined workflow for your staff. The result is fewer mistakes, less manual work, and a smoother experience for everyone.

Fast Payouts and Financial Clarity

Another often overlooked aspect of delivery is getting paid quickly and transparently. If you run your own delivery, you process payments through your own system, which typically deposits funds in a day or two via your payment processor. Third-party services, on the other hand, often hold a week’s worth of transactions and pay out later, or deduct various fees so the accounting gets messy. With Sauce, you receive your sales funds promptly – usually within two business days – just as if the orders came through your own POS. This means better cash flow for your restaurant and no long waits to get your money from sales.

Sauce’s model is also transparent in its costs. There are no surprise percentage commissions coming out of your revenue. (Sauce charges a flat fee or subscription that you’re aware of upfront, rather than taking a cut of each order.) For example, if a customer orders $50 of food for delivery, you keep that $50 in revenue, and just pay a fixed delivery fee that’s much lower than a 30% commission. You’re free to price your menu appropriately without padding for huge commission losses. Knowing that you’ll get nearly the full ticket price deposited to your bank in a couple of days makes it far easier to manage your finances and profit margins.

In essence, Sauce’s first-party delivery treats your sales like your own – you’re not splitting the check with a middleman. That means more revenue per order (boosting your bottom line) and faster access to that revenue. This financial benefit is one major reason many restaurants see Sauce as a profitability game-changer compared to both third-party and traditional in-house delivery approaches.

Great Customer Experience, Less Complexity for You

By using Sauce, restaurants can deliver a top-notch experience to customers without the operational complexity on their end. Sauce’s team and technology handle the hard parts of delivery, so your in-house workload is greatly reduced. Consider the difference:

• If you run in-house delivery, you’re worrying about driver no-shows, delayed orders, customer complaints, and routing – all at the same time you’re trying to run a kitchen.

• If you run delivery with Sauce, those concerns are largely offloaded. Sauce provides live delivery support to your hungry customers, so they’re never left on hold if an issue arises. And Sauce’s delivery algorithms and expansive driver pool mean orders are dispatched efficiently without you lifting a finger.

The end result is fewer fires for you to put out each day. Your team can concentrate on food quality and in-restaurant hospitality while Sauce ensures the delivery side operates smoothly. Restaurants that use Sauce report significantly fewer errors and customer complaints, because the process is professionally managed and supported. In fact, Sauce’s platform even helps with reconciliations and refund management, taking those burdens off your plate.

Crucially, all these benefits come without sacrificing the direct relationship to the customer. Your customers will still see it as your delivery service. They’ll enjoy ordering directly from your website or links (instead of a third-party app), often getting a better deal since you’re not inflating menu prices to cover 30% commissions. They get order tracking and reliable service comparable to major apps, but with the personal touch of ordering from the restaurant itself. This leads to happier customers who are more likely to reorder from you again (directly) – fueling a positive cycle of loyalty and repeat business.

In summary, Sauce’s first-party delivery model gives restaurants the best of both worlds. You maintain control, save on fees, and strengthen your brand, while Sauce shoulders the operational load of deliveries.

It’s a solution designed with empathy for restaurant operators’ needs, born from the understanding that you want to grow your off-premise sales without growing a whole new logistics department. Sauce brings the drivers, technology, and support; you bring the great food and customer connection. The result is a win-win: more revenue and less complexity for you, and a convenient, high-quality experience for your delivery customers.

FAQ: In-House Delivery vs. Sauce

Q: What exactly does “in-house delivery” mean for a restaurant?

In-house delivery is when a restaurant manages its own delivery service using its own staff. The restaurant takes orders directly (through a phone line, its website, etc.) and employs drivers to deliver the food. Everything is handled internally – from hiring and scheduling drivers to routing deliveries and customer service. The benefit is that the restaurant avoids third-party delivery fees and keeps control over the customer experience. The drawback is the added responsibility and cost of running a delivery operation (vehicles, gas, insurance, driver wages, training, handling any complaints, etc.).

What is a “first-party delivery model,” and how is Sauce’s approach different from third-party apps?

A first-party delivery model means customers order directly from the restaurant (first-party) rather than through a third-party marketplace. Sauce’s platform enables this by providing restaurants with online ordering tools (for their own website, Google profile, Instagram, and more) and a fully managed delivery service behind the scenes. Unlike Uber Eats or Grubhub, which are third-party services listing many restaurants, Sauce is restaurant-branded – the customer sees they are ordering from the restaurant’s own system. Sauce then fulfills the delivery using its network of couriers, but to the customer it feels like an extension of the restaurant. In short, Sauce gives restaurants the ability to offer delivery under their own name, with Sauce handling the logistics (dispatch, drivers, support). This preserves the direct restaurant-customer relationship (and keeps your customer data in-house) while removing the hassles of actually running deliveries.

Why is using Sauce better than managing my own delivery drivers?

In-house delivery can be costly and complicated. When you manage your own drivers, you’re responsible for hiring, training, scheduling, and dealing with no-shows or rush-hour demand spikes – plus paying their wages and insurance. By contrast, Sauce provides “unlimited drivers” on-demand through its delivery network, so you always have coverage without maintaining a staff. Sauce’s team also handles dispatching and routing with advanced software, likely getting food delivered faster than a small manual operation could. Additionally, Sauce includes customer support and refund management, so if there’s an issue with a delivery, they take care of it for you. Restaurants essentially get a professional delivery department for a flat fee, which is typically far more efficient (and stress-free) than trying to do it all yourself. Most importantly, you keep the benefits of no commissions and direct ordering, but skip the operational headaches and overhead of running your own fleet.

Will Sauce integrate with our POS and existing systems?

Yes. Sauce is designed to integrate smoothly with your restaurant’s technology. Orders placed via Sauce’s online ordering channels can be injected into your POS or kitchen display system in real time, just like your regular orders, if integration is set up. This means you won’t need to manage orders on separate tablets or manually re-enter them – it’s all streamlined into one workflow. Sauce also works alongside third-party platforms; for example, you can view all your direct (Sauce) orders and third-party orders together on one device if needed. In addition, Sauce provides tools to integrate ordering links on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and your website, expanding your online reach without adding complexity on the fulfillment side. The goal is to make offering delivery as easy as possible, with technology doing the heavy lifting in the background.

How do payments and payouts work with Sauce’s delivery service?

Payments from customers go directly to you when you use Sauce – just as they would with your own online ordering system. Customers pay through your branded ordering interface (powered by Sauce), and those funds (minus any flat delivery fee or subscription you’ve agreed on with Sauce) are transferred to your bank account quickly – typically within two business days. This is faster than many third-party delivery services, which might pay out weekly or longer. Essentially, Sauce ensures you get your revenue in a timely manner so your cash flow isn’t disrupted. You’ll also have transparency into your sales and know that you’re not losing a big cut to commissions. In terms of what the customer pays: you can decide if you want to add a small delivery fee or menu markup to cover Sauce’s flat delivery cost, but even with that, customers often still pay less (and you earn more) than they would through a high-commission third-party app. Sauce’s model is straightforward – you enjoy the financial rewards of direct sales while they manage the logistics of getting the food to the customer’s door.