Deliveroo vs Just Eat vs Uber Eats: What’s the Best Delivery App for Small Grocers in the UK?

As a grocery store owner, you've probably considered signing up for Just Eat, Deliveroo, or Uber Eats to boost online sales. But is it really profitable?

Which is the cheapest food delivery app for grocers, and which offers the best value?

This guide compares the big three delivery apps, Deliveroo vs Uber Eats, Just Eat vs Deliveroo, and Uber Eats vs Just Eat, from a grocer’s perspective and explains why and how you should get your own e-shop to maximize your potential.

Why so many grocers join Just Eat, Deliveroo, or Uber Eats

If you’re running a small grocery store, signing up for a delivery app might feel like the obvious next step. Everyone’s doing it, the process looks simple, and it promises more customers without adding more work.

But what exactly do these apps offer that makes so many shop owners join?

1. You get seen without lifting a finger

Apps like Uber Eats and Deliveroo already have millions of people scrolling, browsing, and ordering every day. By getting your shop listed, you’re placing yourself where the traffic already is.

No need to run Facebook ads, hand out flyers, or build a website from scratch. It’s instant exposure—and when you’re trying to grow, that sounds like a no-brainer.

2. You don’t need to worry about tech or logistics

Most platforms take care of the setup for you. They list your products, pull in images, write basic descriptions, and connect the whole thing to their delivery network.

You don’t have to figure out how to launch a webshop or hire drivers. You just pack the order and hand it over when the courier shows up.

For a busy grocer who’s already stretched thin, this hands-off setup is often the biggest appeal.

3. “If I’m not on, my competitor will be”

Many shop owners join simply because they feel they’ll fall behind if they don’t. If the store down the street is -say - on Deliveroo and you’re not, they might start picking up your customers.

The pressure to “be where your customers are” is real—and these apps have made themselves hard to ignore.

But while signing up might feel like the safe choice, not all apps work the same, and some can cost you more than they bring in. So, the question arises, should I sign up for all three? Just one or two?

Let’s compare what each one actually offers.

Deliveroo vs Just Eat vs Uber Eats – How do they really compare?

Once you’ve decided to get on a delivery app, the next question is: which one?

All three—Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat—will put your store in front of online customers. But they’re not the same, and depending on your shop’s location, product mix, and how you deliver orders, one might fit better than the others.

Let’s break them down.

Deliveroo: Great for city shops with a grocery focus

If your store is located in a city like London, Manchester, or Birmingham, Deliveroo is likely already delivering groceries to your area. They’ve invested a lot in building their grocery category—meaning users actually expect to find milk, snacks, or drinks there, not just takeaway food.

Deliveroo also offers some decent backend tools to help you manage your listings and inventory. But be prepared for some back-and-forth during setup. Their onboarding is not instant, and while they’ll guide you through it, it’s not always plug-and-play.

This is a good fit if:

• You’re in a dense urban area
• You want visibility in a category where grocery is taken seriously
• You can handle a bit more admin during onboarding

Uber Eats: The biggest reach, with some flexibility

Uber Eats has probably the highest name recognition. Many people already have the app—and not just in big cities. If you want the widest audience, this is it.

They also give you some flexibility in terms of how you deliver. If you have your own delivery person, you can use them and pay a lower commission (~13% vs. 30%). But if you rely on Uber’s courier network, you’ll pay the full 30% commission on every order.

In terms of inventory control, Uber Eats connects directly with many POS systems. That means stock levels update automatically, reflecting what’s actually in-store. For grocers who use a POS with live sync, this can minimize errors and customer complaints.

This is a good fit if:

• You want max exposure and lots of app traffic
• You’re considering doing your own deliveries
• You want a quick and easy way to get started

Just Eat: Better margins, but with a few catches

Just Eat used to focus more on takeaway food than groceries, and in many areas, that’s still the case. But they’ve been expanding, especially in suburban areas and small towns.

The big win with Just Eat is the lower commission—starting around 14% (plus VAT). That’s a real difference if you’re watching margins. The catch? They often charge an upfront setup fee (~£295), and there’s an extra 50p per order if the customer pays online.

So while it sounds cheaper, the small print adds up. Still, if you want a lower cut taken from each sale and you’re okay with a small upfront investment, it might be worth it.

However, Just Eat doesn't manage inventory directly. It provides tools to adjust your menu and mark items as unavailable, but actual stock tracking is manual. That can make real-time accuracy harder, especially for high-volume or frequently changing stock.

This is a good fit if:

• You’re in a town or suburb, not a big city
• You want lower commission and don’t mind setup costs
• You don’t expect to do huge order volumes but want to make each one count

Each of the three major delivery apps has its own strengths. In a nutshell, here’s what they offer to grocers:

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Of course, each platform has its perks—but it’s not all upside. Once you dig into the numbers, the real cost of using these apps starts to show. Let’s take a closer look at what grocers actually lose when selling through delivery marketplaces.

What you really pay on Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and JustEat

1. Commissions and fees: The cost of convenience

One of the biggest pain points for grocers using delivery marketplaces is the steep commission each platform takes on every order. All three services charge a significant percentage fee, which can wipe out a small shop’s already tight margins:

• Deliveroo commission rate: Typically charges 25–35% commission per order. The exact rate may vary, but even at the low end it’s a fifth of your sale gone.
• Deliveroo also passes a delivery charge to the customer (around £2.50 per order in the UK). Notably, Deliveroo may raise the commission if you list on other delivery apps concurrently – a detail to consider if you plan to use multiple platforms.
• Uber Eats commission rate: Charges 30% commission per order, unless you handle deliveries yourself. If you use your own drivers, Uber’s fee can drop to 13%, but then you bear the delivery costs and logistics. Uber Eats also adds about a £3.50 customer fee on each order.
• Just Eat charges: Uses a slightly different model. Just Eat’s commission is around 14% plus VAT (about **16.8%**effective) on each order if you handle deliveries yourself or 30% if the platform handles the delivery process. Unlike the others, Just Eat historically charged an upfront setup fee (~£295) to onboard new partners. There’s also a £0.50 “admin” fee per order you receive via online payment.

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These costs significantly eat into profitability. A small grocery basket might carry £20 of goods – if you lose 20-30% (£4-£6) to commission, plus perhaps £1 in platform service fees, you’ve lost much of your profit on that order. Just Eat’s lower percentage (14%+VAT) sounds better, but its setup fee and per-order charges are additional hurdles.

To manage these heavy commissions, grocers usually need to increase their prices on Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat.

This shows clearly how marketplace markups can drive customers away or reduce repeat purchases.

2. Pricing mark-ups

Due to the commissions, it’s commonplace for items on Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or Just Eat to be priced higher than they are in-store.

So a bottle of cola that costs £0.90 in your shop might be listed at £1.60–£1.80 on the apps. These mark-ups per item, combined with service fees and delivery charges, can add several pounds to a typical basket.

The table below shows how much you actually make per order on each platform, based on a standard pricing markup.

You can toggle between two views:

• Minimum platform fees: When you handle the delivery yourself.
• Maximum platform fees: When the platform also handles the delivery.

So... what do the numbers actually tell you per platform?

The two tables show how much you really keep per order on each platform—depending on how you deliver:

• With your own driver: Both Uber Eats and Just Eat let you retain over £50 per basket, making them more margin-friendly, especially if you already have a delivery person in place.
• With platform delivery: You keep significantly less. Deliveroo takes the highest cut, followed by Uber Eats and Just Eat. In this model, your revenue drops closer to £38–£42 per order.

Each platform comes with trade-offs:

• Deliveroo performs well in cities and has a strong grocery category.
• Uber Eats gives you flexibility and massive reach.
• Just Eat can offer better margins if you're willing to handle setup and delivery.

There’s no single “best” app—just what fits your store’s setup, location, and goals.

But regardless of the platform, one thing is clear: you’re only earning more by marking up prices and giving away control of the customer relationship.

No customer ownership

Even if the order goes through and you make your profit, there’s another problem: you don’t own that customer. The platform does.

You can’t send them an offer next week. You don’t know what else they buy. You can’t reward them for coming back.

That means no loyalty program, no customer data, no targeted promotions, and no real growth outside the app.

So, what’s the smarter play?

Increase your profit. Build your own website. Use it alongside marketplaces.

Launch your website, start receiving orders, and get money back in your pocket

If you’re tired of watching your profit vanish in commissions every time someone orders through Uber Eats or Deliveroo, you’re not alone.

The good news? You don’t have to shut down your marketplace listings — but you can start building a direct channel that keeps more of the money where it belongs: in your business.

Launch your website in 3 days, with Wave Grocery

With Wave Grocery you can launch a top quality website and mobile app in 3 days.

Our platform is an all-in-one ecommerce platform specifically built for grocery stores, trusted by grocers around the world.

If you already use marketplaces, we will feed your product list into your own, branded website and get it up and running in 3 days.

Then you can start making more money and constantly use the traffic the platforms send you to feed your own website.

Will I make profit if I launch my website?

We’ve done this excersize for you and the answer is yes.

We took into account

• the marketplace charges (for the sake of example, we used UberEats),
• Wave Grocery pricing for a grocery store of up to 600 orders/month,
• Delivery & bagging fee

Here's how your revenue changes with each order placed through Uber Eats compared to your own online store.

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So what does that mean in plain terms?

You earn £11.63 more per order, because you’re not handing over a chunk to the delivery app.

What do you get with Wave Grocery?

🖥️ Launch a fully branded website or mobile app in just 3 days

You don’t need to hire a developer, write code, or wait months. With Wave Grocery, you can get your own online shop live in as little as 72 hours. That means customers can start placing orders directly with you, without going through a middleman.

🚚 Choose up to 2 delivery methods — your own drivers, Click & Collect, or even on-demand couriers

You’re in control of how deliveries happen. Already have a delivery person? Use them. Prefer to let customers pick up their orders in store? That works too. You can even plug into delivery networks like Nash when you need extra capacity. It’s flexible, and you only pay for what you use.

💳 Run promotions and coupon codes anytime

Want to reward repeat customers? Or promote slow-moving stock? With Wave Grocery, you can easily create discount codes, flash offers, and basket-level promotions. And because it’s your platform, you decide when and how long the promotion runs — not a third-party app.

📊 Access and own all your customer data

Unlike Uber Eats or Deliveroo, Wave Grocery gives you full access to your customer information: names, order history, buying habits. This means you can finally understand who’s buying what — and start building a loyal customer base. Want to send a personalised coupon to someone who always orders on Fridays? You can. Want to follow up with a thank-you message? You can. This is how you go from one-time buyers to loyal customers.

Your Website. Complementary to marketplaces

Selecting Wave Grocery doesn’t mean you must quit Uber Eats or Deliveroo entirely. In fact, many stores use it alongside those platforms. The idea is to capture your loyal repeat customers on your own platform (where you pay 0% commission), while still being visible on the big apps for discovery by new customers or occasional convenience orders.

Over time, you can encourage people who found you on a marketplace to order directly from your Wave-powered site (perhaps by including a discount flyer in their delivery bag for their first direct order). This way, you reduce your dependency on the aggregators and keep more revenue in-house, without losing the extra reach they provide. Your Wave Grocery powered website & mobile app are your own e-commerce channels that will run in parallel: the best of both worlds.

The platform handles the tech and security (PCI-compliant payments, etc.), so you can focus on merchandising and fulfilling orders.

Earn more money with your online store

And keep getting orders from delivery apps

Let’s talk. Contact our team to  launch your own direct-to-customer grocery platform in 3 days.