Hospitality marketing is getting chosen in the few seconds someone spends looking at Google Maps, then keeping more of what they spend. Most venues work hard on the first part and leak on the second: Uber Eats' published Australian fee is 30% of each order it delivers. I'm a marketing consultant on the Central Coast, NSW, working with businesses across Australia. The calculator on this page shows what each of your booking and order channels really costs, per order and per year.
Written by Dan Picken, founder. Last checked 30 October 2026.Turnover is from ABS retail data via Restaurant & Catering Australia, up 2.5% on the year, but R&CA notes menu prices haven't kept pace with costs. Insolvencies are from ASIC data reported by Accountants Daily, the second-highest of any sector. Delivery is now mostly two players: Menulog stopped operating in Australia in November 2025. Sales are holding up. Margins aren't, which is why the cost of each channel matters as much as the number of bookings.
Source: Restaurant & Catering Australia: ABS retail trade data (August 2025)
How people choose where to eat
Someone's hungry, or planning Friday night. They search, scan the map, look at photos and the latest reviews, check the menu and hours, then book, order or turn up. Your profile does most of the selling.
The psychology
Choosing where to eat is low stakes and high frequency, so it's decided fast. The worries are small but they decide it.
01
Michael Luca found each extra star on Yelp meant a 5% to 9% change in revenue for independent restaurants, with little effect for chains people already know.
Show them: A steady flow of recent reviews, and replies that show someone cares.
02
In a study of 328 Bay Area restaurants, an extra half-star made a restaurant 19% more likely to fill its seats at peak times. Busy places get busier.
Show them: A booking button on your Google profile, and honest wait times for walk-ins.
03
Without a menu with prices, people guess, and they usually guess high or move on.
Show them: The current menu with prices on your website and Google profile, not a PDF from two summers ago.
04
Wrong hours are the fastest way to lose a customer for good. They turn up, find it shut, and don't come back to check.
Show them: Hours kept current on Google, including public holidays and special events.
05
Groups choose the place nobody objects to. Too few options for one person, or a menu too long to scan, both lose the booking.
Show them: Dietary options marked clearly, and a menu short enough to read on a phone.
From my audits
These are the patterns that come up most when I look at a venue's marketing.
People who'd happily order direct use Uber Eats because it's the only easy option, and the venue pays the platform's fee on every order.
Old photos, wrong hours, no menu link and reviews from last year with no replies. It's the first thing most diners see.
Hard to read on a phone, invisible to Google and AI tools, and usually out of date.
A booking system on the website, but nothing on the Google profile, where the decision is actually made.
Boosted posts and Google Ads running, with no way to tell which bookings or orders they brought in.
The same message on a quiet Tuesday as on a full Saturday, instead of putting effort into the nights that need filling.
Booking source mix
Put in last month's orders or bookings from each channel, the average spend, and the fee it takes. It shows the real cost per order, the yearly total, and what moving some delivery regulars to direct pick-up could save.
Fees a year, all channels
$0
| Channel | Per order | A year |
|---|
If 1 in 5 delivery orders became direct pick-up
Fees only, before GST, card fees and your own costs. A platform order isn't always a lost direct order: some are new customers you'd never have reached. The question is how many are regulars who'd order direct if it were as easy.
AI search
More people ask ChatGPT or Google's AI for 'the best brunch in Terrigal' or 'a quiet restaurant for a birthday dinner in Gosford'. The answers draw on what those tools can find and check: your website, your Google profile, review sites and local press.
A menu on a web page, in text, with dishes, prices and dietary notes, can be read and quoted. A PDF or a photo of a chalkboard mostly can't.
'Great food and atmosphere' says nothing. 'Wood-fired pizza, kids' menu, dog-friendly courtyard, open late Fridays' gives a tool something to match to a question.
What to do now
My take: for venues, AI search mostly rewards being specific and being consistent. The places that say plainly what they're good for, everywhere they appear, are the ones that get named.
Australian rules
Hospitality has its own pricing and liquor rules on top of normal advertising law. These are the ones that come up most, checked on 30 October 2026.
Since 1 October 2026, surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa have been removed, and Amex, UnionPay and PayPal dropped them too. Weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees and service fees aren't affected by this change, though a 'service fee' that really covers card costs may still count as a card surcharge.
The ACCC says menus must state the surcharge percentage and the days it applies, at least as prominently as the most prominent price.
In NSW, venues must not run promotions that encourage rapid or excessive drinking, or appeal to minors. Other states have similar rules. Check yours before running a drinks deal.
Alcohol marketing, including social media posts and influencers, is covered by the industry's ABAC Responsible Alcohol Marketing Code.
Fake reviews, paid reviews and hiding bad ones can break Australian Consumer Law. Ask every customer the same way, and reply to the bad ones rather than burying them.
A marketer's summary, not legal advice. Check with the ACCC, your state liquor regulator or a lawyer for your situation.
The channel mix
The hospitality hub
For most venues: a Google Business Profile that's complete and current, with a booking or order button, real photos, the menu and a steady flow of recent reviews. That's where most decisions are made. Paid ads come after the profile is doing its job.
Uber's Australian pricing page lists 30% when Uber delivers, 16% when you deliver yourself, and 8% for pick-up, plus an activation fee per location. Check your own agreement, as rates can differ.
Not on eftpos, Mastercard or Visa from 1 October 2026, and Amex, UnionPay and PayPal have dropped surcharging too. The RBA says weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees and service fees aren't affected. Card costs can be built into your prices instead.
Yes. The ACCC says the menu must say a surcharge applies, the percentage, and on which days, as prominently as the most prominent price.
Through a booking provider that works with Google. In your Business Profile, go to Bookings and choose your provider, or add your own booking link. Check whether your provider charges for bookings that come through Google.
Yes. One study found each extra star on Yelp changed revenue by 5% to 9% for independent restaurants. Another found an extra half-star made restaurants 19% more likely to fill up at peak times.
Keep going
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next