Restaurant ordering glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms restaurant operators meet when choosing or running an online ordering system.
A-C
Aggregator
A platform that lists many restaurants and takes orders on their behalf, such as Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats. Usually charges commission per order.
Allergen tag
A structured label on a menu item or modifier that records the presence of a regulated allergen.
API
Application Programming Interface — a documented way for two systems to exchange data.
Average order value (AOV)
The average amount a customer spends per order.
Click and collect
Customer orders online and collects from the restaurant at a chosen time.
Commission
A percentage fee charged per order, usually by a marketplace or aggregator.
Commission-free
An ordering model where the platform does not take a percentage of each order.
D-F
Dark kitchen
A commercial kitchen used only for delivery or collection orders.
Delivery zone
A geographic area within which a restaurant will deliver.
Direct ordering
Ordering through a restaurant's own channel rather than through a marketplace.
EPOS / POS
Electronic Point of Sale — the till system used in the restaurant.
ESC/POS
A common command language used by receipt and kitchen printers.
First-party data
Customer data collected directly by the restaurant through its own ordering channel.
G-L
GDPR
The UK General Data Protection Regulation.
Hosted vs self-hosted
Hosted (cloud) systems run on the vendor's infrastructure; self-hosted systems run on infrastructure the restaurant controls.
Item-level modifier
A choice attached to a specific menu item, such as size, spice level or extras.
Kitchen Display System (KDS)
A screen in the kitchen that shows incoming orders and status.
Kiosk ordering
A self-service terminal in the restaurant where customers place orders themselves.
Loyalty scheme
A structured reward programme for repeat customers.
M-R
Marketplace
See Aggregator.
Middleware
Software that connects two other systems, such as a POS to delivery marketplaces.
Minimum order value (MOV)
The lowest basket value a restaurant will accept for delivery or collection.
Modifier group
A collection of related item-level choices.
Multi-brand
Running more than one brand from the same kitchen.
Natasha's Law
UK food regulation requiring allergen information on food prepacked for direct sale.
Order aggregation
Combining orders from multiple sources into a single queue for the kitchen.
Payment gateway
The service that processes card and digital wallet payments.
QR table ordering
Ordering from a QR code at the table via the customer's phone.
Repeat-order rate
The percentage of customers who order more than once in a given period.
S-Z
Self-delivery
Delivery carried out by the restaurant's own drivers rather than a marketplace courier.
Station routing
Sending different parts of the same order to different printers or KDS screens.
Subscription model
An ordering system priced as a monthly or annual fee rather than per-order commission.
Telephone ordering with CallerID
Matching incoming phone orders to customer records by CallerID.
Test order
An order placed by the restaurant itself to check menu, payment, printer and fulfilment before going live.
White-label
An ordering system that can be rebranded as the restaurant's own product.