VendeGo | UAE SME Restaurant Profitability Snapshot

The Profitability Squeeze

See what’s really eating into UAE restaurant profits.

Avg. Restaurant Net Margin

6% – 9%

Margins compressed by rent, salaries, rising food cost, and waste.

Delivery Apps Impact

≈30%

Of delivery revenue lost to commissions & promo fees.

Tech Upside

+4.5%

Typical margin recovery from better inventory, labour & order flow.

Where Does the Revenue Go?

Casual dining pays in labour and rent; QSRs and cloud kitchens pay in commissions.

Quick Take

Labour quietly drains casual dining margins
Food Cost (COGS) 30%
Net Profit 15%

Where Operations Leak Cash

From purchase order to bank statement, each stage creates tiny leaks. Tap on a stage to see the typical issues we find in SME kitchens.

📦
Procurement
🔪
Kitchen Ops & Food Waste
📲
Channels
🛵
Delivery
💰
Finance
📦

Procurement & Storage

Most problems start here. Manual orders, last-minute top-ups, and no live cost tracking mean COGS drifts up without anyone noticing.

Impact: COGS variance +4%

What We Usually See

The Real Cost of Delivery Apps

Apps bring orders. They also shave off most of the profit. Direct channels take effort but can double or triple the net margin per ticket.

Aggregator Order

A 100 AED ticket with ~30% commission and promo fees leaves only around 8 AED in net profit.

Direct Order

With guests ordering directly and lean delivery, the same order can reach 20–25% net margin.

What Could Tech Save You?

4-Lever Profit Engine

Calculate the combined impact of Cost Saving (Waste & Labor) and Revenue Growth (Upselling & Channel Shift).

5%
5 hrs
5%

Moving orders from aggregators (30% cost) to direct (10% cost).

2%

Revenue growth from digital menu add-ons & faster turnover.

Estimated Annual Impact

AED 0

0.0% Net Margin Uplift

Combined value of Cost Savings (Waste, Labor, Commissions) + Revenue Growth (Upselling).

Figures are indicative for UAE SME restaurants and meant for strategy discussions.

VendeGo · Restaurant Profitability & Tech Insight Module