Today, ChowNow helps diners make a difference in their communities with the launch of an exciting new feature to continue our mission of helping restaurants thrive: The Diner Impact Score.

This first-of-its-kind feature shows customers how much they make a difference by helping restaurants save, offering an easy way to quantify support for local restaurants and encourage repeat orders. When opening the ChowNow app, diners will see a dollar figure that represents the amount of money they’ve helped restaurants save over time by ordering through the ChowNow website or mobile app. The total score is updated every time they place a new order—demonstrating how every meal can add up to a big difference.

A New Tool Saving Money—and Restaurants—in Real Time

The Diner Impact Score is simple. It uses a diner’s meal purchase to calculate the average commission the restaurant would have paid to a third-party delivery company, plus the additional fees they tack on. In essence, this total represents what restaurants would have forked over if the diner ordered through other food ordering platforms.

It is calculated by adding the estimated commission rate a restaurant would have paid for an order if the order was placed on another platform – 20% for delivery, 10% for pickup – based on the diner’s ChowNow order history. The 20% value for delivery was based on New York City legislation that was passed restricting commission for delivery services, but commission rates can vary widely – up to 40% in some cases.

The Power of the ChowNow App

The Diner Impact Score is just the latest way the ChowNow app is helping restaurants thrive and diners make a difference with a transparent ordering system. In the ChowNow app, restaurants don’t pay a commission when fulfilling orders. They also keep diner email addresses for marketing and business insights, and both the restaurants and diners can skip unnecessary fees. The reason for this is simple: fairness. Online ordering is critical for many restaurants’ success, so they shouldn’t have to sacrifice their business’ wellbeing or relationships with their customers to grow. That’s why any local, independent restaurant can list their business on the ChowNow app for free, not just those using ChowNow’s ordering software. 

Carnitas Uruapan in Chicago has seen direct benefits of being a ChowNow restaurant partner.  This Windy City institution opened in 1975 and specializes in slow-roasted pork, but didn’t focus on delivery and takeout until the pandemic, when it was forced to enter the cutthroat world of online ordering. Luckily, they joined the ChowNow app, which encourages diners to support local restaurants. This year, Marcos Carbajal, the owner of Carnitas Uruapan, said he noticed diners were more aware of their local restaurants, and what fees they were paying to third-party apps. By encouraging its diners to order via ChowNow, Carnitas Uruapan has saved close to $40,000. Off-premises sales now make up 15 percent of their business, and they are planning to expand next year.

“Before, we didn’t focus on delivery and takeout, because we didn’t want to pay those big commissions,” says Carbajal. “ChowNow makes more sense to us. I like it because the platform is very straightforward.”

The Savings Add Up—For Restaurants and Diners

ChowNow’s app and website remain the only fair-for-all national marketplace for local restaurants. We deliver an honest, transparent ordering experience that saves restaurants—and diners—money. Partner restaurants agree to charge the same for menu items whether they’re ordered in-store or through the ChowNow app. That means diners can save money by ordering through the ChowNow app versus other ordering apps, as menu prices typically increase to offset the high commission rates.

To continue helping restaurants succeed, ChowNow is driving demand through our Order Better Network, which enables partners to set up a one-stop storefront on high-traffic channels like Yelp, OpenTable, and Google. In addition, ChowNow provides easy-to-manage online ordering tools through a monthly subscription with no hidden fees. 

With more than 20,000 restaurant locations (and expanding), we’re proud of our growth, and will continue to help our partners thrive with new innovations like the Diner Impact Score. We invite any independent restaurant to add their business to ChowNow app for a more transparent and honest ordering experience.