Margin Reclamation

In practice

Margin reclamation is Menuella's term for the calculated gain in contribution margin that occurs when order volume shifts from a commission-charging marketplace channel to a direct channel. The industry already has vocabulary for each piece of this movement — channel mix, commission, contribution margin, customer acquisition cost, direct ordering, variable costs — but no single name for what happens to margin when the balance between those channels changes. Margin reclamation names the sum: the euro value of margin recovered, not spent again, when an order that would have carried a marketplace commission instead carries only variable costs and the cost of acquiring the guest directly.

The concept only holds if the shift is real. An order that simply appears on the direct channel without being pulled away from the marketplace is incremental revenue, not reclaimed margin — reclamation describes a swap, not addition.

Formula

Margin reclamation = (contribution margin per order, direct − contribution margin per order, marketplace) × orders shifted from marketplace to direct

Contribution margin per order is the order price minus variable costs minus the channel-specific cost — commission on the marketplace channel, allocated customer acquisition cost on the direct channel.

Consider an order priced at €25 with €7 in variable costs. On the marketplace, a 20% commission of €5 leaves a contribution margin of €25 − €7 − €5 = €13. On the direct channel, the same order carries no commission but an allocated acquisition cost of €2, leaving €25 − €7 − €2 = €16. The margin delta is €16 − €13 = €3 per order. Moving 100 orders from marketplace to direct reclaims €3 × 100 = €300.

Example

A restaurant takes 3,000 orders a month, priced at €30 with €9 in variable costs. On the marketplace channel, a 30% commission of €9 leaves a contribution margin of €30 − €9 − €9 = €12 per order. On the direct channel, the same order carries an allocated acquisition cost of €3, leaving €30 − €9 − €3 = €18 per order — a delta of €18 − €12 = €6.

At the start of a quarter, the channel mix is 40% marketplace and 60% direct: 1,200 marketplace orders and 1,800 direct orders. After a push toward the direct channel, the mix moves to 25% marketplace and 75% direct: 750 marketplace orders and 2,250 direct orders — a shift of 450 orders (1,200 − 750, matching 2,250 − 1,800).

Margin reclamation = €6 × 450 = €2,700 per month. Total order count and total revenue are unchanged; only the channel each order clears through has moved, and €2,700 in contribution margin that would have gone to commission stays with the restaurant instead.

How to use it

Margin reclamation is calculated after a channel-mix change, comparing the same order volume under the old mix and the new one. It isolates the margin effect of the shift itself, separate from any change in order count, average order value, or menu pricing. Tracked over consecutive periods, it shows whether investment in direct ordering — loyalty programs, a branded app, on-site promotion — is converting marketplace volume rather than simply adding a parallel channel next to unchanged marketplace volume.

What affects it

• The size of the per-order margin delta between channels — driven by the marketplace commission rate and the cost of acquiring a guest directly
• The number of orders that genuinely move from one channel to the other, as opposed to net-new orders on either channel
• Whether the acquisition cost on the direct channel is a one-time cost per guest or a recurring cost per order
• Variable costs, when they differ by channel (packaging, delivery handling) rather than being constant across both