Restaurant Marketplace
Version: v1.0
Last Updated: June 6, 2026
An overview of how the restaurant marketplace works and how the parties interact. For step-by-step guides, see the Customer Guide and the Restaurant Partner Guide.
What it is
The restaurant marketplace lets customers order prepared food from restaurants for delivery or customer pickup. It's the most time-sensitive marketplace — food is cooked to order and delivered hot.
📸 Screenshot: Restaurant customer-facing browse screen
Who the parties are
| Party | Role |
|---|---|
| Customer | Browses, orders, pays, and receives the food |
| Restaurant (partner) | Accepts the order, prepares the food, hands it to the rider or customer |
| Rider | Collects from the restaurant and delivers to the customer |
| Delivery company | Employs the rider and is assigned by the restaurant to handle dispatch |
| Platform (BookMaMe) | Runs the marketplace, processes payment, deducts the service charge, settles the partner |
End-to-end flow
Customer browses a restaurant and builds a cart
→ Places the order (delivery or pickup) and pays
→ Restaurant accepts → prepares the food
→ Restaurant marks ready
Delivery: rider collects (pickup PIN) → delivers (delivery PIN)
Pickup: customer collects at the counter
→ Order completes → partner is paid automatically
How payments flow
- Customer pays by online card, mobile money, cash on delivery, card on delivery, cash on pickup, or card on pickup
- For online payment, money is captured at order time
- For COD / card-on-delivery, the rider collects at the door; for pay-at-pickup, the restaurant collects
- The platform deducts the service charge and settles the rest to the restaurant after completion; cash collected by riders is reconciled and remitted
How delivery works
Each restaurant assigns one or more delivery companies. When an order is ready, the platform routes the dispatch task to the best-placed company, which assigns a rider. Handoff is secured by a pickup PIN (restaurant → rider) and a delivery PIN (rider → customer). If a delivery fails, the item goes to the delivery company depot for a retry/return decision.
Delivery classes and item eligibility
Restaurant delivery is still about prepared food, but the platform now also uses delivery-class-aware logistics behind the scenes.
That means delivery availability can depend on:
- the item or variant being ordered
- the delivery metadata configured for that item
- whether the assigned delivery company supports that delivery class
So delivery is no longer just “address + available rider.” It can also depend on whether the item is eligible for that company's supported delivery setup.
What's unique about this marketplace
- Most time-sensitive — food quality depends on speed
- Per-branch operations — multi-location restaurants run each branch independently (menu, hours, orders)
- Customer pickup option alongside delivery
- Tight acceptance window — restaurants must accept quickly or the order auto-rejects and refunds