Case Study · Uber Eats

Same sales.
$9,000 more in the bank.

Across two Mojitos locations, 2025 bought delivery volume with $14–20K a month in discounts — and only 37 to 41 cents of every dollar reached the restaurant. In 2026 we rebuilt the same sales levels with a structured offer strategy, and the restaurant’s share never dropped below 60%.

Concept
Cuban American · 2 locations
Channel
Uber Eats · Delivery
Sales growth
+104% · Jan–Jul 2026
Volume
10,000+ orders since Mar 2025
01
The Results

Volume Without the Giveaway

+104%
Monthly sales
$18,862 → $38,509 · Jan to Jul 2026
+87%
Monthly orders
392 → 732 per month
60%+
Payout every month
Versus 37–41% in the discount-led 2025
$2,256
Uber-funded ads in July
Through negotiated co-funding
10,000+
Orders since Mar 2025
One of our highest-volume delivery accounts
+20 pts
Payout vs July 2025
40% → 60% at higher sales
02
Month by Month

Orders, Sales & Payout

“Payout” is the money Uber actually deposits to the restaurant — gross sales minus commission, marketing and fees. It is the metric that decides whether the channel is profitable.

Month (2026)OrdersUber Eats SalesPayoutPayout %
January392$18,862$12,88068%
February425$21,210$14,83770%
March521$24,567$16,01765%
April518$25,867$16,46564%
May733$37,308$23,15562%
June631$30,338$18,98563%
July732$38,509$23,17760%

The honest trade-off, stated explicitly: as we scaled the offer investment through 2026 — July was the biggest at $11,049 — the payout share eased from 68% to 60%, and never crossed below it. In 2025, comparable sales volume came at a 37–41% payout. That 20-point difference is the management.

03
The Proof

Two Identical Months, One Year Apart

MetricJune 2025May 2026Difference
Sales$36,836$37,308≈ equal
Money deposited to the restaurant$13,982$23,155+$9,173 (+66%)
Payout %38%62%+24 pts
The Whole Argument
Same sales. $9,000 more in the bank. That is the difference between buying volume with discounts and building it with a structured offer strategy.

The July-over-July comparison moves all three metrics the right way at once:

MetricJuly 2025July 2026Change
Orders666732+10%
Sales$34,462$38,509+12%
Payout %40%60%+20 pts
04
What We Learned

Commission Is Not the Problem

Investment is a dial, not a leak. Mojitos invests aggressively inside the platform — $11,049 in offers in July 2026 alone, 29% of sales. The difference against 2025 is that the investment is structured into deliberate offer windows instead of always-on discounts, so even the biggest investment month paid out 60%.

Uber’s commission is not what erodes margin. Measured commission ran 17–19% of sales throughout 2026. Everything else separating sales from payout is marketing we choose to deploy — controllable, and controlled.

Uber Pays Part of the Bill
Through negotiated co-funding, Uber contributed $3,310 to Mojitos’ ad campaigns between January and July 2026, $2,256 of it in July alone. Money the restaurant did not spend.