We cut the marketing bill 66%
and kept 85% of the money.
In 2025, The Crossing’s Uber volume was inflated by heavy discounting — roughly one of every four dollars sold was given back, and the restaurant kept as little as 45 cents on the dollar. We deliberately unwound that subsidy. This is the profitability case study of our delivery portfolio.
Profitability as a Floor
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) | Orders | Uber Eats Sales | Payout | Payout % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 306 | $17,610 | $12,338 | 70% |
| February | 449 | $25,517 | $17,747 | 70% |
| March | 434 | $23,247 | $15,801 | 68% |
| April | 378 | $21,446 | $14,293 | 67% |
| May | 449 | $27,783 | $18,425 | 66% |
| June | 335 | $19,612 | $12,648 | 65% |
| July | 264 | $15,162 | $10,791 | 71% |
Stated Honestly
We are transparent about what happened here: when you stop subsidizing orders with heavy discounts, some of the subsidized volume goes away. The question is what happens to the real money.
| Metric · Feb–Jul | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing spend (offers + ads) | $52,851 | $18,175 | −66% |
| Gross sales | $199,460 | $132,767 | −33% |
| Orders | 3,496 | 2,309 | −34% |
| Money deposited to the restaurant | $105,059 | $89,705 | −15% |
| Payout per dollar sold | $0.53 | $0.68 | +15 cents |
And the volume dial still works when a window justifies it: February and May 2026 both cleared $25,000 in sales at a 66–70% payout — volume on demand, without returning to the 2025 discount structure.
Discounted Volume Is Not Demand
Commission is fixed; marketing is a choice. Measured commission ran 18–22% of sales in 2026. In 2025, marketing on top of it reached 26% of sales across February to July; in 2026 we run it at 9–16%.
The 2025 peak months were built on giveaways. Those $36–42K months came on $10–15K per month of discounts. The 2026 volume is smaller but real — full-price orders at a $54–62 average ticket.