This is an illustrative case study — a composite of the kind of project many small food businesses face. A family takeaway sells through two delivery apps and wants its own ordering site to keep more of each order.
1. The brief
Who: regular local customers ordering on their phones, usually in the evening. Problem: app commission is eating the margin, and the takeaway has no way to contact its own regulars. Outcome: a quarter of orders placed directly within six months. Constraints: one owner who is not technical, a small budget, existing printed menus.
2. Research
Five regulars were asked about their last order. Every one ordered on a phone, most re-ordered the same thing, and two had given up on a previous direct site because it asked them to create an account before showing prices.
3. Wireframes
- Menu first — no splash screen, no hero video.
- Sticky basket bar at the bottom of the screen with the running total.
- Options (size, extras, spice level) in a pop-up, not on a separate page.
- Guest checkout; an account is optional afterwards.
- Opening times and delivery area visible before anyone adds anything.
4. Build
Because the owner already knew WordPress from a previous blog, the team used a Wordpress food delivery theme built for exactly this — menu categories, product options, delivery zones and order notifications — and spent the budget on photography and copy instead of custom code.
5. Test and launch
Three people placed test orders on their own phones while the team watched. One could not find the spice-level option; it moved above the "add" button. Launch went with a printed card in every app order: "Order direct next time" — the simplest marketing there is.
The full process is in our chapter on launching online.