Here's some simple Uber Eats math. $5 a day on ads at $0.20 a click buys about 25 clicks. A healthy store turns around 12% of those clicks into orders, so that's 3 orders a day. A store that only converts 6% gets one or two orders for the same $5.
Ads multiply what already exists. If the store page doesn't convert, more traffic just means paying for more people to leave. So before I put a dollar into sponsored listings for a client, I go through the store in a set order and fix what's broken.
What should you fix before running DoorDash or Uber Eats ads?
Four things, in this order: the hero image, the menu, pricing and ratings, then operations. Ads go on last. Each one of those decides how many of the people you pay to reach actually place an order.
The hero image
It's the first thing anyone sees, on the store card and at the top of the page. It should be a real photo of food you sell, with the dish centered so it survives each app's crop. I cover this in detail in hero image tips for DoorDash and Uber Eats.
The menu
People read a menu item in a set order: price first, picture second, description third. Get photos on 90 to 95% of items, make descriptions match what's in the bag, put best sellers and bundles where they're easy to find, and charge for modifiers like sauce, protein and size.
The full list is in the delivery menu mistakes that cost you orders. If the menu needs a rebuild rather than a cleanup, start with building a separate delivery menu.
Pricing and ratings
Ads cost money per order or per click, and on Uber Eats the spend comes straight out of your payouts. If an order was thin before the ad, it's thinner after. At 30% commission a 10% markup is technically already hurting you, so I aim for 12 to 15% before turning ads on.
Ratings are the other half. Campaigns improve visibility, but conversion relies on trust signals. Is the store at 4.5 or above? How many reviews does it have? I treat 4.5 stars with 100+ reviews as the point where a store looks trustworthy. If you're short of that, get your first 100 reviews before you start paying for clicks.
Operations
Ads and aggressive campaigns change the pace of the kitchen. Suddenly there's a Dasher every 30 minutes, the KDS is going off the hook, and you run out of stock. If the kitchen can't keep up, you've paid for the promotion and lost ranking, because DoorDash measures your error rate against your peers and suppresses stores that keep making mistakes.
Before ads, check that:
- Your hours are right and you're actually open when you say you are. A store that's dark eight days a month gets less favorable placement on the days it is open, so you pay for the closures twice.
- Prep times reflect reality.
- Someone owns errors and refunds, and disputes the ones that weren't your fault.
- There's enough labor and inventory for more orders.
If the kitchen struggles, we don't expand. We fix throughput first.
How should you start ads once the store is ready?
Have an offer running. Ads work best when there's an offer alongside them, since your best live campaign shows on the store card. Running ads and promos together does need watching, though, and I explain why in running delivery ads and promos at the same time.
Then start small and scale on results:
- DoorDash sponsored listings are pay-per-order. I start with a $3 manual bid, even though DoorDash suggests $5. DoorDash calls a return above 3.5x "excellent".
- Uber Eats ads start at about $3 a day. I add budget when the return is 8 to 12x or more, hold below 8x, and pull back around 6x.
- Move in small steps. Change spend by 10 to 20% at a time and wait 1 to 2 weeks before the next move.
- Ignore the recommended budget. The platforms will always tell you to multiply spend.
At a taco shop on Long Island, the first month we managed (August to September 2026) took the Uber Eats ad return from 5.92x to 8.92x and the DoorDash sponsored listing from $4.29 to $5.63 in sales per $1. New-customer BOGOs were running alongside the ads that month. One note on the Uber number: it's Uber's own attributed return, which counts any order from a customer who saw an ad.
If you're about to switch on ads and want the store checked first, request a storefront audit. It's the same list we go through in the first two weeks with every new client.
FAQ
Should I fix my menu before running DoorDash ads?
Yes. Fix the hero image, the menu, pricing and ratings, and operations first. Ads send more people to the same store page, so a page that does not convert just wastes more money.
How much should I spend on DoorDash sponsored listings to start?
I start with a $3 manual bid per order, even though DoorDash suggests $5. Sponsored listings on DoorDash are charged per order, not per click.
What is a good ROAS on Uber Eats ads?
8 to 10x is healthy. I add budget at 8 to 12x or more, hold below 8x, and pull back around 6x. DoorDash calculates it differently and calls anything above 3.5x excellent.
How long should I wait before changing ad spend?
Wait 1 to 2 weeks between changes, move in steps of 10 to 20%, and judge results on full months.