Uber Eats shows you a lot about a BOGO campaign: how many times it was redeemed, the sales on each item, and how much was discounted. What it doesn't show is how much of each item's sales you gave away as a share, which is the number that tells you whether the campaign is a reasonable cost or eating the item.
You can work it out: discount divided by item sales, item by item. Most owners don't, because it's one more calculation on top of everything else in the portal. Below is the math, what the share means, the cost Uber's numbers leave out, and a free way to see it without a calculator.
Quick answer
- The share of an item's sales given away on a BOGO is the item's discount divided by its sales in the campaign. It can't go above 50%, because the customer always pays for at least half.
- Close to 50% means most of that item's campaign sales were BOGO pairs. That's fine when the item has a food margin of 75% or better and the expensive part is a paid add-on.
- Uber's campaign numbers don't include the food cost of the free item or the roughly $0.99 fee on each offer order. Count those too.
- The free Payout Ratio for Delivery Apps Chrome extension shows the percentage of each item's sales discounted right on Uber Eats item campaigns.
How do you work out what a BOGO is costing per item?
Take the discount on the item and divide it by the item's sales in the campaign. Here's an example with two items on the same BOGO:
| Item | Item sales | Discount | Share of sales discounted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken bowl ($12) | $720 | $360 | 50% |
| Loaded fries ($10) | $1,000 | $150 | 15% |
The bowl gave away half of its campaign sales. Every bowl sold in the campaign came in a BOGO pair. The fries gave away 15%, so most fries sold at full price and only some came in pairs. Neither number is good or bad on its own. They tell you which items the offer is really running on.
Why can't the share go above 50%?
On both DoorDash and Uber Eats, the customer always pays for at least one item for every free one, up to three free items of the same item per order. There's no "buy one, get one 50% off." So the most an item can give away is half of its sales, and only when every unit sold is part of a pair. Add-ons and modifiers are never discounted, which is why a paid protein or extra on a BOGO item is always charged in full.
What does the BOGO cost that Uber's numbers don't show?
- The food cost of the free item. The discount is the revenue you gave up. You also still make the second item. On an item with weak margins, that's where a BOGO starts losing money.
- The offer fee. Each order placed with an offer carries about $0.99.
- Commission is charged after the discount, which helps, but the discount itself still comes out of what you're paid.
- Overlapping offers. Promos stack on Uber Eats, so a store offer and a promo code can both apply to the same order. Keep one offer per group of customers.
On the other side, Uber often co-funds campaigns, usually 10 to 25% depending on the rep, which lowers your share of the discount. It's worth asking your account manager before a campaign launches.
How do you tell if a BOGO item is worth keeping?
Check the item, not just the campaign. I only put BOGOs on items with a food margin of 75% or better, with the expensive part, like the protein, as a paid add-on. A $12 base bowl with a required protein add-on means the BOGO discounts the base while both proteins are paid in full. I walk through the full setup in is BOGO profitable on DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Then look at who the campaign reaches. In steady state a BOGO should go to new customers, because a new customer can only be new once. If an item sits near 50% discounted month after month and the campaign is open to everyone, you're likely discounting regulars who'd have ordered anyway.
Check an item before you run it
The free BOGO profit calculator takes an item's app price, food cost and your payout and tells you whether each redemption pays for itself.
How can you see the discount share without a calculator?
Our free Chrome extension adds it for you. On Uber Eats item campaigns, it shows the percentage of each item's sales that went to discounts, next to the numbers Uber already shows. It also adds the payout ratio to your DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub statements, payouts and order pages, so you can see what the campaign did to the share of each dollar you kept.
Payout Ratio for Delivery Apps
Free Chrome extension. See the share of each item's sales discounted on Uber Eats item campaigns, plus payout ratios across DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.
FAQ
How do I calculate what my Uber Eats BOGO costs?
For each item, divide the discount by the item's sales in the campaign. That's the share of the item's sales you gave away. Then add the food cost of the free items and the roughly $0.99 fee on each offer order, which Uber's campaign numbers don't include.
Can a BOGO give away more than half an item's sales?
No. The customer always pays for at least one item for every free one, so the most an item can give away is 50% of its campaign sales.
Which items should I put on a BOGO?
Items with a food margin of 75% or better, ideally set up as a base item with the expensive part as a paid add-on, since add-ons are never discounted.
Is there a tool that shows the BOGO discount per item on Uber Eats?
Yes. The free Payout Ratio for Delivery Apps Chrome extension from Blender Digital shows the percentage of each item's sales discounted on Uber Eats item campaigns, plus payout ratios on DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub pages.
Running BOGOs and not sure which items are paying off? Send me your last full month of campaign results and I'll tell you which items I'd keep. Get in touch here.