NEWTON, Mass. -- Oct. 14, 2025 -- Paytronix, the leader in guest engagement for restaurants and convenience stores, has published the 2025 Paytronix Online Ordering and Catering Report, How First-Party Digital Is Reshaping Guest Engagement, which finds that guests ordering through native mobile apps complete their orders up to four times faster than on web browsers. First-party mobile apps also lead in order speed and reliability, with native interfaces (iOS, Android) completing orders up to five to 10 times faster than white-labeled or embedded channels.
“For restaurants and c-stores, mobile-first engagement is now the primary driver of higher order frequency, deeper personalization, and stronger lifetime value. These guests order more frequently, engage more deeply with loyalty programs, and respond better to personalized promotions. When loyalty is integrated directly into mobile ordering, order frequency rises measurably, turning one-time buyers into repeat, high-value customers.” – 2025 Paytronix Online Ordering and Catering Report.
Key findings of the 2025 Paytronix Online Ordering and Catering Report include:
Average Order Values (AOV) – Web interfaces often show higher AOVs than mobile with 12 months of data indicating that average AOV for non-loyalty customers is $35.97 while average AOV for loyalty customers is slightly less at $34.79. This suggests that non-loyalty customers spent slightly more per order than loyalty customers across the apps. However, loyal customers are more likely to make return visits. First-party, OXB (Paytronix Order Experience Builder) loyalty orders continue to maintain high order values YoY, while third-party guest orders saw no meaningful uplift in 2024. Owning the guest relationship protects long-term AOV performance, even during volatile cycles.
Median Order Times -- While most orders are completed in three to six minutes, the actual time varies by platform. iOS has an Average Mean Time of 531.67 seconds (~8 minutes 52 seconds), and an Average Median Time of 232.49 seconds (~3 minutes 52 seconds).
Android has an Average Mean Time of 1271.72 seconds (~21 minutes 12 seconds) and an Average Median Time: 258.72 seconds (~4 minutes 19 seconds). The key takeaways here:
This data reinforces the strategic value of investing in streamlined native mobile interfaces. App-native loyalty platforms not only increase AOV and engagement but also dramatically reduce time-to-order, improving both user satisfaction and throughput.
Order Completions and Recommendation Acceptance Rate – The Paytronix data indicates an Average Completion Rate for first-party apps of ~40.4%. The Average Acceptance Rate for mobile recommendations is approximately 3.6%, and the Average Tender Total sat around $22.86. While the Web Interface shows slightly better performance than mobile, both in order completion, ~41.1%, and recommendation acceptance with ~4.1%, rate.
Recommendation Acceptance Rates are generally low across all interfaces, with most hovering below 5%. However, some individual outliers show acceptance rates above 20%. Paytronix data demonstrates that rolled-by categories and suggested add-ons can boost digital ticket sizes by 14-18%.
The Paytronix 2025 Online Ordering and Catering Report identifies major first-party digital ordering trends with brands taking advantage of new ways to redefine guest relationships through first-party ordering. It explores the ways in which the integration of digital ordering systems with loyalty programs increases CLV by up to 32% reflecting closer ties with the clients. By providing an effortless and comfortable ordering process, brands unlock an increase in order frequency of 28%, and the guests visit more frequently. Additionally, the integration of kitchen and ordering systems leads to a 22% reduction in fulfillment errors, improving order accuracy and increasing customer satisfaction.