Delivery API tracking: in‑house vs third‑party delivery
In‑house delivery (restaurant self‑delivery)
The Delivery API is designed primarily to support self‑delivery:
Deliver using your own drivers (staff, managers, in‑house driver team)
Use an integrated delivery management provider (for example, Cartwheel, Shipday) that is integrated with ezCater through the Delivery API
To meet ezCater’s delivery tracking requirements in this setup, your Delivery API integration must:
Successfully send driver assignment events (who is delivering the order)
Send a delivery start event (driver en route / out for delivery)
Send a delivery complete event (order delivered)
If these events flow correctly through the Delivery API for your in‑house or integrated self‑delivery solution, you will meet ezCater’s tracking requirements for those orders.
Third‑party delivery (outside ezCater's Dispatch)
Third-party delivery tracking does not count towards ezCater's delivery tracking requirements
As a result, these orders will:
Be flagged with a delivery tracking order issue
Incur a delivery tracking fee of $2.25 per affected order
This applies even if your third‑party system is sending status updates through the Delivery API, because ezCater cannot manage or guarantee those third‑party deliveries end‑to‑end in the same way as self‑delivery or Dispatch.
Why did ezCater make this change?
ezCater updated these rules to:
Provide a more consistent, reliable tracking experience for customers across all delivery methods
Align delivery tracking requirements with delivery methods that ezCater can fully support end‑to‑end (self‑delivery with proper integration and Dispatch)
Ensure that Operational Metrics and tracking standards are based on delivery flows where ezCater has clear visibility and control over the full lifecycle
This helps protect both customers, who rely on accurate tracking for important events, and partners, by setting clear expectations about which integrations count toward tracking requirements.
Questions and support
If you are unsure how this applies to your setup, or if you are considering a new Delivery API integration:
Contact Partner Success at [email protected]
They can help you:
Confirm whether your current or planned integration will meet ezCater's delivery tracking standards counts
Understand how tracking events need to be sent through the Delivery API
Review when tracking will or will not count toward ezCater’s delivery tracking requirements and fees
Additional Resources
Training Resources