How to Sell More on Rappi: 12 Proven Tactics for 2026
Introduction
If you sell on Rappi and feel like your sales have hit a ceiling, you are not alone. Most restaurants across LATAM are on the same curve: they launched strong, reached a plateau, and now watch the commissions eat into margin while the restaurant next door always appears at the top of the grid.
The good news: selling more on Rappi does not depend on paying a higher commission or slashing prices. It depends on twelve concrete operational decisions that 80% of restaurants never implement. Those that do typically see sales rise between 20% and 60% in under 30 days.
This article is the complete list, ordered by impact and by speed of implementation. Each tactic comes with the what, the how, and the why it works. None of them require opening a new location or hiring new staff.
Why Most Restaurants Struggle to Grow on Rappi
Before the tactics, the diagnosis. The three mistakes we see most often in audits:
They treat Rappi as a passive channel. They uploaded the menu once and never touched it again.
They compete on price. They lower their average order value instead of improving conversion.
They measure nothing. They do not know their CTR, their conversion rate, their real rating, or their average grid position.
If you recognise yourself in even one of these, the next twelve tactics will move the needle.
The 12 Tactics to Sell More on Rappi
1. Redo Your Menu Photos with Professional Intent
Photos account for 70% of the customer's decision on the grid. The eye decides in less than two seconds.
What to do:
One hero photo per product with a neutral background and natural light.
Consistent visual style across the entire menu (angle, framing, palette).
Real product photos, not stock images.
Minimum resolution: 1200x900 px.
Why it works: a higher CTR on the grid means more visits to your menu. More visits equal more order opportunities without paying extra commission.
2. Rewrite Descriptions Like a Copywriter, Not a Chef
"Tasty, generous burger with chips" does not sell. "180g of seared beef, melted cheddar, crispy bacon and rustic fries" does.
Practical rule: every description should include at least one sensory detail (texture, cooking technique, premium ingredient) and one benefit (portion size, shareable, spicy, vegan).
3. Build Combos with Anchor Pricing
Customers do not compare absolute price — they compare perceived value. A well-structured combo lifts the average order value between 15% and 35%.
Recommended structure:
Individual combo (one person).
Combo for two.
Family or premium combo (the expensive anchor: the one almost nobody buys, but which makes the other two look affordable by comparison).
4. Optimise Your Rappi Ranking Position
The Rappi algorithm prioritises, in approximate order: conversion rate, rating, response time, menu completeness, and active history.
Where to start:
Improve your rating (see Tactic 7).
Lower your declared preparation time to a value you can meet 90% of the time.
Ensure a complete menu: photo + description + category on every item.
5. Use Rappi Turbo Only If the Economics Make Sense
Rappi Turbo appears on a highlighted grid, but its commission is higher. It makes sense if your margin per order can absorb the difference and your product is ready in under 15 minutes.
Simple calculation: average order value × current margin − extra Turbo cost. If the result is still positive and you project 2× the volume, go for it. If not, stay on the standard grid and work your organic ranking.
6. Set Channel-Specific Prices (Cross-Pricing)
Having exactly the same prices at the counter, on Rappi, PedidosYa, and Uber Eats means leaving money on the table. Each channel has a different commission and different demand elasticity.
Operational rule: raise delivery prices 8% to 12% above your dine-in prices. Customers pay for convenience. If you go above 15% on Rappi but remain competitive relative to your direct competitors in the app, you will not lose orders.
7. Respond to 100% of Reviews — Good and Bad — Within 24 Hours
Unanswered reviews hurt your rating twice: they lower your score and signal to new customers that you do not care.
Template for a negative review:
"Hi [Name], thank you for letting us know. We are very sorry about [specific issue]. We have already discussed this with the kitchen team and [concrete action taken]. Next time, please let us know and we will take care of you with [product]."
Personalise the brackets every time. Never paste the same response to three reviews in a row.
8. Launch a Virtual Brand or "Second Storefront"
A virtual brand is a new menu within the same physical kitchen, targeting a different consumption occasion. Same kitchen, different name, different menu.
Real example: a burger restaurant launches a virtual brand of "healthy wraps" for the lunchtime slot. Zero extra fixed cost, up to 30% incremental orders.
Rappi permits this explicitly, provided the products are genuinely different.
9. Surgical Promotions, Not Blanket Discounts
"20% off everything" burns margin and attracts customers who only order when there is a discount. Good promotions are specific, conditional, and time-limited.
Promotions that work:
2-for-1 on a low food-cost item (drink, dessert, side).
"Express lunch" combo available only from 12pm to 3pm.
A loss-leader item with a high-margin product alongside it.
Free delivery above a certain order value (lifts the average order).
10. Optimise Your Real Operating Hours
Being listed as "open" from 11am to 11pm when you actually operate well only from 12pm to 3pm and 8pm to 11pm will lower your rating: rejected orders, cancellations, delays.
What to do: open the app only during windows when kitchen, delivery, and front-of-house are running at 100%. Better fewer hours with a high rating than more hours with a falling one.
11. Display Believable Preparation Times
A low preparation time lifts your ranking, but if you cannot meet it, customers report it and the algorithm penalises you doubly.
Rule: the time you display must be achievable 90% of the time during peak hours. Measure one week, calculate the median during peak hours, and add a 10% safety margin. That is your number.
12. Audit Your Account Once a Month, with Data
What is not measured does not improve. Once a month, spend 30 minutes reviewing:
Average grid position by zone.
Current rating and reviews from the past month.
Top 5 best-selling items and bottom 5 (why are they not selling?).
Conversion rate: visits to orders.
Real average preparation time vs. declared time.
If you do not have the time or do not know where to start, an AI audit gives you all of that in under five minutes and prioritises where to act first.
👉 Request your free Growth Delivery App audit and view your Rappi account through the algorithm's eyes.
How to Prioritise These 12 Tactics (Recommended Order)
Do not tackle all of them at once. Order by impact vs. effort:
In 30 days, executed properly, most restaurants see between 20% and 40% sales growth on Rappi. Not magic — measurable.
Common Mistakes That Kill Results
Raising all prices by 30% without warning. Orders drop the first weekend and recovery is slow.
Copying a competitor's promotion without checking your margin. You sell more volume but earn less money.
Ignoring PedidosYa and Uber Eats. Focusing only on Rappi creates dangerous dependence on a single platform.
Not measuring anything. Without data, everything is guesswork.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does it take to see results from these tactics?
The first three tactics — photos, descriptions, combos — typically move sales within 7 to 14 days. Ranking improvement takes longer: between 21 and 45 days, because it depends on accumulating new reviews and conversions.
Does this work for a single-location restaurant?
Yes. Independent restaurants actually have an advantage over chains on Rappi because they can iterate faster. A chain takes weeks to approve a menu change; you can do it tomorrow.
Is it better to be on Rappi only or across all apps?
Across all apps, unless your margin is so thin it cannot support operating more than one channel. Diversification protects against algorithm changes or commission increases.
How much commission does Rappi charge restaurants in 2026?
The standard Rappi commission typically ranges between 18% and 30%, depending on the country, category, and partnership type. There are significant differences between Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. We cover this in detail in our article on Rappi, PedidosYa, and Uber Eats commission fees.
Is AI useful for optimising my Rappi account?
Yes, increasingly so. AI detects patterns in data that the human eye misses: which items pair best with which combos, in which time slots your average order value drops, which photos perform below average. A tool like Growth Delivery App does that analysis automatically.
Conclusion
Selling more on Rappi in 2026 is not about paying more commission or competing on price. It is about treating the app for what it is: a channel with its own algorithm that rewards serious operators.
The 12 tactics in this article are what the restaurants that keep growing while others complain are already doing. They are not secret — they are discipline.
If you want to know which ones to apply first in your specific account, run an AI audit in under five minutes:
👉 [Audit your restaurant for free at Growth Delivery App](https://growthdeliveryapp.com/demo)