Manage your orders with OctoTable, find out how ordering works and how to print your orders automatically! ๐จ๏ธ
How to activate and manage the Pre-order system
This article explains how to activate and manage the pre-order system on OctoTable, allowing your customers to choose and order dishes in advance at the time of booking. โ ๏ธ If you want to include the Pre-order feature in your subscription, you will need to purchase a DigiMenu, Premium or EVO plan in Subscription > Upgrade โ ๏ธ ๐ Configure preorder From the left menu, click on Configuration > Service hours, then create a new service or edit an existing one. Once on the service configuration page, in the Orders section, you can decide whether to: Allow preordering during reservation: by activating this option, customers will be able to order dishes directly during online booking. Require advance payment for the preorder: if you activate this option, the customer will need to pay immediately by credit card (requires Stripe integration). Choose the settings that best suit your service and sales strategy. If you want to ensure a predictable cash flow and reduce no-shows, advance payment is the ideal solution. ๐ค What the customer sees when booking At the time of booking, the customer can decide whether to select one of your available menus and proceed with the pre-order, or select Order later to order directly at the table. ๐ Please note: pre-orders can only be made for same-day bookings, not for subsequent days. If they choose to pre-order, the customer is directed to the digital menu. Here they can: Browse the dishes available for that service Click on Add to order for each desired dish View the cart with the complete order summary Only after confirming they want to proceed with the order will the customer complete the booking by filling in the required fields (name, email, phone, number of guests, any special requests). In this way, the customer manages booking and ordering in a single, smooth and fast experience. ๐ณ Require advance payment for pre-order โ ๏ธ Warning: to make online payment available, you need to configure a Stripe account. Go to Advanced Settings > Deposits/Payments and enter your Stripe account details. In Configuration > Services hours activate the option Require advance payment for pre-order. After choosing the dishes and completing the booking, the customer can access Reservation details. In the Payment section, the customer will have the option to enter credit card details and pay immediately. This way you will receive the money through your Stripe account. If the customer prefers not to pay immediately and wait to pay at the venue, the booking will be registered on your Dashboard with the status Amount due. In this case, you will manage the payment along with the order by accessing Order details from the booking. From here you can manually register the payment once received at the venue and record information about the payment method used. Want to discover how to manage orders on OctoTable? Read this other article Thank you for visiting the OctoTable community! ๐ 00How to allow customers to order at the table via QR Code
In this article, we explain how table orders via QR Code work: your customers will be able to send their order directly from their seat. โ ๏ธ If you want to include the table ordering feature in your subscription, you will need to purchase a Premium or EVO plan in Subscription > Upgrade โ ๏ธ ๐น Prerequisites Before using this feature, make sure you have: Properly configured the seating areas and tables of your restaurant Created at least one Digital Menu Enabled the option โAllow ordering from the table QR codeโ and selected any required โMandatory fields to be filled inโ in: Configuration > Services/Shifts > Pencil icon of the service for which you want to enable table ordering ๐ Please note Mandatory fields must be configured so that, when a customer scans the QR Code of a free table (i.e., with no reservation associated for that time slot and service), they are asked to enter certain information in order to create the reservation. You can choose whether to make the following fields mandatory: Last name First name Email Phone number โ this field is always mandatory, as it allows the system to retrieve the reservation and the order if the customer scans the tableโs QR Code again. ๐น Printing QR Codes Once the configuration is complete, you can proceed to print the QR Codes for each table. Go to: Configuration > Seating Areas/Tables and click Edit next to the room for which you want to print the QR Codes. Click on โPrint QR Codeโ to generate and print all the QR Codes for the tables in the selected room. Alternatively, if you click on Edit next to a single table, you will be able to: Print the tableโs QR Code Simulate a scan from the browser to place a test order (by clicking the dedicated button, you will be redirected to the order-taking page) Scan the QR Code with a mobile device to simulate a test order What happens if a customer scans the QR Code of a table without an associated reservation? If the table has no associated reservations, once the QR Code is scanned the customer will be redirected to the reservation page. From there, they will need to click the button showing the table number, accompanied by the label โ(Free)โ in parentheses. If multiple Menus are available for the seating area and service, the customer can select their preferred Menu before proceeding with the order. They can then start ordering from the Digital Menu, using: the โAdd to the order +โ button to insert a new order the cart icon to view and complete the order By clicking on the cart icon, the customer can: View the summary of the order to be sent Check the history of orders already placed Add or remove the quantity of a dish or a drink If the customer selects a dish or a drink that includes: the option to choose a variant (e.g., Large portion), or the addition of an extra ingredient (e.g., Cheddar sauce), a dedicated screen will be displayed to make the selection. (Click here to learn how to create an extra ingredient or a variant). A configuration window will open, where the customer can: Select the quantity of the dish/drink Choose a variant (if available) Add an extra ingredient (if offered) Enter an optional note Confirm the order Finally, since the reservation has not yet been created for that table/service/time slot, the customer will be redirected to the reservation page, where they will also find the order summary. To confirm, they must: Fill in any mandatory fields required for the reservation Accept the privacy policy Click on Confirm Reservation Once the reservation is confirmed: The table will be assigned to the reservation, which will be linked to the active service at that time, and the order will be received in OctoTable. And it can be managed by following the guidelines in the following article: What happens if a customer already has a reservation and scans the tableโs QR Code? If the customer has already made a reservation, by scanning the tableโs QR Code they will simply need to select their reservation, which will be displayed in the list. Since the same table may be booked in consecutive time slots, the system will display the two closest reservations, allowing the customer to identify and choose the correct one. Once the customer has selected their reservation, the system will request verification via the phone number (which is why this field must always be mandatory) provided at the time of booking. After entering the number and clicking Verification, the customer can proceed with selecting dishes and drinks, exactly as they would for an order without a reservation. Thank you for visiting the OctoTable community! ๐ 00How to place and manage an order for a reservation on Octotable.
On Octotable, waiters can manage orders that come from Google bookings, the reservation page, or manually entered. Letโs see how it works! If you need to manually create a reservation and send the order to the kitchen quickly and easily, just click on the button at the top with the little person icon and the "+" symbol: After having specified the number of people, the dining room, and the table assigned, you can choose whether you enter the customer's details and click Save & Order, or proceed faster directly clicking on Walk-in and Order: The screen to enter the customer's orders to be sent to the kitchen will open automatically. On this page, you will be able to: Click the '+' button next to each dish to add it to the order; you can click multiple times to increase the desired quantity. View in real-time the ordered quantity of each dish. Add or remove the quantity of a dish easily. Send the entire order to the kitchen with one click. Or, send only some dishes and leave others to be sent later. After clicking on Submit all or Submit for each order: You can manage the orders from the dedicated page, accessible from Reservation List > Orders, or via the quick button with the paper airplane icon in the top menu: From this page, you can view the ordered dishes and manage the orders by clicking on each reservation. For now, weโve focused on managing the orders from the waiterโs perspective: To manage orders from the kitchen side, simply click on the corresponding "Kitchen" button. A compact interface will appear, focused on the type of dish ordered and its corresponding quantity. You will also be able to update the order statuses, which will initially appear as "Order sent": By clicking the button again, the dish can be marked as "In preparation": And finally, as "Ready": The waiter will see a specific icon that indicates the presence of an order ready for delivery: Just click on the reservation to access the order details: you can then indicate that all dishes have been delivered by selecting "All delivered", or update the status of individual dishes by clicking on "Ready" next to each item that has actually been served: The management of online reservations follows the same process. From the Dashboard, you can access the orders page simply by clicking on the cart icon next to the reservation: Or, after selecting "Edit", click on "New Order": From the same section, it is also possible to view the orders already placed and their status. The phrase "Unread Order" indicates that the waiter has not yet sent the order: Available Filters in order Management When managing dishes, you can use different filters to quickly find and view the information you need. ๐ Search With the Search filter, you can quickly find dishes ordered by a specific customer by entering their first name or last name. ๐ Date Filter orders by dates. ๐ฝ๏ธ Services Select the services whose orders you want to view. For example, if you select Dinner, only the orders linked to that service will be shown. ๐ต๐ฅก๐ช Booking method / Rooms View only reservations for delivery, only those for takeaway, or those related to specific restaurant rooms. โ Dish Status Filter orders based on dish status: you will only see reservations containing one or more dishes with the selected status. Finally, on OctoTable, you can indicate that the amount has been paid: just go to the order details and select whether the payment was made by credit card or cash. Thank you for consulting our Community! ๐จ๐ปโ๐ณ See you soon ๐ 00Order notes
Does a customer have a special request for a specific dish? With Octotable you can enter Notes for dishes so that the kitchen can satisfy customer requests. To add Order notes go to the customer reservation details: in the Order section, select a product and add the note under the heading Notes of the order a tab will open that will allow you to write a note for that dish. Once you save it, the note will turn green to indicate that a note has been added to a dish. In the Reservations > Orders section you will find the order, by placing your cursor on the green "Order Notes" icon you will be able to view the note attached to that specific dish. Thanks to the EpsonTM-T70II printer, order notes can be printed automatically, read this article to find out more. Thank you for consulting the OctoTable Community! ๐ See you soon! ๐ 00Order dish courses
With OctoTable you can keep track of order courses, read the article to understand how it works! If a customer wants a starter, a first course, a main course, a side dish and a dessert, you must be able to to adjust the flow of each course. With OctoTable it is possible to indicate whether the dish in question should be part of the first, second, third or fourth course. To be able to create this flow, it is necessary to go into Reservation details. To access the reservation details, click on the little green pencil next to the reservation; after opening the tab click on Go to all details. From the Order section, click on the dash situated next to each ordered dish, which will allow you to choose the order in which the dishes will come out. At this point, you just have to select which order you want for each dish and submit the order. In the Reservations > Orders section, you can view the order in which the dishes will be served, with a number displayed next to the status of the selected dish Thank you for consulting the OctoTable Community! ๐ See you soon! ๐ 00
