How do I set up my restaurant services?

Breakfast, lunch, aperitif, dinner: create the services you need: let's see how!

Click on Configuration > Services/Opening Hours from the left menu and click on +Add

  • Enter a service name.

  • Give the service a title (it will be what the customer see on the booking page) and translate it automatically.

  • Decide whether only one or all booking modes are available for this service. For example, the Lunch service is only available as a Delivery service, whereas the Dinner service is only available in the Lounge. To configure the Takeaway/Delivery service go to [Configuration > Takeaway/Delivery].

  • Choose the menu associated with this service > This way, when the customer sits down at the table and scans the digital menu code (Go to the dashboard to get it!), he will see the dishes on your menu . For example, if you have an aperitif menu different from the dinner menu, you can create two different menus and associate them with the service (aperitif 17:00 - 19:00, dinner 19:00 - 22:00). By doing that, the customer who sits at the table and scans the menu between 5pm and 7pm, will only see the aperitif menu and vice versa. Click here to learn how to create different menus!

  • Discount: apply a discount percentage to the service, this will be shown to the customer on the booking page.

  • Add service images which will be shown to your customers on the booking page. Uploaded images must have a maximum weight of 2 megabytes.

Set the Service availability :

  • Select when it starts and when it ends,  the days of the week, and if you wish indicate which specific period of time is limited to.

  • Limit the number of bookable covers: when enabled, a tab will open allowing you to choose whether to limit the number of tables per time slot or per service. Click HERE to read article.

  • Disable online reservations: If you choose Yes, you will block the possibility of online bookings on your OctoTable booking page, until you re-enable it by setting it to No. Click HERE to find out how to block online availability on your page.

    If you have connected with Google, remember that the information will be taken into account the next day. If you have linked your account with Google, click HERE for more information.

Set the booking settings carefully:

  • Which time show to customers on the booking form.

  • Average meal duration is a crucial information, as it tells the system when a table is available again: for eg. if a customer books a table at 7pm, and I have set the average meal duration to 1 hour, the system will make that table available again at 8pm. If instead I set an average meal duration of 2 hours, the table will be available again 21:00.

  • Close online reservations before service begins: lets you decide when to block the possibility for customers to make an online booking.

  • Receive reservations up to: You can specify how many hours in advance you let customers book. You can specify how many hours in advance you want customers to be able to book. For example, if I set 2 hours before the customer arrives, the customer who books at 18:00 will not be able to book for 19:00, but will have to book the table from 20:00 onwards.

  • Displays the maximum number of days ahead of booking

  • Select the type of confirmation:

    1) Immediate confirmation, the customer receives the booking confirmation immediately
    2) Waiting list, the customer is placed on a waiting list and you have to accept it for confirmation.

    Click here for more information about the waiting list

    Click on the question marks at the top right to find out what to do in each section.

At the bottom of the page you find the section in which you can submit the service to Google. Click here to read more about the connection between Google and OctoTable.

If you also provide delivery and take-away, indicate whether you want to enter a limit of orders per service and per hour

Decide whether to match the service to one or more dining rooms:

👉🏻 Click HERE for more information on how to match a service to a specific dining room.

  • Allow the customer to choose dining room: if you activate this option and have several rooms associated to the service, the customer will be able to read the room description and choose.

  • Let the customer choose seating > allow the customer to choose their table from the digital plan when they book. You can only activate this option if you have the Plan Choice, click here for more information on the functionality) 

  • Enable ordering at the time of booking >  when customers book a table they can also place an order for a specific menu, for e.g. lunch or dinner, or if they wish for both (click here for more information on how to manage online ordering)

  • Request advance payment on orders > putting yes to it, means that the customer must pay the total amount to confirm the booking, otherwise, the status will remain as Awaiting Payment. Activate online payments from Advanced Settings > Deposit/Payments and link with your Paypal account and/or your Stripe account.

Below for reservations click [on] if you want to request a deposit to confirm reservations; if you cannot do this, it means that you haven't got a payment method linked to your account. To do this, go to Advanced settings > Deposits/Payments. Read Article to find out.

To find out about the Credit Card Guarantee option, read this article.

When the service is saved, you can also add service images

which will appear on the booking page in a carousel showing the services you provide:

You can further customise your services by adding a background photo for each specific service: you can add one for the light theme and one for the dark theme:

If you click on the service from the reservation page, the background will change, which will not be the one you set in Configuration > Reservation Page but the one loaded in Service Background section:

Click HERE for more information on how to match a service to a specific room.

Thank you for visiting the OctoTable Community 👨🏻‍🍳

See you soon! 😊