On and Off button for online orders

[BiancoNero2020]

Could urgently really do with an On/Off button on the actual Epos to turn on and off online orders rather than having to log in to square online. This will allow everybody to control orders coming in. 

[tranguyen]

Hi @BiancoNero2020, that's a great suggestion! We're always looking for ways to improve our features so we will be sure to share this with our Products team for consideration. Let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.

[BiancoNero2020]

That's awesome. It'll help out a great deal. I already like the feature of updating customers on progress times. 

[tranguyen]

Thanks for letting us know 😊!

[VeganShack]

Hi,

We are a fast food place and at the moment if we are really backed up with local deliveries we have to turn off deliveries to help us catch up by logging into the online store. 

A on/off toggle in the Square POS app would be really useful for staff working at locations to be able to use accordingly.

[Sam_400º]

@VeganShack I can't see the post right now but it's been asked before & there have been a couple of surveys in the beta community to try & figure out the best use case. 

Reading between the lines I think it's one that's going to be far more difficult than we'd think as it's having a switch for one system directly inside another. The stuff right now all syncs between the two rather than being the same system.

[tranguyen]

Hi @VeganShack and @Sam_400º, there is an existing thread so I've gone ahead and merged it to help us track request for this particular feature. I'll be sure to follow-up on the thread if I come across any workaround or update as well. 

[VeganShack]

Hi @tranguyen, Yes this is very similar but I meant individual on/off buttons for pick up AND delivery. When we are really busy with deliveries we turn deliveries off but still allow pick up orders to carry on urging customers to click & collect if you get what I mean

[tranguyen]

Thanks for the clarification, @VeganShack!

[BiancoNero2020]

Hi guys,

is there an update on the on/off option? Other online platforms have this feature. 

Also, customers are ordering food when we are closed and expecting a delivery. Why can't it say 'Closed' or have a big warning to say that ,the store is closed are you sure you would like to place an order'

This has happened s few times and quite embarrassing. 

[tranguyen]

Hi @BiancoNero2020, thanks for reaching back out! I don't have an update for this feature right now but I'll be sure to check back when I have more news.

Regarding customers placing orders when you are closed: can you let me know if they are placing delivery orders outside of the opening hours specified or are they placing orders after you have disable the Accept Online Order?

[BiancoNero2020]

Hey Tra, 

the online itself is switched on but the days are allocated as closed. For example, I had a  customer place an order for delivery on Monday expecting it for that evening. He had a confirmation stating that it was the following day. Luckily he accepted this as he was a regular. I gave him a couple of drinks for the inconvenience. I would suggest that if the restaurant online system is selected as closed it should be very clear to the customer. Maybe do not allow ore ordering unless selected? 

[tranguyen]

Thanks for letting me know @BiancoNero2020! From the description, this sounds like an expected behaviour at the moment.

If you have set your delivery & pick up hours to closed on a particular day like Monday, customers will still be able to place orders on those days but their delivery will be scheduled for when the business is open next. They should see this when viewing the menu, in their cart and at checkout as well. I think it'd definitely help to make the messaging clearer so I'll be sure to pass your feedback to the Product team for review. 

Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you!

[BiancoNero2020]

Ideally something like:

'Please note that this store is closed'

There is no reason why stores cannot just be closed with an option to activate a pre order feature if they want one. 

The current set up can be damaging to a business especially in the current climate. We cannot afford to upset customers. 

[tranguyen]

That's really great feedback @BiancoNero2020. It'd definitely be a better experience with clearer messaging so I've passed your suggestion to our team and flagged this thread as well.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you in the meantime.

[BiancoNero2020]

Hey Tran, 

another thing I noticed. If an item is sold out I normally go into the Epos and tick the option that it’s unavailable. The issue is that customers can still order the item online through the square online ordering. I would have thought that if an item is ticked as not available it would automatically take it off the online system. Is this not the case? If not, it should be. Thanks, P 

[tranguyen]

Hi @BiancoNero2020, when you toggle the Available for Purchase Online off, the customer won't be able to place the order successfully. If they have added the item to cart before the option was turn off, they might be able to continue on to checkout but the system will prevent them from placing the order. Instead, they'll see the message below.

[BiancoNero2020]

That’s all well and good but you have to log into the website to do it. Why can’t it be updated directly from the Epos system like the other online ordering systems? The issue is that I’m the one that has to log in all the time even when I’m not on site which is a big inconvenience. Ideally it should be on the Epos so that all members of staff can access the feature. 

Not sure if this makes sense? 

I’ve worked with Epos for many years and I’m happy to assist in any way I can to give the end user the best possible experience. 

[tranguyen]

Hey @BiancoNero2020, I think I might have confused the issue here.

It's right that at the moment, you can only toggle the Accept Order Online off by logging into the Square Online site on your web browser. This will turn off orders for the entire site. 

You also mentioned that you are marking sold out items as unavailable through the app, is that right? There should be an option to do this and this only applies to individual item. When you toggle the Available for Purchase Online off, to confirm, the customer won't be able to place the order for that particular item successfully.

If they have added the specific item to cart before the option was turn off, they might be able to continue on to checkout but the system will prevent them from placing the order. Instead, they'll see the message I included above. 

Would you mind letting me know if the Available for Purchase Online button not working like outlined for you? If so, can you send me an example or a link to an item that has been switch off, I can definitely have a further look on my end here!

[BiancoNero2020]

These are the only options I have. I don’t have any option for taking items off from online ordering. 

 

[tranguyen]

Thanks for sending that on @BiancoNero2020! It looks like you are using the Square for Restaurant app at the moment. The option shown in the screenshot is only to take items off the menu within the app and won't affect its availability online.

To toggle off the Available for Purchase Online, you'd need to do this from the standard Square Point of Sale app.