Feature Request: Add an "Overnight" prep time

[spinningjchicag]

The short version: Add an "Overnight" option to the prep time drop-down. With this prep time selected, any order placed by close of business today would be available for pickup when business opens tomorrow.

Background:

I recently moved my cafe & bakery site to Square Online. For the most part, this is working out well -- but I can't get the prep time feature to behave the way I want it to. We have overnight staff in the kitchen, baking bread, pies, etc. If a customer places a pickup order by close of business, our overnight staff can have it ready the next morning when the cafe opens. None of the prep-time options currently available gives me this timing.

An alternative solution, which I've seen recommended in the Seller Community, would be to create a "production hours" schedule that's separate from open-to-the-public business hours, along with freely configurable prep times. This would be a bit more complicated to set up, but would also provide greater flexibility.

[tranguyen]

Hi @spinningjchicag, thank you for sharing this. It's a great suggestion and I'll be sure to flag that to our Product team so we can add more options and flexibility to the prep time. 

Let me know if you have any other question and I'll be happy to help!

[spinningjchicag]

Any word on whether this might become a feature? This would still be super valuable for us.

An alternative that has been mentioned several times is to have the ability to set a production schedule that's separate from the business hours. In the case of our business, we could set a production schedule for our bakery that would reflect the fact that prep time Tuesday evening/night makes it possible for us to provide fresh-baked items for sale on Wednesday morning when we open for business. Having a production schedule independent of business hours is a broadly applicable concept that could help out a lot of businesses.

[PreOrder_Apps]

Just curious - I see what looks like the word Chicago in your username. We're a Chicago based Tech Company and an official Square Partner that helps unique businesses create affordable features for unique situations like this. 

We have the ability to do this in our Mobile Apps easily. They're powered by Square and the most powerful technology of any Square Partner in the world. We're also releasing the first open-source Square Website Platform this week that'll allow businesses to have their very own custom website - all powered by Square, yet easily customizable by Developers (or our Team) to add custom features for each business.

Let me know if you'd be open to having a Mobile App that does this or if you think it absolutely has to be website (ie. online) based (or both)? You can DM me your info and we can chat via phone too.

[spinningjchicag]

@preorderapps - If I understand correctly, you're creating an alternative to Square Online, and you plan to offer both web-based and mobile-app retail presence?

Square Online covers the majority of our online needs, at very little cost. I suspect few of our customers would want a mobile app, and it's easier for us to update and verify a single platform -- the website. I'm intrigued, but we have a small budget for our online presence.

[PreOrder_Apps]

Hi. Correct. Except, we already have the mobile app service - we've been making Apps for Square longer than any Tech Partner. 

And the reason why we're making the website is even though the online site covers most of our Clients needs, it's those extra things that they all want to add and can't. So we're basically creating an open-source website that's similar, but allows features to be added by anyone. It'll be $5/mo. 

And our apps are $25/mo (no contract) and save most businesses about $200 to $500/mo. out the gate because we've already built in most of the things people pay separately for.

And as for updating - all our tech is connected to and pulls from your Square Account, so you wouldn't have to do a thing!

[spinningjchicag]

@PreOrder_Apps - Thanks for the info! We'll give it some thought and reach out when we have time to consider it more seriously.

[PreOrder_Apps]

Sounds good! 

[MichiganFarmsta]

This could be useful for our bakery.  We have 1 hr lead time. A lot of orders come in after close.  (seriously who placed donut orders at 2 am)

We open at 6:30 am but orders cannot be placed until 7:30 am if placed after business close the night before.  If an order is placed during the preceding business day they can be ordered at 6:30 am,