Square Online: How do I make sure pick up times are staggered?

[giz]

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: pick up times

hi,

i'm trying to set up the pick up function as a restaurant  (pop up caterer). i've set the number of orders to 2 every 15 minutes (i'd prefer one order every 10 but hey ho). i've enabled the option for customers to select a time that they prefer but this does not stop more than 2 orders within a 15 minute time slot.

am i doing something wrong or is this a bug?

[tranguyen]

Hi @giz, thank you for reaching out!

This is actually a known feature gap. Currently, the order staggering feature only works with when customer choose "As Soon As Possible" orders. If customers select a time they prefer, the order staggering will not apply.

Our team are working on rolling out this feature and we are hoping to share an update soon. I'll be sure to reach back out once I have an update for you!

[giz]

Ok thanks for letting me know 👍

[tranguyen]

Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you in the meantime, @giz!

[giz]

Is there a date for the upgrade yet?

[tranguyen]

Not at the moment, @giz! I've reached out to the team again and chase for an update, so let me circle back when I have more information.

[giz]

Any news on this?

[Helen]

Hi @giz, Helen here from the Community team stepping for Tra here. No news yet I'm afraid - the Square Online team is still working on this functionality but we don't have a timeline yet for when this will be available for scheduled pick up.

We will update this thread to let you know when this is available. If you haven't already you can also subscribe to Product Updates blog where we share release notes for Square Online updates regularly. 

[Sam_400º]

Glad I stumbled on this thread - as thought it was just my 7pm slots that were broken. 

Think someone dropped a ball here as it's when people pre order that we need the most organised way to manage the business! 

[dapao_takeaway]

just commenting because I'm also wanting this feature and I'd like to know when it's available!

[Sam_400º]

Hey @dapao_takeaway - it’s been confirmed elsewhere that this is all working now, so scheduled collections also mark out a time slot availability as well as ASAP orders 👍

[dapao_takeaway]

Thank you - I'm new and all the posts kind of blend together 🙂  just so worried about everyone wanting pizza at 7pm on my first day!! 
Really appreciate the message 🙂 

[Sam_400º]

I’m a pizza place too (mobile van) so feel free to DM if there’s anything you want to check on the square/pizza relation 👍

[dapao_takeaway]

Thank you!!  I wondered if you were with 400 degrees as a handle 🙂

[giz]

Pickup times are driving me mad, from speaking to someone via email I've finally been told that pickup slots don't actually work using the app and only work alongside online orders through the dashboard. 

How do the other mobile pizza guys handle orders? Do you use the dashboard, the android app or square for restraunts?

All I want to be able to is run 2 tablets, one for a till and the other as a kds.

I want orders limited to 1 every 10 or 15 minutes and I want manual entry of pick up orders to work alongside online orders so that I don't get double booked.

We don't have time to be switching between devices!

[Sam_400º · Accepted solution]

As you say, pick up

slots work when ordered online as ASAP or scheduled. If you go via the app & put in a time

that doesn’t take up a restricted slot. 

@giz although I hate the term, I think here we need to manage expectations. 
At the risk of sounding a little blunt, if you’re unable to manage the time/customer paradox without the level of assistance you’re suggesting are you sure you’re in the right business? 

I can’t pretend I’ve got it all right, but I’ll share how I work (I’m a mobile pizza place, so have quite a mix style of orders). 

I try to encourage all my customers online picking their collection time, in my local regular spot this accounts for 70-100% depending on the time of year. 

For summer where walk ups are common I’ve used different methods, asking people to order online even though their in front of the van (letting the system then advise them of a collection time) or just taking the order & letting them know roughly how long it will be (when it’s going to be 30-45 minutes because of the amount of orders I’ve used both a number calling display system as well as just texting them).

My personal preference is using order tickets, as these follow the order around my (seriously tiny) kitchen & also work as a nice confirmation when collected. However when we’re a bit quieter I just use the restaurants app display to save electricity! For FoH I use a terminal & let that print the order ticket that goes on the rack. I keep the scheduled collections in order, then have any ASAP/walk up orders on the left - so they get done when there is time for them between then scheduled ones. 

[gabtPET]

None of what you have said there really makes any sense. Nor is it helpful. So wondering why you replied without an answer to the original question?

[Graft_Pizza]

Glad to see Square acknowledge this - hope it's fixed ASAP. We've pulled our hair out trying to figure out why ticket times all get triple booked, despite us trying to stagger. Pretty fundamental stuff

[tranguyen]

Hey @Graft_Pizza, thanks for letting us know! 

Our team have actually been able to roll out a feature so that order limitings (2 orders every 15 minutes) would work with scheduled pickup and delivery. If you are seeing more orders within a certain timeframe than what you set out, that could be a bug on our side and we can definitely look into that. 

To look into this, we'd need to check some account-specific settings and example of orders, so It will be best to contact our Support team directly with this information. 

[Dapaotakeaway]

Hi

i think what most of us would like to see is for that 15 minutes to change to 5 minutes - because right now, everyone will arrive at the exact same time instead of staggering the times, which is better to be Covid safe and also to ensure food is hot

[Graft_Pizza]

Hi @tranguyen 

Thanks for getting back to me. Just wanted to let you know, that the new feature you've rolled out is working and it's made a great difference. Much appreciated!

Thanks

Graft Pizza