How to require restaurant approval for Catering Orders

Some restaurants may want to accept all Catering Orders automatically into Direct Ordering, no matter their date, time, or size. Others may want a chance to review Catering orders before accepting them to confirm they will have the bandwidth available on the given date to ensure a successful order. We recommend enabling Approval for Catering Orders for the latter type of restaurant. 

How to require restaurant approval for Catering orders

Follow the steps below to set up restaurant approval for Catering Orders:

How Customers & Restaurants experience a Catering Order workflow

Once you've set the Initial Receipt Status to "Pending Approval", the customer and restaurant will experience the workflow as shown below:

• The customer places a Catering Order. Whether for ASAP or Future, their checkout page indicates their order is "Pending Approval".

• The customer receives a confirmation email of their pending order.

TIP: To customize this email and who receives it, go to Settings > in the Communications section, click Confirmation Emails > click Catering > select PENDING > customize the email within. Learn jpw to

Related Article: Customer Email Confirmations

• The restaurant receives a copy of the same email notification above, which is their indication the order requires approval from the backend. 

PRO TIP: If you have a specific Catering team that should receive every email, go to Stores > Select Store > Revenue Centers > Catering Revenue Center > Email Settings > Update the Revenue Center Email Notifications for "Confirmation Emails" to all the members of your Catering team (comma-separated).  Related Article:  Updating Email Recipients at a REVENUE CENTER Level

• In the Direct Ordering Admin Panel, the restaurant reviews the pending Catering order and approves it. Learn how to approve a catering order here.

• Upon approval, the customer receives confirmation that their order was approved:

• To customize this email and who receives it, go to Settings > in the Communications section, click Confirmation Emails > click Catering > select INITIAL > customize the email within. Learn how to customize Customer Email Confirmations here.

  

• Then, on the day of the order, depending on the restaurant's Order Send Time settings, the order will either be sent to the POS automatically by Direct Ordering or manually from your dashboard. 

Related Article:  When will an order be sent to my POS