Tonic has the capability to allow customers to place orders for a future date. This can be used for catering events, delivery, or even to place an order before dining in.
To enable Future Orders, a store must integrate with our Customer Accounts module that allows them to create accounts and run statistics for customers. Assistance from the Manager on Duty is required before this feature can be enabled or modified.
All Future Orders are created on the Front of House POS terminal, however, in Back Office users can view upcoming orders, see a summary of items and run reports regarding the orders.

Front of House:

If the user has created the order and there is an existing customer account:

They would select the upper left corner where the order name is listed then select the “Customer” button on the left side. Once the new window opens, the user should tap the bottom “Search” button to locate the customer. Then the user can input the search parameters by phone number, name, or customer number. After entering the information, they should select “Search” and when the customer is located they would select “Ok” and then “Save”. Once done, the user will be redirected to the order (note: the user will now be able to see the Customer's name where the order name once was)

If the user has created the order and there is not an existing customer account:

Much like the process for an existing customer, the user should create a QS order, add items, then select the uppermost left corner and then select “Customer.” Once here, the user would fill in the necessary fields to create the customer account: Name (in Tonic), First Name, Last Name and phone number. The user can choose to insert additional information such as the address, DOB, email, FaceBook, and email address. After all necessary information is input, the user would select “Save” and they will automatically be redirected to the order screen.

Once a customer account is linked to the order, the user would select the uppermost left corner to set the future date for the order. At the bottom of the window Tonic will display the following options for the order: “Now”, “Today” (to the right the user can set the time), or “Future” (here the user can input the date and time the order is to be ready). Once the date and time is determined, the user would select the Send button to store the future order in the database.

By placing a future order, users can still close the store each day leading up to the date of the order. It will not affect operations and conveniently the printer will print a receipt with all items that were ordered on the day the future order was placed.

How to pay for a future order?

Once a future order has been placed, the customer may choose to pay the day they place the order, the day of the actual order or anytime in between. To see all upcoming future orders, a user would select the “Future Orders” tab on the main screen and then select the order they are attempting to pay. After the selection, the user will see the normal order screen and they would select the “Pay” option. The customer may pay the future order with any payment type enabled by the store. After the transaction a receipt will print allowing the customer to review details of the order and their payment. On the terminal order screen, there will be a checkmark next to the orders that have been paid already. This allows users ease when shuffling through future orders. Whenever a customer chooses to pay, the steps will be the same.

How to close a Future Order on the Front of House?

If a Future Order has been fulfilled, the order should be closed so that a store can close properly. To do this, a user would select the upperleft corner where the customer's name appears. Once there, on the bottom the user would switch the Future Order date to “Now.” At this point, the Close button will appear and the order can be closed.

Back of House:

To view Future Orders in Back Office, a user would log in and they will see “Future Orders” on the home screen with a calendar that lists upcoming orders. If they desired to see more information about Future Orders they would hover towards “My Orders” and select the “Future Orders” option. This window will display a large calendar with all upcoming orders, and on the left side the orders will be listed.

On the left is a “Summary” option which displays some quick at-a-glance stats about future orders. The number of open orders, servers, and items can all be seen here with counts and totals as well. The “Reports” option allows the user to run 3 reports for Future Orders: Quantity Changes, Sales Summary, and Items Ordered. The user can customize the search parameters and include their own dates and times. The report can either be displayed instantly, emailed, or exported as a CSV file for later viewing.

How can a user edit the minimum deposit percentage?

To edit the deposit required to secure a future order, request assistance from Support. The Manager on Duty has the ability to change the minimum amount required in addition to setting a default prep time for future orders. If a deposit percentage is set to 10%, this means that 10% of the total for the future order must be paid before the order is placed.

Does a user need a specific permission for Future Orders?

At present, as long as the user has the ability to open an order, they can place a future order by following the steps listed above.