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Glossary

Ordering system

What an online ordering system is, and how it differs from ordering through a delivery marketplace.

Updated

Definition

Ordering system: An ordering system is the software a food or retail business uses to take orders ahead of time, on its own site or app, and to get each one to the people who prepare it. It holds the menu or catalog with its options and limits, offers pickup or delivery times, takes payment where the business chooses, and shows staff the orders in the sequence they are due. Unlike a delivery marketplace, a system the business owns keeps the customer and the order history with it and takes no commission from each order.

Where it shows up

Bakeries, restaurants, cafes and caterers use ordering systems for pickup and pre-orders, often alongside the delivery apps. The kitchen side matters as much as the menu: a board or a ticket that shows what to make, and when.

Some point-of-sale and delivery companies sell ordering pages of their own; a custom system is built when the menu's rules or the kitchen's timing do not fit those.

Start with a written plan

Tell us about the business and what you need. We reply with questions, then a written plan that lists the work and its price, and nothing starts until you have read it.