Add-ons: offer, modifier, or separate product?

Tillable gives you three ways to sell "something with something else" — a modifier group, an offer, or a separate product. Picking the wrong one makes staff ring things awkwardly and makes your reports harder to read. This article routes you to the right one.

The quick decision

• An optional add-on or change attached to one product → use a modifier group. Example: "Add a side +£2" or "No onions" on a burger.
• A packaged deal sold as one thing at one price → use an offer. A set menu covers "Burger + Side + Drink" where the customer chooses each part; a single item offer covers "3 pints for £12", where they buy several of the same product.
• A percentage off across a whole category ("any two pizzas, the cheaper one half price") → also an offer, of the deal across a category kind. It's a rule, not a price: the till and online ordering apply it by themselves.
• A reward for spending or buying something else ("spend £10, get the fries free", "buy a draught, get a shot free") → an offer of the Buy this, get that kind; one price for everything in a category ("£3 on any drink") → an offer of the Set price kind. Both are rules staff ring up from the till's offers button when the guest qualifies.
• An item staff ring on its own, independent of anything else → use a separate product. Example: a Side of fries sold by itself.

"Upsell a side" — the same goal, three ways

Say you want to offer a side alongside a burger. Here's how each option plays out.

A — Modifier on the burger ("Add a side +£2")

Add a modifier group to the burger with options like "No side (+£0)" and "Fries (+£2)". Staff ring the burger, the side is one tap, and the £2 adds to the burger's line live. Best when the side is optional and always bought with the burger. See Modifiers and options.

B — Offer ("Burger + Side combo")

Build a set menu offer with a base price and a choice section for the side ("choose your side"). It sells and reports as one deal. Best when you want a fixed meal deal at a set price that you market as a combo.

If the deal is several of the same product ("2 for £6.50"), build a single item offer instead — that kind can apply itself when staff ring the items separately, with no extra taps. You pick which kind you're building when you click New offer. See Price a single item offer automatically in Offers and meal deals. If the product is sold in sizes, an offer can price each size on its own — "3 pints for £12 and 3 halves for £7" is one offer, and the sizes you leave out keep their normal price.

A deal across different products ("a burger and a pint for £14") is a multi item offer. Staff apply it from the offers button, and at venues where automatic combos are switched on it can price itself too. See Price a combo automatically in Offers and meal deals.

If a menu sells the product cheaper than your offer assumes, the till leaves an automatic offer out rather than charge more than the items cost separately. The switch for that is at the top of Items → Offers.

Either kind of offer can be time-boxed to part of the day — a happy hour, a lunch deal — from its When can guests get it? step. A modifier can't be: if the upsell only runs at certain times, that's a reason to build it as an offer rather than a modifier.

C — Separate Side product

Create a standalone "Side of fries" product. Staff ring it as its own line whenever a customer wants one. Best when the side is genuinely independent — sold on its own as often as alongside a burger. See Create a product.

How each one reports

This is often the deciding factor:

• Modifier — the option reports under the parent product's line. Your "Fries +£2" upsell shows as part of burger sales, not as its own line.
• Offer — reports as the deal, as one thing, keeping your combo counts clean even though it's made of several components.
• Separate product — reports on its own line, so you can see exactly how many sides you sold standalone.

If you need to know how many sides you sold in their own right, a separate product (or an offer slot) gives you that; a modifier folds them into the parent.

When NOT to use each

• Don't use an offer for a single optional extra — a meal deal is overkill for "add fries". A modifier is simpler and rings faster.
• Don't use a modifier when you want the thing to count and price as its own deal — that's what an offer is for.
• Don't use a separate product for a change that only makes sense on one item (like "no onions") — that belongs as a modifier on that item.

What's next

• Modifiers and options — build optional add-ons and preferences.
• Offers and meal deals — package a fixed combo.
• Create a product — add a standalone item.