Ringing up items with options

Lots of items aren't a single fixed thing — a coffee has a size, a burger has add-ons, a pizza has toppings. On the terminal these choices are options (also called modifiers). This article is how staff handle them when ringing up a sale. The portal side — building the option groups and their prices — is covered in the Items articles (Modifiers); here we cover what happens on the device.

When the options sheet appears

When staff tap an item that has options, a sheet opens for that item before it's added to the order. The sheet lists the item's option groups with their choices, a running price at the bottom, and a button to add it. An item with no options is just added straight to the order with no sheet.

An option group that has been set to show on the till is the exception — its choices are buttons in the left-hand column instead of rows in the sheet, and if it is the item's only group there is no sheet at all. See Option buttons in the left-hand column below.

Choosing options

Option groups come in two shapes, and they look different on screen so staff know what's expected:

• Pick one (single-select) — choices show as radio buttons, like a Size group of Small / Medium / Large. Only one can be selected. Where a group like this has a sensible default, one is already selected for staff.
• Pick any (multi-select) — choices show as tick boxes, like Extras where a customer can add several. Staff tick as many as the customer wants, or none.

An option that counts as a product follows that product. When the product is sold out the option is greyed with Sold out and can't be picked (it is never selected for you), and outside the product's hours it isn't shown at all. See Availability.

How the price updates

Some options add to the price (an extra shot, a topping); others don't (a plain size choice). As staff select options, the unit price shown on the sheet updates to include any extras — so the price on the Add to cart button is what that item will actually cost with the choices made. There's nothing to total up by hand.

The step-by-step pop-up (one tab per group)

Some venues set a category, or a single product, to open its options one group at a time instead of as one long list. The pop-up then shows a row of tabs across the top, one for each option group (Mixer, Ice, Garnish, Extras…), in the order the venue chose. Each group has its own colour, so staff learn where things are.

• Big buttons. The group you're on shows its choices as large buttons. A chosen button fills in with its colour and a tick.
• Every group, in order. The pop-up always opens on the first group and takes you through each one in turn — including groups that already have their usual choice selected, so nothing is passed over unseen.
• Pick one, move on. In a pick-one group (a mixer, a size), tapping a choice ticks it and moves you to the next group on its own. Happy with the choice already selected? Tap Next.
• Pick several, then Next. In a pick-any group (garnishes, extras), tap as many as you want, then Next. If the group needs at least a certain number (see Groups with a minimum or maximum), Next waits until enough are picked. On the last group, Next only appears if a group staff must pick from is still unanswered, and takes you back to it.
• Jump around. Tap any tab to go straight back to that group. A finished tab shows a tick and what was picked.
• Skip appears on optional groups — it means "none of these" and the tab reads None. Back steps back one group; on the first group it reads Cancel and closes the pop-up without adding anything.
• Add is ready as soon as every group staff must pick from is answered — optional groups never have to be visited. Until then the button names what is missing, for example Pick Garnish, or Pick 2 more Garnish for a group that needs several.
• The quantity control, the price on the Add to cart button (always at the right-hand edge), the Size tab (shown first, for drinks sold in sizes) and the Note button (the pencil, when notes are on) work just as in the normal pop-up.
• Tapping a line already in the order opens its review page (see Tapping a line in the basket); its Change options button brings this pop-up back with the line's choices filled in. The button then reads Done, and there is no quantity control or Size tab — the size shows under the item name.

Tap outside the pop-up, or the ×, to close it without adding anything.

This only happens on the till, on screens at least as wide as a small tablet, and only once your venue has been switched on for it. Wastage always uses the normal pop-up.

The sheet that slides up from the bottom (everything on one screen)

Some venues set a category, or a single product, to open its options in a sheet that slides up from the bottom of the screen instead of the pop-up. The till behind it stays exactly where it was — nothing shrinks or moves — and the part still showing is dimmed.

• Everything at once. Each option group (Mixer, Ice, Garnish, Extras…) is a block of large buttons, side by side, in the order the venue chose and in the group's own colour. There are no tabs or steps: tap what the customer wants in any order.
• Pick one or several. In a pick-one group (a mixer) a tap swaps the choice; in a pick-any group (garnishes, extras) tap as many as you like, and tap again to take one off. A chosen button fills in with its colour and a tick. Groups with a usual choice start with it selected.
• Must-pick groups stand out. A group staff must pick from is outlined in its colour until something is chosen, and the button at the top right names what is missing, for example Pick Ice. Once everything required is answered it shows the price — tap it to add the item.
• The top line keeps score. The item name, its size, the live price and a one-line list of everything picked so far sit along the top of the sheet.
• Sizes (for drinks sold in sizes) are the first block. Re-opening a line from the order opens the same sheet with its choices filled in and a Save button; the size is greyed out there, as in the normal pop-up.
• Notes: when notes are on, Add note sits at the bottom of the sheet.
• Lots of options? If the groups don't all fit across the screen, swipe the blocks sideways to see the rest. An item with more than six groups opens the normal pop-up instead.
• The sheet adds one of the item. For more, use the + on the line in the order.

Tap Cancel, tap the dimmed part of the screen, or swipe the sheet down to close it without adding anything.

This only happens on the till, on screens at least as wide as a small tablet, and only once your venue has been switched on for it. Wastage always uses the normal pop-up.

The button grid pop-up (every group on one screen)

A venue can also set a category, or a single product, to open its options as a button grid: a wider pop-up with every option group on one screen as rows of coloured buttons. There are no tabs and nothing to step through — for a vodka and tonic with lime, staff tap Tonic, tap Lime and tap Add.

• One colour per group. Each group has a small heading in its colour (MIXER, ICE, GARNISH…) with what it needs beside it: Pick 1, Pick several, Optional, or Required for a group staff must pick from. Required shows in red until something in that group is chosen.
• Tap to choose. A chosen button fills in with its colour and a tick. In a pick-one group, tapping another choice swaps to it; in a pick-any group, tap as many as you like and tap again to take one off.
• Usual choices are already selected, just as in the normal pop-up.
• Small groups share a row so a typical drink fits on one screen. A long list (a dozen mixers) wraps onto a second line. If a product has a lot of groups, the pop-up scrolls; if it has far too many to be useful on one screen, the till opens the normal pop-up instead.
• Add is ready as soon as every group staff must pick from is answered; until then it names what is missing, for example Pick Garnish.
• The quantity control, the price on the Add to cart button, the Size buttons (shown first, for drinks sold in sizes) and the Note button (the pencil, when notes are on) work just as in the normal pop-up.
• Change options on a line's review page (below) opens the same grid with its choices filled in; the button reads Done.

Tap outside the pop-up, or the ×, to close it without adding anything. The same limits apply as for the step-by-step pop-up: till only, screens at least as wide as a small tablet, venue switched on; wastage uses the normal pop-up.

The column sheet (a column for each group)

The last layout a venue can choose is the column sheet. It rises from the bottom of the screen like a tray, almost the full width of the till, with the part of the till still showing dimmed. Each option group is a column of large buttons, left to right in the order the venue chose.

• A coloured heading on every column. The top of each column is a solid band in the group's colour showing its name (MIXER, ICE, GARNISH…), what it needs (Pick 1, Pick several, Optional or Required) and what is picked right now — so staff can read the whole drink off the headings. A white tick means that group is answered; a white Required tag means staff still have to pick from it.
• Tap to choose. A chosen button fills in with its colour and a tick. In a pick-one group, tapping another choice swaps to it; in a pick-any group, tap as many as you like and tap again to take one off. Usual choices start selected, just as in the normal pop-up.
• Long lists get two columns. A group with more than eight choices (a full mixer list) spreads across two columns side by side. If the columns don't all fit across the screen, swipe them sideways; an item with more than eight groups opens the normal pop-up instead.
• The bottom bar keeps score. Along the bottom are the item name, its size and every pick as a coloured tag. A group staff must pick from shows as a dashed red tag (for example Pick Garnish) until it is answered, and the Add button names it too. Once everything required is answered, Add shows the price — tap it to add the item.
• The quantity control, the Size column (shown first, for drinks sold in sizes) and the Note button (the pencil, when notes are on) work just as in the normal pop-up. Change options on a line's review page (below) opens the same sheet with its choices filled in; the button reads Done and the size is greyed out.

Tap Cancel, tap the dimmed part of the screen, or swipe the sheet down to close it without adding anything. The same limits apply as for the other layouts: till only, screens at least as wide as a small tablet, venue switched on; wastage uses the normal pop-up.

The tray under the products (the menu stays in view)

Some venues set a category, or a single product, to open its options in a tray along the bottom of the product area instead of the pop-up. The categories on the left and the order on the right don't move, and the products stay in view above the tray, so you can still see where you are.

• One row per group. Each option group (Mixer, Ice, Garnish, Extras…) is a row: its name in the group's colour on the left, and its options as buttons in the same colour beside it, in the order the venue chose. Tap what the customer wants in any order.
• What each row asks for. Under the group name it says Required, Pick several, Pick 1 or Optional. In a pick-one group a tap swaps the choice; in a pick-several group tap as many as you like, and tap again to take one off. A chosen button fills in with its colour and a tick. Groups with a usual choice start with it selected.
• Must-pick groups. Required shows in red until something is chosen, and the button at the top right names what is missing, for example Pick Ice. Once everything required is answered it shows the price — tap it to add the item.
• The top line keeps score. The item name, its size, the live price and a one-line list of everything picked so far sit along the top of the tray.
• Sizes (for drinks sold in sizes) are the first row. Re-opening a line from the order opens the same tray with its choices filled in and a Save button; the size is greyed out there, as in the normal pop-up.
• Notes: when notes are on, the last row has Add note.
• Lots of options? The tray grows up to leave about one row of products in view; if the groups need more room than that, scroll the tray itself.
• The tray adds one of the item. For more, use the + on the line in the order.

Tap Cancel, press Back, or tap anywhere outside the tray — a product, the order, the categories — to close it without adding anything. That first tap only closes the tray; tap again to do what you meant.

This only happens on the till, on wide screens. On a narrower till, or a custom screen layout without enough room for it under the products, the same items open in the sheet that slides up from the bottom instead. Wastage always uses the normal pop-up. Change options on a line's review page opens the sheet that slides up from the bottom, never the tray.

Drinks sold in sizes

A drink sold in sizes — pint and half, or wine by the measure — does not use an option group for that. Each size has its own price set per product (see Drink sizes), and there are two ways staff pick one on the till.

Sizes in the pop-up

By default, a drink with two or more sizes opens the same pop-up as an item with options, with a Size row shown first — for example Pint £5.60 and Half £3.10, each with its own full price (not an "extra" on top). The drink's usual size is already selected. Pick the size, add any other options, and tap Add to cart — the price on the button is the price of that size with those options.

• A drink sold in only one size has nothing to choose, so it is added straight to the order as before.
• With the pop-up on, the size buttons at the bottom of the screen are hidden — the pop-up does that job, so staff never have two ways to pick the same size.
• This is a per-venue switch on Items → Sizes in the portal. Turned off, the till goes back to size buttons only: press Half, tap the drink, and it is added in that size (or its usual size) with no pop-up, unless the drink also has real options.

If a drink with sizes also has real options (a mixer, a lime), the pop-up shows the Size row above the option groups. With the pop-up switch off, the pop-up still opens for the options and its header shows the size being rung and that size's price.

On a payment terminal (the handheld card machine) there are no size buttons, so the pop-up is the only way to pick a size: a drink with two or more sizes always opens the pop-up with the Size row first, whatever the portal switch says — every sized drink is two taps, choose the size then Add.

If a drink isn't sold in the size you picked

Not every drink comes in every size — plenty of pubs sell a stout by the pint only. If staff press Half pint and then tap a drink that has no half-pint price, the till rings nothing and shows a message naming the sizes that drink is sold in, for example:

Guinness 0.0 doesn't come in Half pint — only Pint. Half pint unselected.

To stop a drink being sold in a size, leave that size's price blank in the price grid — see Drink sizes.

Option buttons in the left-hand column

Some option groups don't open a sheet at all. If the group has only one or two choices, it can be set (in Items → Modifiers) to sit as buttons in the till's left-hand column, just above the size buttons — or in their place on a screen that has none.

They work exactly like the size buttons, so there is nothing new for staff to learn:

1. 1

   Tap the option

   Tap Iced. The button darkens to show it's selected.

2. 2

   Tap the item

   Tap the coffee. An iced coffee goes into the order — no sheet.

3. 3

   The button clears itself

   Iced un-selects, ready for the next drink. Two iced coffees means tapping Iced twice.

Sizes and options stack: tap Half, then Shandy, then the beer, and one tap of the product rings a half shandy.

If the item has other option groups too, the sheet still opens for those — with the button choice already applied and counted in the running price.

To change a choice after it's on the order, edit the line as usual (below) — the edit sheet shows every group, including the one on the buttons.

Products that ask for a price

A tile that reads Set price has no fixed price. Tap it and a keypad opens with the product's name on it: type the amount and press Add. £0.00 isn't allowed, and anything over £100 asks Are you sure? first. Each tap is its own line — tap the line in the basket to change the amount. See Product price and VAT.

Quantity

The sheet has a quantity control (1 and up) so staff can add several of the same item with the same choices in one go — three large lattes, for example — rather than ringing them up one at a time.

Adding it to the order

When the choices are made, staff tap Add to cart (it shows the price) and the item drops onto the order with its options and the right price. The order line shows the item with its chosen options beneath it.

Once the round is sent, the line moves to the Bill tab and keeps its size, options and any note, so staff can check what went to the kitchen without opening the bill.

Groups with a minimum or maximum

Once Modifier flows is on for your venue, a group that allows several choices can be set to At least and At most a number of picks (see Modifiers and options). On the till:

• It says what it needs. Beside the group name you see, for example, Pick 1–3, Pick up to 2 or Pick at least 2. In the normal pop-up it shows in brackets after the group name.
• At most. Once that many are picked, the group's other options grey out and can't be turned on. Untick one to choose a different one. If the usual choices already go over the limit, they stay ticked — the group just can't take any more.
• At least. Until enough are picked, the Add button says what is missing — Pick Garnish for one more, Pick 2 more Garnish for more — and in the step-by-step pop-up Next waits on that group. A minimum higher than the number of options in the group only asks for all of them.
• Lines already in the basket are never stuck. Opening a line that has fewer picks than the minimum (rung before the limit was set, for example) never stops you saving its quantity, note or course; the minimum only applies again if you change that line's choices.
• This works in every layout above and the normal pop-up, on the till only. Wastage, the card machine, table ordering and online ordering carry on as before.

Tapping a line in the basket (the review page)

When an item uses one of the layouts above (step-by-step, slide-up sheet, button grid, column sheet or the tray), tapping its line in the basket opens a short review page rather than every question again:

• What's in it — the choices on the line, one row per group ("Mixer · Tonic", "Garnish · Lime, Mint"), or "No options".
• Change options — opens the item's layout with the line's choices filled in. Tap Done to bring the new choices back to the review page, or close it to keep the old ones.
• All 3 / Just one — on a line with more than one of the item, choose whether your change is for the whole line or just one of them (that one moves to its own line).
• Course — when your venue uses courses, tap the course the line goes in.
• Note — when notes are on for the basket, type a note for the kitchen.
• Quantity — the minus and plus at the bottom (whole line only).

Nothing changes on the order until you tap Save. Cancel, the ×, or a tap anywhere outside the page closes it without changing anything. If a group is set to "Staff must pick" or has an At least, the review page only insists on it when you changed the choices — a line rung up without enough can still have its quantity, note or course changed.

Items that use the normal pop-up, wastage, and screens narrower than a small tablet keep the normal pop-up when you tap a line.

Editing or removing a choice

Made a mistake, or the customer changed their mind?

• Change the options — re-open the item on the order to bring the sheet back with the current choices shown; adjust them and Save. When several of the same item were added together, you can edit them as a group or a single one. For an item that uses one of the new layouts, tapping the line opens its review page instead (above).
• Change the quantity — use the line's plus and minus buttons on the order. If your till is set to the compact order list (a shorter row per item, so a big round fits on screen), those buttons aren't on the line — tap the line to open it and change the quantity there instead. Which list you get is a setting: ask us, or pick it yourself in the mode builder if you design your own till screens (see Counter sale walkthrough).
• Remove the item — take the line off the order. On the compact list that's the × at the end of the line. If the order is an unpaid tab and the item was already sent to the kitchen, removing it is a void — see Void a line before payment — and you should tell the kitchen separately.

Notes for the kitchen

Options cover the choices you built into the item. A note covers everything else — "no nuts", "well done", "birthday, bring a candle". It is free text that goes to the kitchen with that line.

The Note box only appears if someone has switched it on for the mode the device is running. In the portal that's Modes → (your mode) → Both devices → Item options → Item notes, and under it, Where staff add a note:

• When the item is added — the box appears in the options pop-up as you ring the item up.
• Tapping the line in the basket — the box appears when you tap a line that is already in the basket.
• Both — both of the above. This is the setting a new mode starts on.

On the till, "when the item is added" only works for items that open the options pop-up in the first place — ones with choices or sizes. A plain item goes straight into the basket with nothing to type into. Tapping the line in the basket works for every item, so if you want staff to be able to note anything on the menu, that's the one to have on.

Adding a note

1. Tap the line in the basket (or ring the item up, if you're on "when the item is added").
2. Scroll to Note at the bottom of the pop-up, under the options.
3. Type the instruction and tap Save. It shows under the line in the basket, in quotes.

Notes are capped at 200 characters — a counter appears as you get close.

On the card machine

The card machine has the same Note box, in the same item pop-up, honouring the same Where staff add a note setting: tap a line in the basket while you're reviewing the order and the box is there under the options.

One thing worth knowing if you have been using notes on a card machine already: until this release the note was saved on the device and shown back to you under the line, but it never reached the kitchen — not the kitchen screen, not the ticket, not the order record. That is fixed. If your staff have been typing notes on a card machine and wondering why the kitchen never saw them, that is why, and they will come through from now on.

What to expect

• A note splits the line. Ring three burgers, note one of them, and you get two rows: two plain, one with the note. That's deliberate — it's the only way the kitchen is told which burger the instruction is for. Two items with the same note stay on one line together.
• The note reaches the kitchen screen and the kitchen ticket. It is not printed on the customer's receipt.
• Send it before you edit it. Once a round has gone to the kitchen you can't change its note — void the line and ring it again, and tell the kitchen.
• A note doesn't change the price, and it doesn't stop an item joining an automatic offer.

Moving an item to another course

If you run courses (Service flows), the item pop-up also lets you move a line to a different one — for when somebody wants a main as a starter, or a pudding brought out with the mains.

1. Tap the line in the basket.
2. Pick a course from the Course row at the top of the pop-up. Now means uncoursed — it goes to the kitchen straight away, which is where drinks and nibbles sit.
3. Tap Save.

The line immediately moves under its new heading in the basket, and the kitchen sees the change too: each course becomes its own ticket, so a dish moved to mains is held with the mains instead of firing with the starters, and the course badge on the kitchen screen updates with it.

Some things worth knowing:

• Moving one of several. If a line has more than one of the same dish, open it and use the Item # tabs to pick just one before choosing the course — that peels the single dish onto its own line in the new course and leaves the rest where they were.
• Lines merge when they match. Move a prawn cocktail into mains where an identical prawn cocktail already sits, and they become one line of two. If anything differs — a modifier, a note — they stay separate, because the kitchen needs to see them as two different dishes.
• Send it before you move it. As with notes, once a course has gone to the kitchen you can't re-course it from here — void the line and ring it again, and tell the kitchen.
• Deals move together. A meal deal's items always share one course, so moving one moves the whole deal.
• You can still long-press a line in the basket to get the same picker — that shortcut hasn't gone anywhere.

If you don't see a Course row, courses aren't switched on for this venue. That's Service flows plus table service — ask whoever set the system up.

Ringing an offer — one step at a time

Tap an offer on the Offers tab and the till asks for what goes in it one screen at a time. A 2-for-1 on draught asks for the first draught, then the second; a burger deal asks for the burger, then the drink. A strip across the top shows every step and what you've picked so far — tap any step to go back to it. Back and Next move between steps, and Add puts the whole offer on the order once every step is answered.

• Nothing is ticked for you. Each step starts empty, so an offer can't go through on a drink nobody chose. A step with only one possible item (the fries that come with a meal) is filled in for you and skipped.
• Picking an item moves you on. If the item has options, the step waits so you can add them, then tap Next.
• Options are optional inside an offer. Shandy or a top on a pint, extras on a burger — they show under the item you picked, marked (optional). Tap one to add it and tap it again to take it off. Leave them alone and the item goes through plain.
• Long lists open on their categories. When an offer covers more than 12 items from more than one category — "any drink £3", say — the step shows the categories first (Bottled beer, Spirits, Soft drinks…). Tap one to see just its items, or All categories to go back. Shorter lists show every item straight away, under their category names.

This is how the till asks. On the card machine, offers still open as a single list.

Opening a deal in the basket

Tapping a deal or set menu in the basket opens it. What you get depends on how the deal got there.

A deal you added yourself opens the same chooser you used to add it, with your picks already selected — so if someone wants the wrap instead of the burger, change it and tap Save. The deal stays one deal: it keeps its place in the basket and its course, and your reports still count it as one deal sold, not two.

An offer the till applied by itself — a "2 for £6" it spotted, say — opens a short summary of what's in it instead, with Remove one and Remove offer. You can't change its contents, and that's deliberate: the till re-checks automatic offers every time the basket changes, so any swap you made would be undone by your next tap. If it grabbed something you didn't mean, take it out here.

An offer that lets you pick from a category — "any drink £3", a free shot with a drink — can't be reopened: tapping it tells you so. To change what's in it, remove it from the order and add it again from the Offers tab.

A couple of notes:

• "Remove one" takes out one of the offer — not one item from inside it. On a "2 for £6" that leaves a single drink at its normal price. On a burger-and-a-pint deal it removes the whole pairing, because a deal missing half of itself isn't a deal.
• It only appears when there's more than one to remove. With a single one left, "Remove one" and "Remove offer" would do the same thing.
• A deal always sits in one course, so moving it moves all of it.

A note on automatic offers

One thing options change about multibuy offers: an offer set to apply automatically (see the counter sale walkthrough) only groups plain rings of its item. A drink rung with an option, in a specific size, or with anything else chosen stays a normal line and never folds into the deal — the offer price was set for the plain item, so a customised one keeps its own price.

What's next

• Using the till — a staff walkthrough — the wider order flow.
• Modifiers — building option groups and their prices in the portal.
• Taking payment on the till — settling the order once it's built.