Table tags & order codes
A tag on the table lets a customer tap their phone and see their own order —
where it is, what's on it, what's left to pay. No app, no sign-in, and nobody has
to flag down a server to ask.
The tag identifies the table, never an order. Tapping it alone shows your
menu and your store — not what the table ordered. Seeing an order takes one
more thing, and it's always something the right customer already has.
How a customer sees their order
There are two ways in, and the page tries them in order.
1. They ordered on their phone. If the customer built their order on your
store page, their own browser remembers it. Tapping the table tag shows it
straight away — nothing to type.
2. They ordered at the counter. Their receipt or bill carries a 4-digit
order code. They tap the tag, type the four digits, and their order appears.
Either way, someone else tapping the same tag sees nothing of theirs. That's the
point: the first way is a memory in the customer's own phone, and the second is
four digits printed on a slip in their hand.
The order code
Every open order gets its own 4-digit code, printed on:
- the customer bill,
- the sales receipt,
- the queue ticket.
When an order closes, its code is retired and goes back in the pool — so
yesterday's code opens nothing, and the codes stay short instead of growing into
something nobody wants to type.
If a customer can't use their code
Codes get smudged, mistyped, or walk off with the wrong person. Open the order in
Orders → the order → New code and hand them the new one.
The old code stops working immediately. If anyone else is still holding the
printed bill, they'll need the new code too.
Issuing a new code also clears the table if it stopped answering (see below).
If a table stops answering
If someone types wrong codes at one table over and over, that table stops
answering for a few minutes. It's there to stop guessing, and it clears by
itself — or immediately, the moment you issue a new code for that table's order.
Setting it up
- Turn it on. Preferences → Storefront → Let customers look up their
order with the code on their bill. It's on by default. - Make a code for each table. Units → the table's QR action → print it,
or show it on screen for a customer to scan. - Put it where people sit. On a stand, inside a menu holder, or stuck under
the table edge — anywhere a phone can reach without moving furniture.
Turning the setting off does two things, not one: the code stops printing,
and the table page stops accepting codes. Customers who ordered on their
own phone can still follow their order.
What the tag can't do
- It can't show what a table ordered to someone who just walks past.
- It can't be used to browse other tables' orders.
- It doesn't need reprinting when orders change — the tag names the table, and
the table doesn't change.