Pre-Orders And Pickup
Let customers pre-order and pick up on their own time
Bite2Byte lets Australian restaurants take pre-orders for pickup, so customers choose a time slot in advance instead of walking in and waiting. Orders reach the kitchen against those chosen slots as a paced queue rather than all at once. Pickup and scheduled pre-orders are live today; native courier delivery is upcoming and arrives with the platform's public launch.
The short answer
- Customers can schedule a pickup time slot ahead of ordering, rather than ordering on arrival.
- Pre-orders reach the kitchen as a paced queue, tied to the slot the customer chose.
- Pickup and scheduled pre-orders are available now on the restaurant's branded app and website.
- Native courier delivery is not yet live; it is upcoming with the platform's public launch.
- Guest checkout means a customer can place a pre-order without creating an account first.
How pre-orders work
A customer ordering through the branded app or website can choose to order for now or pick a future time slot instead. That time slot is attached to the order, so the kitchen knows not just what was ordered but when it needs to be ready, rather than treating every order as needed immediately.
This suits the way a lot of ordering actually happens: someone planning lunch before a meeting, a family ordering dinner ahead of picking the kids up, or an office ordering a round for a set time. The order and the payment are both done in advance, through the restaurant's own Stripe account, and the customer simply arrives to collect.
Why a paced queue matters for the kitchen
Spacing orders against time slots changes how a kitchen experiences a busy period.
No simultaneous flood
Pre-orders are scheduled against time slots instead of all landing on the kitchen printer at once.
Staff can plan prep
Seeing what's coming and when makes it easier to time prep against actual demand, not guesswork.
Visible on the live orders dashboard
Scheduled and order-now pickups both appear on the live orders dashboard staff already watch during service.
A clear collection time
The customer knows when to arrive and the kitchen knows when the order is due, instead of both sides guessing at a wait.
Works alongside same-day orders
Scheduled pre-orders and order-now pickups run through the one queue, not two separate systems.
From order to pickup
The path from placing a pre-order to collecting it stays simple for the customer.
- 1
Customer selects a time slot and pays
At checkout, the customer picks a pickup time and pays through the restaurant's own Stripe account.
- 2
Kitchen preps against the paced queue
The order appears in the live orders dashboard against its scheduled time, so staff can prep accordingly.
- 3
Customer collects the order
The customer arrives at the chosen time to collect an order that's ready, rather than waiting on one placed on arrival.
Delivery: what's live today and what's coming
Pickup ordering and scheduled pre-orders are live today, running through the restaurant's own branded app and website. A customer can order ahead, choose a pickup slot, pay directly and collect in person, all without the restaurant needing a separate delivery arrangement.
Native courier delivery, meaning instant delivery quotes, dispatch and live tracking, is not available yet. It is being built into the platform and arrives with Bite2Byte's public launch, inside the same branded app restaurants are already using for pickup and pre-orders.
Questions, answered
- Can customers order ahead for a specific pickup time?
- Yes. At checkout, a customer can choose a future pickup time slot instead of ordering for immediate collection, and the order is scheduled to reach the kitchen queue for that chosen slot. This lets a customer plan a pickup around their own day, such as ordering lunch in advance for collection on a break.
- Does Bite2Byte offer delivery yet?
- Not yet. Native courier delivery, including instant quotes, dispatch and live tracking, is being built into the platform and is coming with its public launch, but it is not available today. What is live right now is pickup ordering and scheduled pre-orders, both running through the restaurant's own branded app and website.
- How does the kitchen avoid being overwhelmed by pre-orders?
- Pre-orders reach the live orders dashboard as a paced queue against their chosen slots, rather than dropping on the kitchen all at once. Staff can see what is coming and when, which makes it easier to plan prep around a steady, visible flow of orders instead of reacting to sudden bursts.
- Do customers need an account to place a pre-order?
- No. Guest checkout on web covers pre-orders too, so a customer can pick a slot, pay through the restaurant's own Stripe account and get a receipt without an account. Anyone who wants their past orders and loyalty points saved can still choose to sign in.
- Will delivery be part of the same app when it launches?
- Yes. Native delivery is being built into the Bite2Byte platform itself and arrives with the public launch, in the same branded app rather than a second one. Until then, pickup and scheduled pre-orders are what restaurants can run today, and they carry on working once delivery lands.
Get pickup and pre-orders running
Book a demo to see how a paced order queue keeps the kitchen calm during a lunch or dinner rush.
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