Cafes
Pre-ordering, loyalty and catering systems for cafes
A cafe makes most of its money in a few short bursts a day, and loses a fair chunk of it to the people who look at the queue at half eight, decide they have not got ten minutes, and walk past.
Pre-orders - 08:15
Collection window 08:00–09:30
An illustration of the kind of screen this builds towards - yours is built around how your cafe actually runs.
The reality
Where the time and money goes in a cafe
The morning queue turns people away
Between eight and nine you are at capacity and the customers you lose are the ones on their way to work - the most regular, highest-frequency trade there is.
Loyalty cards nobody has on them
A cardboard card with seven stamps is at home, in a coat, or in the wash. Half of them never get redeemed, which means half the scheme never does its job.
Catering enquiries come by phone at the worst time
Somebody rings about buffet platters for thirty people while you are mid-service, and it becomes a scribbled note and a callback that may or may not happen.
Celebration cakes need lead time nobody tracks
Orders taken verbally with a date, a flavour and a message on a slip of paper, with no proper record until somebody arrives expecting a cake.
The afternoon is dead and there is no list
Mornings are packed, two till four is empty, and you have no way to reach your regulars to do anything about it.
The approach
How we'd fix it
Pre-ordering is the change most cafes feel fastest. A regular orders their usual on the way in, pays on the phone, and picks it up from the end of the counter without joining the queue. You capture trade you were losing entirely, the order is right because they typed it, and the money is taken before they arrive. It also flattens the peak slightly, because orders start arriving before the rush does.
Loyalty then does the retention work. A digital scheme tied to their phone means no card to lose, redemption actually happens, and you get something a stamp card never gave you - a list of your regulars and how often they come in. That list is what lets you do something about the dead afternoon, and it is what turns a catering or cake order into a message rather than a phone call at half eight in the morning.
What we build
Built for cafes
Skip-the-queue pre-ordering
Order and pay ahead for collection at a chosen time, with a cut-off so the kitchen is never over-committed at peak.
Digital loyalty
Stamps or points on their phone, redeemed automatically, with none of the cards-in-the-wash problem.
Catering and buffet ordering
Platters and packages with proper lead times, minimum spends and delivery options, ordered and paid for online.
Celebration cake orders
Flavour, size, message, collection date and a deposit, all captured in one form with the lead time enforced.
Table service ordering
A QR code on each table so customers order and pay from their seat, which frees staff up at the busiest times.
Offers to your own regulars
A quiet-afternoon deal sent to the people already on your loyalty list, rather than advertised to strangers.
What changes
The difference it makes
- You capture the morning trade that currently walks past the queue
- Loyalty rewards actually get redeemed, so the scheme does its job
- Catering and cake orders arrive as complete orders rather than phone notes
- You can do something about the quiet hours because you have a list
In practice
A worked example: the eight-thirty walk-past
A cafe near a busy stretch of road watched the same thing every weekday morning: people looking in, seeing six deep at the counter, and carrying on walking. Those are not casual customers - they are commuters, the most repeatable trade a cafe can have.
Pre-ordering caught a good share of them. Order and pay on the walk in, pick it up from the end of the counter, no queue. The interesting side effect was on the counter itself: with a portion of the morning orders already placed and paid for, the queue moved faster, which meant fewer people walked past in the first place.
The systems behind it
What this is built from
Everything on this page is put together from the same handful of systems, shaped around how cafes actually work.
Questions
Cafes - the questions I get asked
Will pre-orders overwhelm the kitchen at peak?
Not if there is a cap, which there should be. You set how many orders can be taken per collection slot, so eight-thirty might allow six orders and no more. Once it is full, the next available time is offered. That protects the counter queue rather than competing with it.
How does digital loyalty work without an app to download?
It runs in the browser and can be added to their home screen if they want. They identify themselves with a phone number or a QR code at the counter, stamps accumulate, and rewards apply automatically when they qualify. No card to lose and no app store involved.
Can we take catering and buffet orders online?
Yes, and it is often the most profitable part of a cafe website. Platters and packages with proper lead times, minimum spends, delivery or collection, and payment or a deposit taken up front. It turns a phone call at the worst possible moment into a complete order sitting in the system.
What about cake orders that need notice?
The form enforces the lead time, so nobody can order a two-tier cake for tomorrow. Flavour, size, inscription, dietary requirements, collection date and a deposit all get captured in one go, and the order appears on your production list rather than on a slip of paper by the till.
Is QR table ordering worth it for a small cafe?
It depends on your style of service. If you are counter-service it adds little. If you have table service and staffing is tight at peak, it lets customers order and pay from their seat, which frees somebody up and tends to lift average spend because people order a second coffee they would not have queued for.
Similar businesses I work with
All industries →Restaurants
Tables booked against real capacity, deposits on the parties that hurt when they no-show, and collection orders that pay no commission.
Takeaways
Your own ordering system with no commission, your delivery zones, and the customer list that the apps currently keep from you.
Retail Stores
Sell the range that will not fit on the shelf, let people reserve and collect today, and turn online browsing into footfall.
Run a cafe? Let's have a look at it
Tell me how things work at the moment and I'll come back with a clear, fixed quote - and an honest view on whether it's worth the money. No pressure and no jargon.