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How to get your restaurant taking orders online in Trinidad and Tobago

By the 868POS team · 3 October 2026

Customers who can order ahead come back more often, and they don’t wait in your line at lunch. You don’t need a web designer or a delivery app taking a big cut to get started. Here is a practical way to do it.

Step 1: Get your menu right first

Your online menu is your shop window. Before you go live:

• Use clear item names and short descriptions. Say what's in it and what size it is.
• Add photos for your best sellers. Even good phone photos in daylight work.
• Group items the way customers think: breakfast, mains, sides, drinks.
• Set options and extras, like pepper level or adding cheese, so orders arrive complete.

Step 2: Decide how orders are fulfilled

• Pickup is the easiest place to start. The customer orders, you prepare, they collect.
• Dine-in with QR codes lets seated customers order from their phone at the table. It frees up staff at busy times.
• Delivery widens your area, but needs drivers and a delivery fee that covers them.

Step 3: Decide when customers pay

Pay on pickup is the simplest. Paying online first, through WiPay or PayPal, cuts no-shows, especially for large orders. Many restaurants offer both.

Step 4: Get orders to the kitchen without re-typing them

The biggest mistake is taking online orders on a separate tablet and re-entering them into the register. Orders get missed and stock goes wrong. Online orders should arrive on the same system as counter orders and go straight to the kitchen, ideally on a kitchen display screen.

Step 5: Keep customers informed

Customers worry when they don't know where their food is. Let them track the order, and update the status as it's accepted, being prepared, ready and out for delivery. Notifications on their phone cut down on "where is my order?" calls.

Step 6: Tell people

• Put your ordering link in your Instagram and Facebook bio and on your WhatsApp Business profile.
• Print a QR code for the counter, the tables and your takeaway bags.
• Add the link to your Google Business Profile.
• List your restaurant on a local marketplace so new customers find you.

What to watch in the first month

• How long orders take from received to ready, at quiet and busy times
• Items that sell out often, so you can mark them unavailable quickly
• Questions customers keep asking, which usually means the menu needs a clearer description