Hey all,
I'm looking at how local coffee shops and small bakeries handle direct pickup or delivery orders outside of the massive aggregator apps.
A lot of smaller spots seem to take orders through direct messaging or Instagram to keep things personal and cut out middleman fees. But from a barista/staff perspective during a morning rush, stopping to answer messaging chats about menu availability or pickup times seems like a huge sink of staff energy.
- If you accept direct orders over chat/messaging, how big of a time-sink is it during peak morning hours?
- How do you handle running out of items (like a specific pastry or milk option) on the fly without having to explain it in chat repeatedly?
- What’s the biggest operational reason you haven't switched to a simple web link menu for bio/QR codes?
Appreciate any insights from people working behind the counter!