Key takeaways
- Takeout earns most when it fills spare kitchen time in a quiet hour. At your peak it competes with tables.
- Pause takeout for a set time or until tomorrow, or add prep time, in one tap. Diners see it before they order.
- Set deals per order: 0 means takeout at full price, and a limit stops a large order stacking discounts.
- Work out spare capacity before you promote takeout: plates per hour minus what dine-in already uses.
- An $18 order after the deal leaves about $16.21 after FIG's 5% and Stripe's fee. Run your own sum on your dishes.
The short answer
Use takeout to fill spare kitchen time, not to compete with your busiest tables. On FIG you control this with three settings: pause takeout (for a set time or until tomorrow), add prep time so pickup times stay honest, and choose how many deals one order can use. Before you promote takeout, work out how many extra plates your kitchen can make in a quiet hour, and set your limits to that number.
Takeout paid in the app needs your HST number and Stripe payouts. On each order FIG keeps 5% of the food before tax and Stripe's card fee comes off the same payment. This post focuses on keeping it manageable.
Why a rush needs its own plan
A diner who sits down at 6 pm and a diner who orders takeout at 6 pm are both asking the same cooks for food. The seated diner may also order drinks and dessert, and pays you at the counter with no per-order fee to FIG. At a busy time, a takeout order can slow the room you would have filled anyway.
In a quiet hour the opposite holds. The cooks are standing there, the food is prepped and the tables are empty. Takeout lets that capacity earn. The settings below let you aim it at the second case and keep it away from the first.
Know your spare capacity
You do not need software for this. Pick one quiet window and think about it in plates per hour.
- Two cooks. A typical bowl takes about 6 minutes of one cook's time (an example, so time your own).
- One cook can make 60 ÷ 6 = 10 bowls an hour, so two can make 20.
- Dine-in in this window uses about 8 bowls an hour (count your own from receipts).
- Spare capacity: 20 − 8 = 12 bowls an hour.
- Over the 3 hours: about 36 bowls of spare capacity.
Keep a margin. If you plan to use only 8 or 9 of those 12 an hour, a sudden table of six will not sink the kitchen.
Compare that with a daily cap on the deal. If your cap is 15 a day, and some of those are dine-in claims, the takeout share is probably well within your spare capacity. If the cap is 60, check again. How to size a cap.
Tool 1: pause takeout
When the dining room fills, stop new orders in one tap. You can pause for a set time or until tomorrow, and diners see that takeout is paused before they order. Orders already accepted still need to be made, so pause a little earlier than you think you need to.
A good rule: pause when the dining room is more than about two thirds full, or when two or more orders are waiting longer than you promised. Choose your own number and tell the team.
Tool 2: add prep time
Prep time is the honest version of "we are busy". Instead of pausing, add minutes so diners see the real wait before they order. A diner who knows pickup is in 25 minutes will plan for it. A diner who expects 15 and waits 25 will be unhappy, whatever the food is like.
| Situation | Try |
|---|---|
| Quiet hour, kitchen idle | Takeout on, normal prep time |
| Getting busy, still coping | Add 10 minutes of prep time |
| Dining room full, kitchen stretched | Pause takeout for an hour, or until tomorrow |
| Short on one ingredient | Mark that dish sold out for today and leave the rest on |
The numbers here are suggestions to adapt: you know your kitchen best.
Tool 3: deals per order
You choose how many deals one order can use. That setting does two jobs.
- A limit. A low limit stops a large order stacking several discounts. For percentage deals you can also set the most one takeout order can take off, so 20% of a very large order cannot run away.
- 0 deals per order means diners can order takeout at full price, with no deal needed. Otherwise takeout comes with a deal. Full-price takeout can suit your quiet hours too, since you are not giving anything away.
If you allow one $4-off deal per order and cap the deal at 10 takeout orders in the window, the most you can give away to takeout is 10 × $4 = $40. With no limit, one large order could use four deals: $16 from a single pickup. Pick the number that makes the worst case a figure you shrug at.
What an order leaves you
Here is one takeout order, after the deal, as a reminder of the fees. Round example numbers:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Food after the deal | $18.00 |
| HST at 13% | $2.34 |
| The diner pays | $20.34 |
| Stripe: 2.9% of $20.34 + $0.30 | −$0.89 |
| FIG: 5% of $18.00 | −$0.90 |
| You keep from the food | $16.21 |
The HST ($2.34) is paid out to you and is yours to remit. Food cost comes off the $16.21, and the rest goes toward wages, rent and profit. This is general information, not tax advice.
More order sizes, side by side: takeout order math on $12, $20, $40 and $60.
Missed pickups
Diners tap I'm here when they arrive and show a pickup code. An order that is not picked up closes as Not picked up two hours after the pickup time. You can see a diner's missed pickups, which helps you decide how much to cook ahead. For dishes that lose quality while they wait, such as fried food, start cooking when the diner taps I'm here if your pickup time allows. For soups and braises that hold well, cooking ahead is fine.
A short example of a busy Friday
Suppose a restaurant has takeout on during a quiet afternoon, with normal prep time. At 5:15 pm the dining room starts to fill and two takeout orders are already waiting. The manager adds 10 minutes of prep time at once, so new orders show the longer wait. At 5:45 pm the room is nearly full, so the manager pauses takeout until 7:30 pm. The two orders that were accepted are still made. At 7:30 pm takeout comes back on. Nothing was lost: the afternoon was filled, the rush was protected, and every diner who ordered saw an honest pickup time. This is an example, not a rule. Choose your own times from your own receipts.
Tell your team
Before the shift, make sure every person knows who can pause takeout, what number triggers adding prep time, and where the pickup shelf is. A card by the till with those three answers saves arguments. A ten-minute staff plan. Not set up for takeout yet? You need your HST number and Stripe payouts in Settings → Get paid. Setup takes about 15 minutes, and HST registration for small restaurants explains the number.
Questions
Can I stop takeout when my kitchen is busy?
Yes. Pause takeout for a set time or until tomorrow, or add prep time, in one tap. Diners see it before they order.
What does prep time do?
It adds minutes to the pickup time, so diners see an honest wait before they order.
Can I offer takeout without a deal?
Yes. If you set 0 deals per order, diners can order takeout at full price. Otherwise takeout comes with a deal.
How do I stop a big order stacking discounts?
Set how many deals one order can use. For percentage deals you can also set the most one takeout order can take off.
What does a takeout order cost me?
FIG keeps 5% of the food before tax and Stripe's card fee of 2.9% + $0.30 comes off the same payment. The HST is paid out to you and is yours to remit.
What happens if a diner does not pick up?
The order closes as Not picked up two hours after the pickup time. You can see a diner's missed pickups.
What do I need to take takeout orders?
Your HST number and Stripe payouts, both in Settings → Get paid. Dine-in deals need neither.
