Step 5: Creating Menu Item Add-Ons
After you've added menu items for your online ordering site, you have the option to create add-ons or modifiers for menu items.
What are Menu Item Add-Ons?
Menu items by themselves might suffice for many situations, but most restaurants also need to offer their customers a variety of ways to modify their menu items or specify choices for various options that exist for the menu item.
For example, a hamburger could have an optional (or maybe required) choice of cheese. That choice may or may not have an additional cost. Add-ons allow you to set up these specifications.
Add-ons are stand-alone
It's important to note that when you create an add-on, you aren't creating it for any particular menu item. You're just creating it as a stand-alone add-on. This is because many add-ons are applicable to more than just a single menu item.
For example, maybe you have ten types of sandwiches on your menu, and all of those menu items come with a choice of side. It would be tedious and confusing to create ten different add-ons, all named "Choice of Side" just to get all of your sandwiches looking right. Instead, you create one "Choice of Side" add-on, and then in a separate step, you assign that add-on to all of the menu items that need to use it.
Types of add-ons
Add-ons are available in 3 varieties: options, toppings, and extras.
1. Options
An add-on option is a required choice for customers, who see a drop-down select box associated with a menu item. Customers must choose one of the add-on options in order to place the menu item in their cart.
Each add-on option may or may not have its own price value or upcharge.
Common examples of add-on options are side items like French fries or rice, salad dressings, the type of bread for sandwiches, or the flavor of sauce for wings.
2. Toppings
Topping add-ons are optional choices for customers, and they never have a price. Toppings are displayed as checkboxes, where the customer can select which toppings they want.
You may specify that a topping is preselected for a customer by default, in which case he would need to uncheck that topping if he didn't want it.
3. Extras
Extras are very similar to toppings, except that they almost always have a price. Like toppings, they are optional for customers, displayed as checkboxes, and may be preselected for customers by default.
Common examples of add-on extras are extra cheese on a pizza, or adding bacon to a sandwich or salad.
In your online ordering console, you can create a menu item add-on by selecting "Restaurant Manager" from the main menu, and then selecting "Menu Item Add-Ons" under the "MENU SETTINGS" heading.
Then click the "+ Create New Add-On" button.
Menu Item Add-On Fields and Options
Let's walk through the details you'll need to provide for each add-on.
Below are two examples of add-ons that a customer sees when ordering - Options and Extras:
Display Name
This is the add-on name that a customer will see, such as pepperoni or green pepper (as topping add-ons) or salad dressing (as an add-on option that leads to a list of drop-down options). The display name will also show on the order sheet or receipt sent to the restaurant, so you will often want to keep it simple.
Private Tag
You're able to use the same display name for more than one add-on, so in order for you to distinguish them in your Online Ordering Console, you can add a private tag.
For example, if you've got different Veggie choices for your lunch menu and your main menu, you can add a private tag of "lunch" and "main" to each "Veggie Choice" add-on respectively, so you'll know which is which. The Add-ons might have a different price.
Type
This is where you'd indicate whether the add-on is an option, topping, or extra.
Is Preselected
Choose whether the topping add-ons or extra add-ons are preselected for customers.
Pizza: whole/left/right
If the menu item is a topping for a pizza, you can show this add-on as the "whole", "left" or "right". (Note: This will only apply if the actual Menu Item has been selected as a Pizza item. That stipulation is determined at the menu item level, so if you don't have any items of this kind, then you can simply leave the system default active)
Hide display name on order sheet
If you're creating an option add-on, you can choose to hide the display name on the order sheet or receipt, and only show the option choice that the customer selected.
Example: You might have an option drop-down box called "Pizza Toppings" to allow a customer to add a single topping to your "Large 1-Topping Pizza" Special Menu Item. By default, the Add-on Option display name will always show on the order sheet or receipt like this:
Large 1-Topping Pizza $10.99
Pizza Toppings (Pepperoni)
But, if you Hide the Display Name, then it will show like this:
Large 1-Topping Pizza $10.99
Pepperoni
Price value
If you're creating an extra add-on, you can determine a price for the add-on.
If the extra add-on price is not always the same, as it depends on the menu item you add it to, leave this field blank. Instead, learn about how to add variable prices.
Price value when half
If you're creating an extra add-on, you can determine a price for the add-on if it only appears on half of the order. Such as the Left or Right Half of the Pizza. This will only show if you have the Pizza Menu Item feature enabled. If that is not enabled, you can simply ignore the area for Price value when Half.
Option choices
If you are creating an option add-on, fields will appear where you would list the names for each of the options you have. Choose one of the option choices to appear as the preselected choice by selecting "Is Selected by Default" next to the choice.
You can either assign a price to each option add-on choice or leave the price field blank.
It’s important to remember that because a customer is required to select an option's add-on choices, you might want to provide the customer with the choice of "none". For example, if a customer didn't want dressing on their salad, the choice could be "none" or "no dressing".
You can also see a checkbox that says "Hide on Order Sheet" - that should ONLY be used if you want to offer a customer something like a Combo Add-on option. Since the customer would be required to make a selection, you don't want to force them to purchase a combo. So, the Option Add-on might look like this:
Display Name: Make it a Combo?
Option Choice Names:
Yes, Add Chips & a Drink +$4.99
No, Thank you +$0.00
By default, the order sheet will show you the choice the customer made regardless of a yes or no answer. If you don't want the system to show you anything on the order sheet or receipt, then you would want to do all the following for the Option Add-on
1. Hide Display Name on Order Sheet for the entire Option Add-on (described above)
2. To the right of the Option Choice Name "No, Thank you" click the check box "Hide on order sheet"
This way you can save paper or space on your receipt
Common Mistakes to Avoid
One common mistake that restaurants make when setting up their add-ons is creating the wrong type of add-on for the purpose they are trying to achieve. The most important thing to remember is that only option add-ons can be made a required choice. You can provide a "None" or "No Answer" choice as one of the required options, though, which allows the customer to "opt-out" of that choice.
Another common mistake is that people will create an extra add-on or a topping add-on, and then create a bunch of option choices for the add-on. Option choices are only applicable to option add-ons. Extra add-ons and topping add-ons are single, once-off types of add-ons that have one name, one price (for extras) and are displayed as checkboxes.
That's it! The next step is to assign the add-ons to your menu items.