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Payment and printing

Add-on

Self-Service Kiosk is an add-on. See What's included, and what's an add-on.

How customers pay​

The payment screen offers what you've enabled:

MethodWhat the customer does
CashPay at counter. The order is placed; money is taken by a person.
Pay via QR CodeScans a QR code to pay from their phone.
Online PaymentPays by card through your connected gateway.
Offline PaymentYour configured offline method.

Each shows the order total before confirming.

Cash means "pay at counter"​

Worth being clear about, because it changes how you staff the kiosk.

Choosing cash places the order and sends it to the kitchen. The money is collected by a person, at your counter. The kiosk has no cash drawer.

That means:

  • Someone has to be at the counter to take it.
  • The order is already cooking when they pay.
  • If they walk out without paying, the food was made.

Most operations accept that risk — it's small, and the alternative is holding orders until payment, which reintroduces the queue. But decide it deliberately, and if walk-offs become real, take cash off the kiosk and leave card only.

QR and online payment​

Pay via QR Code shows a code to scan — the customer pays from their own phone, and no card hardware is needed at the kiosk at all. It's the cheapest way to take real payment on a self-service screen.

Online Payment runs through your connected gateway, and needs one set up under Settings › Payments. See Payments and payment methods.

The confirmation screen​

After payment:

  • Order Confirmed!
  • Your order number is …
  • Order type, table number where relevant, estimated pickup time, total.
  • Start New Order.

The order number is the whole handover. The customer will hold onto it — or take a photo of it — and use it to collect. Make sure it's large and readable from standing height.

Getting the order to the customer​

The kiosk doesn't print a ticket for the customer. Two things bridge the gap:

  • The order number on screen, which they remember or photograph.
  • The customer order board, which shows what's preparing and what's ready.

The board is the natural pairing for a kiosk — it's what replaces someone calling names across a room. See Customer displays.

Enable token numbers for the order types your kiosk uses. Short numbers, reset daily, are far easier to shout and to read on a board than a full order number. Set them under Settings › Orders › Token Number Settings.

What the kitchen sees​

A kiosk order is an ordinary order. It prints a kitchen ticket, or lands on the kitchen screen, and routes to the right station exactly like anything else. See Kitchen tickets.

One thing worth checking: Default Customer KOT Status under Settings › KOT decides whether orders placed by customers start as Pending or Cooking.

For a kiosk, Cooking is usually right — the customer has paid or is paying, and holding it for human confirmation adds a delay the kiosk was meant to remove. Set it to Pending only if you genuinely want someone to accept each order first.

Receipts​

Where you want a printed receipt, print it at the counter when the customer collects, or when cash is taken. What goes on it is configured under Settings › Receipt — see Receipts and printers.

Most kiosk operations don't print unless asked. It's less paper and one less thing to go wrong unattended.

When something goes wrong​

The kiosk shows the menu but won't take an order. Check the order types enabled for the customer site, and that the branch is open. See Opening hours and shifts.

Payment fails. Check the gateway under Settings › Payments. Until it's fixed, cash-at-counter still works — the kiosk is degraded, not down.

The screen is stuck on a customer's order. Reload the kiosk address. The order, if it was placed, is already safe on the server.

Nothing reaches the kitchen. Check the KOT default status, then the printer or kitchen screen.

Nobody is using it. Not a technical fault. Signage, placement, or the queue habit — see Setting up a kiosk.

Good to know​

  • The kiosk needs a connection. It has no offline queue, unlike the staffed POS — see When the internet drops.
  • Kiosk orders count in every report like any other, and can be separated by order type if you want them broken out. See Custom order types.
  • A customer who enters their details creates a customer record.
  • Check the kiosk during service the way you'd check a printer. Unattended screens fail quietly.

Next​

Kiosks are covered. Next add-on: registering terminals.