Send Order-Ready Texts with Square for Restaurants

Text your customers when their order is ready with Square for Restaurants. You can capture a customer’s phone number at your Restaurants POS and text them when their meal is ready using the KDS.

If you text your customers about their order status, you can:

• Offer a relaxed dining experience because your customer will not miss their order

• Capture a customer’s contact information for future engagement

• Save on staffing costs without using pagers, running food to tables, or printing an order number on a ticket

Note: if you use Square Loyalty the Loyalty Customer profile number will not save the phone number when your customer inputs a phone number for ‘Text when order is ready’. 

Before you get started

You will need:

• An active Square for Restaurants Plus subscription and a Square KDS expeditor device (Square KDS is included in the Square for Restaurants Plus subscription or as a standalone KDS subscription.)

• Check for app updates for the Square for Restaurants app on iPads and ensure your Square Register/Square Terminal software is fully up to date.

Enable KDS Settings

1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and select Devices > Kitchen displays to ensure your KDS device is set as an Expeditor and not Prep. This feature is only supported in expeditor mode.

2. Next, select Order Settings > Select location and turn ON Automatically send order updates.

3. Click Save.

Enable POS Settings

1. Sign in from your Square Dashboard and select Devices > POS devices > Select device.

2. Scroll down to the Order-ready texts section and toggle ON Collect phone number upon tapping pay to always be prompted to collect a guest’s phone number after tapping pay.

3. Click Save.

Add “Notify when ready” tile to POS Item Grid

Create a function tile in the Restaurants app for more flexibility at checkout. This tile will allow you to input a phone number to send order-ready texts. To turn on the Notify Guest tile setting:

1. On your Restaurants POS, navigate to Menus > Edit POS Layout.

2. Create a new tile(+) and select Function > Notify when ready > Add.

3. Tap Save.

If you’re not seeing the new screen to collect a guest’s phone number or the Notify when ready function tile (if created), make sure your app/device is updated to the latest software version.

Note: Employees can access the Notify when ready tile on the POS even if they do not have permission enabled to add a customer to a sale (via Square Loyalty.)

FAQs