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FAQs

GoTab Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs for Operators
FAQs for Food Halls
FAQs for Hotels
FAQs for Breweries
FAQs for Restaurants
FAQs for Guests

For Operators

Check out these common questions about GoTab and your business.

GoTab provides a contactless, easy to use system for you and your guests to place, fulfill, and pay for orders. Guests can use their personal devices to order and pay, and our state-of-the-art system makes managing your menu and fulfilling orders simple. We don’t charge the outrageous fees of other third party services, and we let you control your system directly. Try GoTab today and see how we can help you!

No, the GoTab system is designed to be both an integrated or stand-alone service.

No, hardware is not required. We try to use all of your existing receipt printers, tablets, and KDS systems.

GoTab processes the payments and deposits the funds into your account.

There are two main concerns when a location has poor cellular service and/or bad Wifi. First, poor connectivity can impact GoTab’s ability to operate from the restaurant’s perspective. This means GoTab orders may not be processed quickly or GoTab could go offline altogether. The second way connectivity impacts GoTab is from the end users prospective. When a location has bad service, users may be unable to access the GoTab website, obviously limiting their ability to place orders.

If a location is in an area with bad cellular service, and the venue does not have fast or accessible WIFI, we may have to look at alternative solutions.

We are happy to help provide additional marketing materials to educate your guests! Materials include everything from table tents, posters, and stanchions to a-frames and menu inserts. These are available at an additional cost, but we’ve found them to be the most effective way to encourage adaptation.

Yes, guests have the option of paying with their preferred card or digital wallet option.

Orders can be received several ways. Digitally, through a receipt printer, or within your POS system.

Yes, you will have the option to set up scheduled orders. Guests can choose a time and date for their order.

GoTab can create pick tickets, manage drivers, and create delivery routes. Delivery drivers can use their GoTab account for both navigation and SMS communication with your customers.

We’re glad you asked! GoTab has a giant impact:

  • Nearly 60% of customers prefer GoTab when the other option is a line (2019 data)
  • GoTab results in 23% higher customer spend when compared to counter service
  • Yelp reviews average 1/2 star higher for GoTab users (10% higher)
  • GoTab enables unlimited throughput vs. POS (typically 3-5 times more at peak)

GoTab Zones provide the ultimate flexibility. Unlike a typical point of sale system, with zones you can segregate your business to accomplish anything you want. You can set up a Ghost Kitchen, create separate Drop Locations for direct-to-consumer ecommerce sales, or even generate delivery zones for home delivery of restaurant grocery items.

GoTab Order rules allow you to create customized coupons, discounts and fees within your GoTab management dashboard. 

A Coupon — has an expiration date and can be used a certain amount of times; for example, a buy-one, get-one free discount. 

 

Discounts are a percent or dollar amount of an item or check, for example, a staff discount.

A Fee is the inverse of a discount; for example, a delivery fee.

 

You can generate customer-level reports on Coupons, Discounts and Fees, add or remove customers from Coupons Discounts and Fees, or customize based on anything you’d like. 

A GoTag tag is a way to identify each menu item to make it easier for guests to sort or search your menu. For example, vegetarian, vegan, spicy, etc. You can tag items so that chits print in the kitchen, the bar, or anywhere else. You can even identify products to show up via email or digitally versus a KDS. 

A mobile ordering POS allows guests to place food and beverage orders using their smartphones. Currently, guests scan a QR code or tap an NFC chip to retrieve a digital menu. The key difference is that the guest can submit their order from their phone instead of flagging down a server or waiting in an ordering line. With GoTab, the guest can also open a tab because the guests’ credit card is verified before their order. They can continue to browse the menu and reorder against their open tab. An added benefit of GoTab is that servers using our restaurant point of sale system can also add to the open tab. When the guest is ready to depart, they can simply walk out, without flagging down a server to close out their tab.

Handheld POS systems allow hosts, servers and bartenders to take the POS with them as they move about the venue to take orders, make table touches, or communicate with the back-of-house. The GoTab Handheld POS has all of the features of a traditional POS station, just sized to a handheld terminal. Servers can use the GoTab Handheld POS to open tabs, place orders, take credit card/debit card payments, and much more.

GoTab for Food Halls

Many Food Hall merchants can significantly improve their kitchen fulfillment by utilizing a KDS. Instead of handling manual tickets in the kitchen, the Food Hall KDS allows the kitchen to efficiently manage order fulfillment, providing complete transparency and visibility into the timing and accuracy of the orders. With GoTab for Multi-Operator Locations, Food Hall owners and operators can deploy multiple KDSs to as many merchants as they need. Each merchant receives their own KDS that they can customize for their specific offerings.

The typical food hall might implement a QR code at every merchant’s location. Consumers then scan, order and pay separately at each location. With GoTab for Food Halls, consumers get a unified QR ordering experience for all merchants. By scanning a single QR, consumers can access each merchant’s unique menu, order, reorder and pay through a single experience.

Yes. GoTab provides everything you need to accept digital payments at your food hall. Guests who want to place an order from their mobile device can use GoTab’s QR ordering and payment platform. Without having to download an app, guests simply scan a QR code or tap an NFC chip to access the menu of all participating vendors, order and pay. For guests who want to order the traditional way, GoTab offers a mobile POS where servers can place orders,  take digital payments and transact in cash.

Yes. GoTab provides everything you need to accept cash payments at your food hall. Guests who want to place an order from their mobile device can use GoTab’s QR ordering and payment platform. With no app download required, guests simply scan a QR code or tap an NFC chip to access the menu of all participating vendors, order and pay. For guests who want to order the traditional way using cash, GoTab offers a mobile POS where servers can place orders and take cash payments and credit or debit card payments.

Yes. GoTab offers a handheld POS that integrates with our restaurant commerce platform. Merchants at your food hall can use our handheld POS to place orders and take payment. And because our handheld POS integrates seamlessly With GoTab’s seamlessy integrated handheld POS, merchants of Multi-Vendor locations get the flexibility to operate independently. Meanwhile, the parent vendor has the value of speed and efficiency needed to manage revenue sharing, roll-up reporting, house fees and payout holdbacks. 

With GoTab for Food Halls, all vendor menus are available from a single QR code. Each vendor can create their own menus and products to align with their brand. Orders are routed to their respective vendors’ Kitchen Display System (KDS) and/or printer. Vendors can add and customize notices to their individual menus, easing communication with their guests.

Food Hall mobile payments in GoTab work the same as general GoTab mobile payments orders. Guests simply open a tab using their credit or debit card. Guests can easily add to their tab throughout their visit at your food hall. Then, when they’re ready to leave, guests can simply close out their tab and walk out; no need to wait in line or flag down a server. And if they forget to close out their tab, tabs are automatically closed by GoTab at 3am local time.

GoTab for Hotels

Hotels gain numerous benefits when using a Kitchen Display System. With a system like GoTab, guests can place orders from virtually any location that they can place a QR. Whether it’s in a guest room, at the bar, at the poolside, or in a conference room. That makes it all the more important that the kitchen knows where an order is going when it is placed. With the GoTab Kitchen Display System, the order’s destination is automatically associated with its ticket in the system. This will allow the hotel kitchen to expedite orders with the highest level of efficiency and quality.

Yes. GoTab offers a handheld POS that integrates with our restaurant commerce platform. Hotels can use our handheld POS to place orders and take payment. And because our handheld POS integrates seamlessly with GoTab’s solutions for hotels, your guests get the flexibility to pay directly through their tab or have the charges applied to their room. 

Hotel mobile payments in GoTab work the same as general GoTab mobile payments orders. Guests simply open a tab using their credit or debit card. Guests can easily add to their tab throughout their visit at your hotel. When they’re ready to leave, guests can simply close out their tab and walk out; no need to wait in line or flag down a server. Guests can also choose to have their orders charged back to their room via integration with common Property Management Systems (PMS).

Yes. Guests can open a digital tab at your hotel. When they scan a GoTab QR or tap an NFC, they can associate their debit or credit card with their tab to place orders at your bar, at your restaurant, for in-room dining, or anywhere you would like to provide food and beverage service. Guests can close their tab directly through GoTab, or charge their orders back to their room via integration with your PMS.

GoTab currently integrates with StaynTouch and has a wide range of integrations under way. For an up-to-date list of approved integrations, visit GoTab Integrations or contact your GoTab account manager. 

Hoteliers can use QR ordering to enable guest ordering and payment at virtually any location they would like. Whether poolside, at a rooftop bar, at the lounge or in-room dining, GoTab allows you to quickly create new revenue streams without having to add any new hardware or wiring. Using GoTab segments, hotels can also offer their guests personalized offers and discounts. For example, airline employees with special entitlements can access their benefits via a dedicated QR code. These are just a few examples of how QR ordering for hotels works. Contact us to learn more about how GoTab can help your hotel increase revenue while providing a satisfying guest experience. 

GoTab for Breweries

Yes, brewery mobile tabs work the same in GoTab as our mobile tabs for other venue types. Guest can open a digital tab at your  brewery by simply scanning a GoTab QR or tapping a GoTab NFC. They can associate their debit or credit card with their tab to place orders in your tap-room, on your patio, at an on-property food truck or anywhere else you would like to provide food and beverage service. Guests then close their tab directly through GoTab and can simply walk out without having to stand in line or flag down a server. They never need to download an app and all of their orders and payments are tracked for future retrieval within GoTab. Guests who prefer to start their order with a server can use EasyTab. This unique feature allows your server to dip or swipe a credit or debit card 

A brewery digital tab is an open check that guests can use to place orders for food and beer at a brewery. With systems like GoTab, guests can also place reorders against the existing check. This has the benefit of making it easy for guests to get what they want when they want it. From a brewery perspective, reorders against an existing digital tab or check has the added benefit of reduced transaction fees because the guest is able to  keep the tab open until all orders are placed.  

Yes. However, GoTab does not require an app download on the guests’ phone. Because GoTab is a cloud-based platform, guests can access all the benefits of using GoTab through their web browser.

While it is used in all manner of hospitality establishments today, GoTab was originally created to help breweries run more efficiently. As a result, GoTab has a wealth of features designed specifically to benefit brewery operators. We’ve offered contactless/QR ordering and payment since 2018, long before brewery ordering software providers made the feature available in their systems. In fact, we were built from the ground up to support contactless ordering, which means the feature is built seamlessly into our system. That means that a tab/check a guest opens on their mobile device is accessible via the GoTab all-in-one POS. Guests and servers can share the same tab. Guests who prefer can order, reorder and pay without having to stand in a line, or wait for a server. Guests who prefer to order through a server can come up to a bar or flag down a server. Even better, guests and servers can blend the two experiences depending on their preferences. Other features like order zones (allowing operators to extend ordering to remote outside areas), batch ordering (which allows the kitchen to fulfill orders from the same spot at the same time together), multi-vendor (allowing integrated ordering of 3rd parties while on-venue) make GoTab a perfect solution for breweries looking to increase revenue and reduce costs while giving their guests an improved guest experience.

No. The GoTab system allows all forms of payments, contactless/QR, dip/swipe through our handheld payment terminals, or cash.

The GoTab brewery KDS is built to work seamlessly with our full suite of restaurant commerce platform solutions. Our Kitchen Display System will help you run a lean, profitable operation because it makes it easy for you to optimize both front-of-house and back-of-house operations. Key features in the GoTab brewery KDS includes:

  • Dine-in, online or 3rd party ordering through a single interface
  • Real-time menu updates; 86 menu items from the KDS
  • Screens and printer integration to work the way you want
  • Expo or prep mode to help the kitchen be more efficient
  • Rush and delay orders to optimize ordering timing and communication with guests
  • Batch orders to make food and beverage delivery of orders to your guest tables more efficient
  • Flexible routing to ensure orders are sent to the most efficient fulfillment spot within your venue
  • Two-way text communication with guests
  • In-app support via one-tap in the app
  • No additional cost for operators using the GoTab restaurant commerce platform

One of the most powerful use cases for contactless ordering and payment in a brewery is line busting. While many breweries traditionally require guests to stand in line to order, today’s consumers are far more comfortable ordering on their phones and are also less likely to want to stand in a line. What’s more, by reducing the number of guests who have to stand in line to order, breweries ease the ordering process, leading to higher average checks and more satisfied customers.

Unlike common POS systems for breweries, GoTab offers breweries the tools to easily adapt their service model to whatever they encounter on a shift. For parties and special events, or large, distributed indoor and outdoor spaces, GoTab allows guests to order and pay from their phones without having to download an app. But that’s just the beginning. The GoTab all-in-one POS lets breweries offer traditional service at the bar or through a server, as well as mobile ordering and payment. What makes us unique is that the tab travels with the guest and is accessible by the guest and server simultaneously.

GoTab for Restaurants

Yes. GoTab offers a restaurant POS that can be used in restaurants of any size. Uniquely designed for large, complex restaurant venues, our POS is the first system that places the guest at the center of the experience, not the tech. That means guests get to order, reorder and pay all through their phone without having to download an app. But our system goes a step further to provide all of the most important features of a POS, but the added benefit of interacting seamlessly with mobile orders.

Restaurants gain numerous benefits when using the GoTab Kitchen Display System. With dedicated spots and ordering zones, the GoTab KDS lets the kitchen know the location of every order submitted. That means the kitchen can handle the order in the most efficient way possible, and expedite orders to the front-of-house using the KDS interface. Unlike traditional KDS systems, the GoTab KDS allows the kitchen to communicate directly with the guest via two-way text communication. This dramatically streamlines communication so order questions get resolved quickly and guests have up-to-date information on their orders (when needed). In-app support allows the kitchen to talk directly with a GoTab customer service representative, getting fast answers and resolution to any issues that arise.

No. GoTab does not differentiate restaurant mobile payments from mobile payment at other business types. See our simple and transparent pricing.

GoTab can work with a variety of payment providers. Please contact us to discuss your specific needs.

The GoTab handheld POS works the same as a stationery POS system. Servers using the GoTab handheld POS can 86 items, rush and delay orders, adjust stock levels, process credit card and debit payments and more. And because the handheld POS is sized to be carried easily to any location on venue, your staff get the ultimate flexibility to address guests’ needs in the moment, without having to jot down orders, take notes or adjust orders at a POS station.

We always encourage operators to provide guests multiple options to order. Different guests adopt technology at different timeframes, and some will never accept it. The key is to be able to support every way your guest would like to order and pay. For guests who are open but who simply don’t want the fuss of adding their credit card to an order, you can always offer Easy Tab. Easy Tab, guests can order through a server or bartender who dips/taps their credit or debit card then sends a text message with a link to the open tab. Guests can then reorder from their table by simply scanning a QR. 

The best bar and restaurant POS systems offer mobile ordering and payment as well as traditional ordering through a server. Look for a system that allows guests to open a tab, share the tab with friends, and easily split payments with members of their party – the system should do the math. Ensure that the digital menus provided allow for high quality photography, the ability to tag items for dietary preferences and restrictions and integrated coupons, notices and discounts that allow you to build loyalty with your regulars while offering your new visitors a reason to return.

The digital tab is the most powerful feature a restaurant point of sale system can offer. Digital tabs allow restaurant operators to give their guests complete control over their ordering and payment experience. And because the digital tab travels with the guest, guests get to order what they want, when and where they want it. Two-way text communication is also an important feature as it allows the quickest way to clarify ordering questions and ensure the guest knows what to expect in terms of fulfillment time.

For Guests

Simply scan our QR code using your smartphone’s camera. A notification will automatically display at the top of your screen. Once you click that notification, you will have access to our online menu. You may then select any items from the online menu and our servers will bring your items to you, or you may choose to pick up your order from the restaurant’s designated pickup area.

No. You can locate and pay for your bill by scanning the QR code on gotab.com on your smartphone’s web browser. Upon checkout, you will be given the option of inputting your credit card information to our secure website, or paying through a digital wallet such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, or Google Pay.

The location at which you receive your order may vary depending on the restaurant/bar.

In-Venue: When you scan the QR code on your table and submit an order via GoTab, your server will know which table the order was placed from. Please remain at your table until your order arrives so that our servers can locate you.

Pickup: At some locations you may designate a location to which you would like your order to be delivered. Go to that location to receive your order.

Delivery: When you enter your address and it is authenticated, it will be placed on a route for the restaurant to deliver. They will deliver within the time window you selected.

When you place an order using GoTab, a default tip will automatically be applied to your order. You are always welcome to adjust the tip percentage on the payment information screen, however, some restaurants may require a minimum tip (or service fee).

GoTab requires that confirm your payment information before your items are served to you. If you leave a tab open, the tab will automatically be closed when the venue closes. Therefore, you cannot accidentally leave without closing your tab! Your days of leaving credit cards at the bar are behind you!

GoTab charges a small convenience fee of 25 cents per transaction so that we can continue to provide our customers with excellent service – there is no additional cost to use GoTab!

In compliance with national, state, and local liquor laws, our servers will not serve alcohol to underage guests. If ordering alcoholic beverages, please be prepared to show your server a valid ID. Underage guests are still welcome to place orders for food or non-alcoholic beverages through GoTab!

Security and user trust are our top priorities. Your card information is encrypted, stored, and protected via our third-party payment processor Stripe (https://stripe.com). If you have any questions about security or account protection, please contact [email protected]

Contact the restaurant where you placed your order and inform them of the error. They will review the issue and issue a refund if applicable.

This fee depends on your distance from the restaurant and the order autograt rate.

No, this is not an option as of now.

Collection of devices with GoTab software on screen.

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