Delivery orders that add up at the end of the night

Friday, 9:40pm. The phone by the counter rings for the third time in four minutes. The cashier writes “Sec 62, tower B, 1102, paneer + 2 naan” on the back of a KOT pad, then the next caller says “same as last time” and nobody remembers last time. The kitchen gets a KOT with an address scribbled on it. Raju takes three bags and a fistful of change. At 11:30 the drawer is ₹600 short, Raju says one customer paid on PhonePe, and the delivery charge on two bills was never added. The food was fine. The night does not add up.

Delivery from your own phone line is not a different kitchen. It is the same dishes with three extra questions: where, who takes it, and who has the money. When the till cannot answer those, the answers live on paper and in memory.

What goes wrong with delivery on a dine-in till

• The address is retyped every time. A regular who orders twice a week is a stranger on every call.
• The charge is remembered, not billed. Delivery and packing are added by hand, at the food’s GST rate, or not at all.
• The kitchen reads phone numbers. The address goes on the KOT because there is nowhere else to put it.
• Nobody knows which bag is out. The rider leaves; the order is still “open” like a table that never paid.
• The customer keeps calling back. “Has it left?” “Who is bringing it?” Every call ties up the phone the next order is trying to reach.
• Cash on delivery is a guess. The customer pays by UPI at the door, the bill still says cash, and the drawer and the rider argue at closing.

Delivery as a third order type

On QuickKOT, delivery sits beside Takeaway and Dine in on the POS. The order follows the same kitchen path as any other ticket. What changes is the customer, the charges, the rider and the way it is paid.

Step 1. The customer, by mobile number

The cashier taps Customer and the number pad opens. Each digit narrows the list of saved customers. Tap the regular, and their default address is already on the order. A new number takes a name and an address, a landmark or note for the rider, and a zone. Next time it is one tap.

Step 2. Charges that carry their own GST

The manager sets a flat delivery charge, or a charge per zone, a packing charge, a free-delivery limit, and a minimum order. The GST for delivery and for packing is typed on the delivery settings page, because it is usually not the food rate. The ticket adds them as their own lines. Discounts stay on the food. The bill is right before it is printed.

Step 3. Paid now, or cash on delivery

Paid now records the payment at once, for a customer who has already paid by UPI or at the counter, and sends a paid order to the kitchen. Cash on delivery sends it unpaid; the bill closes when the rider brings the money back.

Step 4. The customer hears from you on WhatsApp

The moment the order is placed, the customer gets an order confirmation on WhatsApp: the restaurant, the order number, the amount, and whether it is paid or cash on delivery. No call back to check that the order went through.

Step 5. The kitchen cooks; the counter dispatches

The KOT says DELIVERY and the order number. No phone numbers on the pass. On the kitchen display, delivery tickets are blue, and a Delivery tab lists only them. When every dish is ready, the counter picks the rider and presses Out for delivery. The bill prints with the address, and a second copy for the rider if the house wants one.

At the same moment the customer gets the second WhatsApp message: the order is on its way, with the rider’s name and mobile number. The customer can call Raju about the gate code instead of calling the restaurant. The phone at the counter stays free for the next order.

Step 6. Delivered, the way it was actually paid

When the rider is back, Delivered closes the order. A cash-on-delivery bill opens the payment screen. If the customer paid UPI at the door, the cashier picks UPI. The bill keeps booked as cash on delivery beside it, so the change is on the record instead of in an argument.

Step 7. The rider’s cash, to the rupee

The riders strip shows who is out, how many drops today, and how much cash each rider holds. Only the cash part of cash-on-delivery bills counts. Raju hands over the cash, the cashier presses Settle cash, and the drawer and the rider agree before anyone goes home.

What the manager reads the next morning

Completed paid orders has a Delivery filter and a chip for each rider. Each delivery bill shows the customer, the address, the rider and the minutes from out to door. The stats say what delivery sold next to dine in and takeaway, by payment mode and by hour, and how each rider did. Customers keeps every address and how often each regular orders, with a button to start their next delivery.

Questions from the counter

Set it up with the tutorial delivery orders. Arrange the dishes first with the menu builder. Plans are on pricing.

Questions: support@quickkot.com.