BentoBox Online Ordering: How to Use The Square POS Integration

When using our Square POS integration for BentoBox's Online Ordering, payments for orders are processed through your Square account at the time the order is placed, and then the details of each order are sent directly to your POS when it is time to prepare the order (pickup time - current prep time). With order data in your Square POS system, reporting is centralized and your team does not need to actively manage a new platform to fulfill online orders.

Setting Up the Integration in BentoBox

To best use Square POS with BentoBox's Online Ordering, two location settings must be configured in BentoBox: Autopilot, and POS Integration.

• Enable the Square POS Integration:
  Go to SETTINGS > Integrations > Point of Sale > Square > Connect 
  
  
• Enable Autopilot:
  Go to STORE > Online Ordering > Settings > Locations > Click "Manage" for the location you wish to connect > You'll see an option on the right that says "AUTOPILOT" — toggle that "On."

To use a Square POS integration, you must first have an active Square account that can accept payments connected to BentoBox. Click here to learn how to connect your Square account to BentoBox.

Setting Up the Integration in Square POS

Connecting your Square POS allows orders you receive through Online Ordering to automatically appear and print directly through printers setup within your Square POS system. BentoBox does not recommend using a Square POS for Online Ordering without being connected to an impact/thermal printer. For a list of recommended and compatible hardware with a Square POS, click here.

To configure your Square POS to properly accept orders online, follow the steps below:

1. Ensure you have the latest version of the Square POS app from the app store on your iPad.
2. Go to Settings > Printer > Order Tickets within Square and choose to “Print” Order Tickets by following the instructions here.

• Turn on “Auto-Assign ticket numbers.”  
• Turn on printing for  Uncategorized items. 

1. Go to Settings > Orders > Print Orders (still within Square) and turn on “Automatically Print New Orders.”
2. From the BentoBox backend, go to Integrations > Square and disconnect your Square account. Then, re-connect it so that the changes you made in Square reflect within BentoBox. 

Orders will now appear within the “Orders” section of your Square POS as they are received.

For any additional help with configuring your Square POS, follow their entire guide here.

Managing Orders with Square POS

Once activated, orders will now be sent to your Square POS along with the guest’s desired fulfillment time and the prep time for the order set within Online Ordering. Orders will print and move to “Active” once the fulfillment time - prep time = current time. (Ex. An order placed for 5:30pm, with a prep time of 30 minutes at the time of order will print at 5:00pm)

As a reminder, notifications are sent to your guests based on the status of an order within BentoBox. Within the Square POS, you are required to update orders, and eventually mark them as complete. These statuses have no effect on the status of orders in BentoBox. (So, marking an order as complete in Square does not trigger an email to your customer. Your customer receives a “your order is being prepared” and “Your order is ready for pickup” email/SMS alert automatically from BentoBox based on your prep time and their pickup time.)

Square POS uses the following sections to segment online orders:

• Active
• Upcoming
• Completed
• Type
• Source

Active: Orders that are within the timeframe to prepare them, or have been manually accepted on the Square POS.

Upcoming: Orders that are placed for a time in the future.

Completed: All orders that have been manually moved through Square POS’s order workflow

Type: All Online Ordering orders will appear as Pickup.

Source: All Online Ordering orders will appear as the source “BentoBox”

How to Manage Menus when using Square POS

Online Ordering sends order information to your Square POS in a way that is recognized and accepted by Square. Your menus between Online Ordering do not need to match the items, categories, or variants within your Square POS to properly accept and print orders.

All changes to your menu and items in Online Ordering should be made within BentoBox. 

For marking items sold out, follow the instructions here.

Cancelling Orders 

To successfully cancel an order when using Square POS, you must follow these steps:

1. Log into BentoBox from a web browser and go to Online Ordering > All Orders.
2. Click into the order that you want to cancel. 
3. Click “Cancel Order” and confirm the cancellation. This will issue the refund from your Square Account and alert your guest their order was cancelled.
4. If the order was already printed, then return to your Square POS.
5. Locate the order and cancel the order.
6. Ensure the correct team members preparing orders are aware of the cancellation if they have already started preparing the cancelled order.

Are you using Square for Restaurants?