Sell direct
An order placed through a platform costs a commission; the same order placed direct does not. The direct channel still has to exist and be findable.
What gets worked on: ordering site, ordering by messaging, local search, Google listing
Solutions for a dark kitchen & caterer
Take orders wherever they come from, and sell direct whenever you can.
A kitchen with no dining room lives on its channels: platforms, website, messaging, phone. Each has its own screen, its own lead time and its own commission — and one kitchen behind them all.
The problem to solveOrders arriving from several channels at once, each with its own screen and lead time, for a single kitchen — and a commission on those that come through the platforms.
On the visibility sideThe direct ordering site, and its product pages
Point of saleLightspeed Restaurant
Understanding the trade
How a dark kitchen & catering business works
Six moments, and yours is not your neighbour's: that is what decides the software and the hardware.
- Order receivedPlatform, website, messaging or phone
- AcceptanceA stated lead time, which commits the kitchen
- ProductionOne kitchen, whatever channel it came from
- Packing and checkingWhat goes out must match what was ordered
- HandoverTo the courier, or to the customer collecting
- The customer's returnDirect next time, or not at all
The three challenges
Attract, turn over, follow up
Three questions, in this order: you cannot turn over what never came in.
Hold production together
Several channels, one kitchen: it is how the orders are brought together that decides whether the lead time holds.
What gets set up: channel intake, production screen or printer, stated lead times
Track by channel
Volume says nothing until you know what each channel actually leaves you.
What you read: orders by channel, what sells direct, what goes out in commission
The Projexo answer
What we put in place
Two areas of expertise and their coordination: to take together or separately.
Being found, presenting, receiving enquiries
- The direct ordering site, and its product pages
- Local SEO and the Google Business Profile
- Ordering by messaging, WhatsApp bot included
- Social media and local advertising
- Confirmation and follow-up automations
Software, hardware and organisation
- Lightspeed Restaurant — order intake, channel by channel
- The production screen or printer in the kitchen
- Stated lead times, and what they commit you to
- Direct sales, alongside the platforms
- Installation, menu setup, training
Both, on a single schedule
Digital creates the direct channel. Lightspeed Restaurant holds production together behind it, whatever the channel.
Projexo 360 for this tradeEach solution remains available separately: Projexo Digital alone, Projexo POS alone, or both coordinated. The 360 is a choice, never a condition.
Indicative configuration
A starting point, not a shopping list
What we often find in this trade: the audit will say what applies to you.
Software
Lightspeed Restaurant
Connecting delivery platforms is checked one by one during the audit: what connects depends on each platform and on your contract with it.
Generally useful hardware
- Touchscreen POS or iPad
- Production screen or kitchen printer
- Receipt printer
- Payment terminal, for collection on site
Projexo services
- Audit of the ordering channels and their lead times
- Setting up the menu and production destinations
- Setting up direct ordering
- Training the production team
Options to consider
- WhatsApp ordering bot
- Direct ordering site
- Additional kitchen screen
- Photo shoot of the products
- Automated customer follow-ups
This configuration is indicative. The audit determines what is useful, what can be kept and what should be set aside — and it precedes any costed proposal.
Let's build the solution around the way you work.
We start by understanding your workflows before recommending digital, software and hardware.