Managing Orders in Virtual Terminal
Virtual terminal is our online alternative to a physical terminal that allows businesses to manage orders in Redbox Management using the ‘Virtual Terminal’ tab. Virtual terminal is used for businesses that have smaller order numbers or don’t manage same day orders.
Businesses with higher order volumes or shorter delivery windows require a physical terminal, which has additional functions such as stock management and the ability to print reports.
Below provides details on how to manage orders using the ‘Virtual Terminal’ in Redbox Management.
There are two other methods of managing orders. Visit our guides to find out more:
Managing Orders in Redbox Management - This guide will provide instructions on using the ‘Orders’ tab in Redbox Management.
Managing Orders on Terminals - This guide will provide instructions on managing orders using a terminal.
In ‘Virtual Terminal’ you can:
Accept and reject orders.
View the time the orders were placed.
Access customer details.
See the last order update.
View payment details.
Review the delivery network status when delivery is managed by a third party.
When managing orders, it’s important to understand when orders will be automatically rejected. See our Automatic Rejection of Pending Orders guide for further information.
Viewing the Main Virtual Terminal Screen
To begin using the ‘Virtual Terminal’, enter your business name and select the correct outlet.
Within the ‘Virtual Terminal’ section, there are a number of tabs along the top toolbar:
Pending - All pending orders (default view).
In Kitchen - All accepted orders that are currently in progress i.e being prepared.
Ready - All orders which are ready for collection/delivery.
Complete - All completed orders.
All - All the orders.
‘Virtual Terminal’ in Redbox Management
On the main ‘Virtual Terminal’ screen you can view the key details related to each order.
Using the cog, you can enable/disable the following:
Mute Alarms - Enabling this toggle mutes alarms when a new order is received.
Display Delivery Window - Enabling this toggle adds an additional ‘Delivery Window’ column on the main ‘Orders’ screen.
Managing Orders
Managing your orders is the most important part of any business, here is some information to get you started with managing orders via management:
When an order is placed via the ordering website or app, the order will be displayed on the ‘Virtual Terminal’ list.
All order statuses will be PENDING until they have been accepted or rejected.
When a card order is placed with an outlet we create an authorised but uncaptured charge against the customer's card through Stripe. This is done to ensure the card is valid and has sufficient funds before we send the order to the outlet. The order will show as PENDING until the outlet accepts or rejects the order.
If the order is accepted we capture the charge through Stripe and the order status changes to PREPARING.
If the order is rejected then we return the un-captured charge to the customer through Stripe and the order status is changed to REJECTED.
If the order is to be charged to a card we will return the un-captured charge to the customer and the order status will change to REJECTED.
Cash orders have no pre-payment taken, so no refunds need to be made and the order will show as REJECTED.
Rejected orders are not included in the transactions report as there is no completed transaction associated with those orders.
Accepting Orders
Select the ‘Accept’ action button on the row related to the specific order.
Your order will then be marked as PREPARING and will move into the ‘In Kitchen’ tab.
An accepted order notification will be sent to the customer.
Rejecting Orders
Select the ‘Reject’ action button on the row related to the specific order.
Your order will then be marked as REJECTED, and will be removed from the ‘Pending’ tab.
A rejected order notification will be sent to the customer.
Adding Time to Orders
A user can add 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes to the order. Once time has been added to the order, the order window/slot will be updated.
When in the ‘Pending’ window and the order hasn’t been accepted yet:
Select the ‘Accept’ action button on the row related to the specific order.
On the ‘Update Order Status’ window, add additional time using the ‘Need more time?’ section.
An order update notification will be sent to the customer.
When in the ‘In Kitchen’ window, and the order has already been accepted:
Select the
action button.On the ‘Update Order Status’ window, add additional time using the ‘Need more time?’ section.
An order update notification will be sent to the customer.
Cancelling Orders
Only orders which have been accepted can be cancelled.
Once the order is in the ‘In Kitchen’ or ‘Ready’ tabs, select the
action button.On the ‘Update Order Status’ window, a default message will be populated into the ‘Customer Message’, this can be edited to be specific to the customer.
Select ‘Confirm’.
Your order will then be marked as ORDER FAILURE REFUND and the order will be removed from the ‘In Kitchen’ or ‘Ready’ tab.
A cancel order notification will be sent to the customer.
Ready Orders
Orders which are ready for collection or are ready for delivery should be marked as 'Ready'.
In the ‘In Kitchen’ tab, once the order is ready select the
action button.Your order will then be marked as READY.
A ready order notification will be sent to the customer.
Complete Orders
Orders which have been delivered or collected should be marked as ‘Complete’. Once completed the order will be removed from the virtual terminal.
Select the ‘Complete’ action button on the row related to the specific order.
Your order will then be marked as COMPLETE.
A complete order notification will be sent to the customer.
Open or Close an Outlet Using Virtual Terminal
You can use ‘Virtual Terminal’ to close your outlet early, which overrides the opening times set in the ‘Ordering’ tab in Redbox Management.
Using the ‘Close’ function in ‘Virtual Terminal’
Closing an outlet
Select the ‘Close’ button, which will open the ‘Close Outlet’ window.
Use the date picker to select the date and time that you would like the outlet to reopen.
Select ‘Close Outlet’.
Reopening an outlet
To reopen the outlet, select ‘Reopen’.