Before you start

You need an Online Store before customers can book online. If you don't have one yet, see Creating Your Online Store.

If customers book a pickup, delivery or home visit, set up the times they can choose from first. See Setting Up Booking Options and Setting Up Time Slots.

Your business unit also needs items and prices. See Choosing What You Sell and Your Prices.

What customer checkout is

Customer checkout is the set of steps customers go through to book one business unit online. Staff checkout runs on the POS. Customer checkout runs on your Online Store website and app.

It helps you:

  • Get the full address, including the unit number, on every booking.
  • Let customers pick their own pickup and delivery times from the slots you offer.
  • Know what each customer wants before your driver arrives.
  • Cut down the WhatsApp messages your team sends to chase details.

Can I skip this? No, if you want online bookings. A business unit with no customer checkout steps can't be booked online. Customers won't see it on your Online Store until it has steps.

One business unit has one customer checkout. Your website, your Mobile App and every store that sells the unit all use the same steps.

Where to find it

Customer checkout is set up in the Online Store editor, next to the store itself. You can open it from the business unit:

  1. Go to :gear: Settings > Business Units.
  2. Click the business unit.
  3. Click the Selling tab.
  4. In the Customer checkout section, click Edit in Online Store.

The Laundry business unit's Selling tab, with the Customer checkout section and its Edit in Online Store button marked

With one Online Store, this takes you straight to the unit's checkout steps. With several stores, you see your list of stores first. Click any store that sells the unit. They all share the same steps.

You can also start from the store:

  1. Go to :gear: Settings > Online Store.
  2. Click your store.
  3. Click Checkout in the list of pages.
  4. Make sure the switch next to the business unit is on. This lets customers book it.
  5. Click the business unit's row.

The Checkout page in the Online Store editor, listing business units with their switches, and "No checkout steps yet" under Bag Repair

The steps you can add

These five steps make up a booking. Customers see them in the order you set, with the title shown after the arrow.

Enter Address -> Address [4:17 PM]Customers choose one of their saved addresses, or search for a new one. Customers with a saved address go straight past this step. They can still change it on the review screen.

  • Require address line 2: Turn this on if customers must enter their unit, floor or apartment number. This is useful for HDB flats and condos.

Choose Service Options -> Services Customers tick the services they want, such as Wash & Fold or Dry Clean, without choosing items or prices.

  • Available service options: Add the options customers can choose from. You can add a short line under each option.
  • Show service option images: Shows each option's picture.

Choose Items -> Items Customers pick items from your price list and see the price before they book.

  • Item details customers fill in: Optional. Choose the extra questions customers answer for matching items.

Schedule Booking -> Date and time Customers choose a date and time for each trip your business unit makes, such as a pickup and a delivery.

Setting What it does
Jobs to book Which trips this step books. For example, Pickup and delivery, Pickup only or Delivery only. The choices depend on what your business unit offers in its Pipeline.
Booking options Which of your booking options customers can choose for each trip, such as Standard or Express. If you offer several, the one without an extra charge is picked first.
Pickup instructions, Delivery instructions, Visit instructions Ready-made instructions customers pick from, such as "Collect from my door". Click Add instruction to add one.
Let customers add a note Lets customers type their own note for the driver.

Contact Details -> Contact details Customers confirm their name and mobile number. These come from their account, so most customers just check them and move on.

Your own questions

You can also ask questions you created yourself, such as "Any fabric allergies?". They appear under Your custom fields when you add a step. Customers can answer a text, a number, a date or a choice from a list. See Configuring Data Fields.

Required and Optional steps

The five booking steps are always required. Customers must complete them to book, so they have no Optional switch.

Only your own questions can be optional. Open the question's card and turn on Optional. Customers can then skip it. Steps set to Optional show an "Optional" label on their card.

Set up your customer checkout

  1. Open the business unit's checkout steps, as shown in "Where to find it".
  2. Click Add Step.
  3. In the Add a step window, click the step you need. You can search, for example "address".

The Add a step window, with Enter Address, Contact Details, Choose Service Options, Choose Items and Schedule Booking in their groups

  1. Click the step's card to open its settings.
  2. Optional: type a Description. This is the line customers see under the step's title. Leave it empty to use the standard line.
  3. Fill in the step's own settings, such as Jobs to book for Schedule Booking.
  4. Repeat for each step. Drag the cards to change their order.

The Laundry unit's checkout steps as cards, with the Schedule Booking card open showing Jobs to book, Booking options, Pickup instructions and Let customers add a note

The preview next to the editor shows each step as customers see it, as soon as you open the step's card. [4:17 PM]Your changes are saved as a draft straight away. The unit shows an Unpublished label until you publish. To undo your draft, click Discard changes.

Publish your changes

Customers keep booking with your last published steps until you publish again.

  1. Click Preview at the top of the editor and check the booking.
  2. Click Publish.
  3. In the Publish window, click Publish.

The Publish window, with the Publish Online Store button marked

You see "Published. Customers see this release now." For more on previewing and publishing, see Preview and Publish Your Online Store.

The Publish window also checks each business unit. If a unit has no checkout steps, you see "Needs attention" with a line such as "Laundry: missing checkout flow". You can still publish. Customers just won't see that unit until it has steps.

Example: CleanFast Laundry's home pickup

CleanFast Laundry collects laundry from homes and delivers it back. The owner wants every booking to arrive with a full address and agreed times. The owner sets up these steps for the Laundry business unit:

  • Step 1: Enter Address, with Require address line 2 turned on.
  • Step 2: Choose Items, so customers see their price before booking.
  • Step 3: Schedule Booking, with Jobs to book set to Pickup and delivery. Booking options are Standard and Express. Pickup instructions are "Collect from my door" and "Leave with the guard". Let customers add a note is on.
  • Step 4: Contact Details.
  • Step 5: "Any fabric allergies?", a text question set to Optional.

What customers see online

  1. The customer taps Book now and chooses Laundry.
  2. Address: They pick their saved home address, or search for it and add their unit number.
  3. Items: They add 5 kg of Wash & Fold.
  4. Date and time: The earliest pickup and delivery times are already picked, with the line "We picked the earliest times. Choose another if it suits you better." They choose Express for the delivery, which shows its extra charge, and pick "Collect from my door".
  5. Contact details: They check their name and mobile number.
  6. They answer or skip the allergy question, check the review screen and book.

The Online Store's Date and time step, showing pickup and delivery times, the pickup instruction and Express delivery with its +20% extra charge

The order reaches your team with the address, times, items and instructions already filled in.

FAQs

I saved my steps, but customers still see the old ones. Why?

Changes in the Online Store editor are a draft until you publish. Click Preview, then Publish. Customers then see the new steps straight away.

Do my minimum orders apply to online bookings?

Yes. The minimum order you set in the business unit's Catalog also applies online. If a booking comes in below it, the difference is added to the order as a minimum order surcharge. See Choosing What You Sell and Your Prices.

What happens if I leave out Choose Items?

Customers book without choosing items, and the review tells them "Nothing to pay now. The store will confirm the price." Your staff price the order after pickup. This suits laundry that is weighed at the shop.

Why does Schedule Booking say customers have nothing to schedule?

Your business unit doesn't offer a pickup, delivery or home visit yet. These come from the unit's Pipeline tab, covered in the next article. Once one is turned on, the trip appears in Jobs to book.

Customers say they can't book a pickup. What should I check?

Check that a pickup booking option is assigned to this business unit. If none is, Schedule Booking shows "No pickup booking option is assigned to this business unit, so customers can't book a pickup." See Setting Up Booking Options.

Do these steps change what my staff fill in at the POS?

No. Customer checkout only affects online bookings. Your POS and Console steps stay as you set them in Adding Extra Steps When Staff Take an Order.

Will bookings already placed change when I publish new steps?

No. Existing bookings keep the details customers gave. The new steps apply only to bookings made after you publish.

What's Next

You've chosen what customers fill in when they book online. Next, see how every order moves from drop-off to collection in Tracking Every Order from Drop-Off to Collection.