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Kiosk Orders

This page follows a kiosk order from the customer's first tap to pickup, and covers what staff can and can't change along the way.

What the customer sees

  1. Start screen. Your welcome title, message and image, with Tap to start, the language buttons and Accessibility.
  2. For here or to go? Skipped when the kiosk offers only one.
  3. Menu. Featured items first, then each menu section. Tap an item to add it, or to customize it when it has choices.
  4. Your order. Change quantities, remove items, switch between dine-in and takeout, or enter a promo code.
  5. Name and table number, then tip, when the kiosk asks for them.
  6. Payment. The customer inserts, taps or uses a phone wallet on the reader. If the card is declined or nobody pays within two minutes, they can choose Try again or Cancel order. A cancelled order is never charged.
  7. Confirmation. A large order number, the ready time, and an optional emailed receipt. The kiosk returns to the start screen after the time you set.

If nobody touches the screen for the idle time you set, the kiosk asks "Still there?" and then clears the order. Start over in the top corner does the same.

Accessibility

The Accessibility button opens text size, Readable spacing, High contrast, Reduce motion and Reach mode, which moves every screen lower for customers using a wheelchair and for children. Settings reset for the next customer.

Where orders go

Nothing reaches the kitchen until the card payment goes through. A paid order then:

  • confirms itself and appears on the Production hub like any other confirmed order,
  • shows a kiosk label such as Kiosk #K12 · Sam · Dine-in T4 on order pages, hub cards, slips and labels,
  • appears as a pickup on the Production hub's deliveries. Click Mark picked up on its card when the customer collects it.

In Sales Orders, the Kiosk filter lists kiosk orders. Each kiosk's orders share one stand-in customer, such as "Kiosk walk-in: Front counter", and that customer stays out of your customer list.

While the customer is paying

An order the customer is paying for at the reader is locked. Opening it shows "Customer is paying at the ordering kiosk", and it can't be edited, declined or sent as a quote. It unlocks once the payment finishes or is cancelled.

Cancel on a locked order cancels the payment on the reader first. If the payment had already gone through, you see "The customer's payment went through, so the order is being confirmed instead."

Unpaid orders left at the reader, for example when a customer walks away, are cancelled automatically after 15 minutes.

Needs attention

Rarely, a paid order fails to confirm on its own. PrepStation retries for a few minutes. If it still hasn't confirmed 10 minutes after payment, Settings → Ordering Kiosks shows a Needs attention banner.

Click Review orders to see them (the Kiosk: paid, not confirmed filter in Sales Orders), open each one and click Confirm so it gets made. The order history shows why it couldn't confirm.

Refunds and cancellations

Kiosk orders are card-only from start to finish:

  • Take payment offers only the card tab.
  • Cancel & Refund and refunds always go back to the customer's card. There is no cancellation fee on kiosk orders.
  • Cash, check and offline refunds can't be recorded on a kiosk order.

If Stripe is disconnected, kiosk orders show "Stripe not connected — kiosk orders are card only" and offer no payment option until it's connected again.

Common Questions

Q: A customer says they paid, but there's no order on the hub.
A: Look for a Needs attention banner on Settings → Ordering Kiosks, and confirm the order from there. If the customer walked away before tapping, the order is cancelled and they weren't charged.

Q: A customer typed the wrong email for their receipt.
A: The receipt address is only used for that email and isn't saved to a customer, so nothing else is affected. A customer can send up to three receipts from the confirmation screen.

Q: Why do two orders have the same number on different days?
A: Order numbers start again each day and count separately for each location. Use a Call number prefix to tell two kiosks apart.

Next Steps

Last updated: October 09, 2026