Integration Overview
What is a POS integration between Otter and Square POS?
A POS integration is when you connect your online channels and delivery platforms with your Square POS, via Otter. It creates real-time and direct communication between the delivery platforms and Square, removing most manual inputs and actions required to synchronize those systems.
What is the necessity of integrating Square POS with Otter?
When online food orders from Delivery platforms represent a significant part of the business of a restaurant, they start feeling multiple operational pain points, all of which can be addressed and resolved through POS integration.
Otter’s point-of-sale integration allows orders from your delivery partners to flow directly into your point of sale. This integration has numerous benefits including:
- Automatically synchronize the Menu from Square POS to your delivery channels, with no manual actions
- Sending all orders to flow directly into your Square KDS seamlessly
- Sending all orders to print using Square POS printer
- Eliminating the manual entry of delivery platform orders into the POS
- Improving the quality of the data by reducing errors from manual entry
In conclusion, an integration with Square POS can save time and money, on a daily basis, and make your business more successful.
How does the Otter & Square integration work?
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Step 1: Menu Sync A POS integration with Square starts by a “Menu Sync” where Otter reads the menu in Square POS and then links the items in Square to the items published to the delivery platforms. |
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Step 2: Order Injection A POS integration with Otter allows customers to get delivery partner orders sent directly to their POS. This means that if you are POS-integrated, when you receive an online food order through Otter, the food order will automatically be sent to your Square POS and be processed by the POS. |
How to Connect
Adding Otter User in Square
The first step to integrating your Otter account with Square is to add an Otter user inside your Square account.
Follow the steps below to learn how.
How to add an Otter user in Square
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Square Dashboard and click on Staff. | |
| 2 | Click on Team. | |
| 3 | Then click on (+) Team member. | |
| 4 | Type "Otter" on the First Name field and "Team" on the Last Name field. | |
| 5 | Type "otter-square@tryotter.com" for the e-mail. | |
| 6 | Type "Integrations" on Primary Job. Then click on Continue on the upper right side of the screen. | |
| 7 | Make sure to uncheck the Tip Eligible toggle and click Save. | |
| 8 | Type "0" on Hourly Wage and click on Continue. | |
| 9 | Select Team Permissions and then click on No Locations. | |
| 10 | Check Locations - You should either add for all Locations which Otter will integrate with or de-select the ones that we won't require access for, then save it and click on Continue on the upper right side of the screen. | |
| 11 | Enable the Full access toggle and click on Continue | |
| 12 | Create a pin number - For simplicity, it should be 1234 - and then click Continue. | |
| 13 | Then click on Save Team Member |
If you have any doubts or difficulties with the Otter User in Square, please contact Square Support.
You are new here? You can request a free demo here.
For current customers, in case of doubts, reach out to your Otter POS onboarding specialist.
What if I previously worked with another POS integration provider? (e.g. Chowly, It's a Checkmate, Deliverect, OLO)
- Please reach out to the Prior POS integration Provider to remove integrations from all delivery partners. They cannot just be disconnected, they need to be removed or the delivery partners will not let us connect. Please set a specific time to disconnect/remove the Prior POS Integrator and we can immediately launch the Otter integration.
- Please connect with your Delivery Partners to set the “tablet order protocol”. The Prior POS Provider often has you change the order protocol so we’ll need to revert it back to the tablet. The Delivery Partners should be able to confirm/get this done quickly
- Similarly, please connect with your Delivery Partners to allow us menu edit access on all Delivery Partners.
To confirm, there is no downtime in terms of accepting orders if you follow these steps, and you can have an Order Manager running on the Otter tablet to aggregate those throughout the process. Still, we cannot link/publish to your Delivery Partners until the above steps are followed.
POS Integration Settings in Otter Dashboard
When you make changes to your POS settings, the changes will need to be reflected in Otter as well to avoid order injection issues. The changes made in your POS can be updated in Otter within the POS Settings of the Otter Dashboard.
Available POS settings in the Otter Dashboard:
- View all the POS integration parameters set up for each of the stores.
- Update the POS channel settings under its control for each store.
- These are parameters pulled directly from the POS, per integration, based on what you have configured on your POS account.
- Turn on/off the POS injection per channel.
Examples of those settings are payment ID, dining ID, pickup ID, etc.
Learn how to adjust the POS integration settings here: Third-Party POS Integration Settings
Menu Management
How to prepare your Menu in Square POS?
Before initiating a POS integration with Otter, it's essential to ensure the usability and quality of the Menu in Square POS.
Best practices include:
- Add all categories that you would like to have on your delivery channels (UberEats, Doordash, etc.) in the POS.
- Add all items, item variations, and modifiers that do not already exist in Square precisely as you want the guest to see them on delivery channels.
- Review and clean the names, descriptions and prices to make sure they are ready to be published to the delivery platforms.
Otter will be synchronizing with the delivery platforms menus so that they will reflect how they are in Square, giving you the ability to completely control your guests’ experience directly from Square POS.
If you have items in Square POS that you’re not willing to offer online on the delivery platforms, use the “Hide from Otter” custom attribute to filter them (this is the preferred option as it makes the menu maintenance easier later - see article)
Tips to a perfect Menu Structure
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| Categories |
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| Modifier Groups |
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| Modifiers |
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| Photos |
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What if I want Otter not to import some of the Square items?
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If you wish to exclude some items from the Menu that Otter will import, add the “Hide from Otter” custom Attribute to those items. The “Hide from Otter” custom Attribute is automatically generated by Otter in your Square Account at the time of the onboarding. |
Setting up Menu Auto-Sync with Square POS?
Menu Auto-Sync with Square POS is the best way to ensure a reliable POS integration with minimal maintenance on the long run. It is a best practice used by most Otter customers to manage their Menus in Square POS, and automate the update of all the other menus in their Delivery Platforms.
Here are the steps to enable Menu Auto-Sync with Square POS:
How to set up Menu Auto-Sync with Square POS
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open your Otter Dashboard, if you don’t have access, please contact Otter's Customer Support. | |
| 2 | Go to Otter Menus app, and select your menu. | |
| 3 | Click on the Settings icon in the top-right corner. | |
| 4 | Click on the Menu Sync tab enable the "Automatic updates from POS Menu" toggle. | |
| 5 |
The automatic menu publish setting will be available only once you configure the Automatic updates from the POS Menu. Configure the settings by selecting the information you wish Otter to update automatically from the POS. |
When Menu Auto-Sync is enabled, it will run every 6 hours, and will ensure the Menus are kept Synced. Check more details in this article.
Use Otter Menu app to manage your Menu
Self Serve Menu Management (SSMM) is an Otter feature that allows you to create, edit, update, manage and publish menus from Otter’s Business Manager tool.
You can find here all the helpful guides about the tool and its features.
Order Management
For these next steps, please, contact your Onboarding Specialist or the Otter Support team to enable the Order Injection.
How do Otter orders appear in Square?
Here is a sample of how orders coming from the Otter are displayed in your Square account.
What is required for the Order injection to work perfectly?
An “Order injection” to your Square POS can only happen if the menu is “Synced”, meaning that all Menu items you have listed on Otter must be the same Menu items you have listed on your Square POS.
Please, follow these guides to ensure your menus are Synced with Square POS:
- Enable Menu Auto-Sync
- Trigger a manual Menu Sync in Update from POS
Integration FAQ
Why is my menu updating without any action from me?
Expand for further information
The menu updates automatically due to our new feature, Automated Point-Of-Sale (POS) Menu Synchronization, also known as 'Menu Auto-sync', which should be activated on your account.
This feature is designed to ensure that your menu remains updated without requiring manual intervention. It synchronizes your menu every 6 hours, ensuring that any changes made are promptly reflected in Otter and from Otter to your delivery apps.
Please, check this article for future information.
Why is my item in Square POS not importing to Otter?
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Please, answer to this troubleshooting question:
- Is my Square POS connection working? If it’s not, please make sure to have a stable internet connection and try again.
- Is my item assigned to a category in Square? If it’s not, please make sure that every item from the Square Menu is assigned to a category so Otter integration can read them.
- Has my item a “Custom Attribute” that says “Hide from Otter” activated? If it has, please, click on Edit and disable the Hide From Otter and then manually update the menu in Otter.
How will my Item Variations look on the delivery platforms?
Expand for further information
| Key-words: Mod groups vs variations, automated renaming, menu optimization |
The item Variations will be imported as separate items into the delivery platforms. Therefore, the names of item variants will be combined with the item name.
For example, the “Large” variation of the “Vanilla” item will become “Vanilla” and “Large - Vanilla”.
If you don’t want this naming for your item variations, please create separate items for each item variation or add them as a modifier group.
What if I have items belonging to different Virtual Brands Menu in the same Square account?
Expand for further information
If you want Otter to import specific items for a specific Virtual Brand/s (VB) Menu only, please follow the instructions below:
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edit the item that you want to be part of a specific Otter Virtual Brand Menu. | |
| 2 | Scroll down to the Custom Attribute section on the item edit page. Tap Add Custom Attribute. | |
| 3 | Select from the dropdown the Brand(s) where you want to serve your item. | |
| 4 | Enable the Value toggle and tap “Add”. | |
| 5 | Save the changes. |
What if I have different prices online and in-store?
Expand for further information
| Key-words: Price management, prices overrides, auto-sync prices |
Currently, if you have different pricing for in-store vs delivery platforms, there are 2 options:
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Option 1: Creating new items with uplifted price for delivery/integration use only
This option here will provide better long-term integration success, as it provides specific parameters for troubleshooting post-live when needed.
- Option 2: Utilizing Otter’s POS Self-serve Menu Management Tool to update the prices for online channels without updating the POS data.
How to check if my Otter Menu is correctly Synced and linked to my Square POS Menu?
Expand for further information
Follow the next steps if you are already up and running with your Square POS integration, if you’re new to POS integration, you can also contact Otter Support to set you up.
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select your Menu in the App list, then select “Menus”. | |
| 2 | Click on Manage POS Links. | |
| 3 |
In “Manage POS Links”, review the “Links summary” section at the top. If all 3 boxes indicate that there are 0 unlinked items, 0 unlinked modifier groups, and 0 unlinked modifiers, it means the Otter menu is correctly Synced with Square POS. |
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| 4 |
If any of the boxes indicates a number of unlinked items or modifier groups or modifiers, it means the Otter menu is not correctly synced with Square POS. Unlinked items can result in order injection failures and missed orders. |
How can I reach out to Square support if I have an issue?
Expand for further information
You can reach out to Square Support Center if you have other questions regarding the POS system.
How should I build my Otter menu?
Expand for further information
Please review all categories in Square that you would like on your 3rd party delivery apps. Add any items/item variations/categories/modifiers that do not already exist in Square precisely as you want the guest to see them.
We will be synchronizing these with the delivery app menus so that they will reflect how they are in Square, giving you the ability to completely control your guests’ experience and how your 3rd party menus will appear.
Otter will import the whole menu you have in Square.
How to fix printing issues?
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For printers configured by Otter the appropriate troubleshooting steps will vary depending on whether your printer is Cloud-enabled, Bluetooth-enabled, or Hardwired. Find your type of printer below, and follow the directions listed.
- Troubleshooting Cloud and Hardwired Printers
- Troubleshooting Bluetooth Printers
- How Do I Replace My Printer?
For additional help or information, you can contact Otter Support.
If you are printing directly from your Square POS system, please follow these steps:
- Ensure you have a stable internet connection to your Square tablet.
- Make sure that there isn't a large order backlog, as this can cause delays.
- You can check this guide for more details or contact Square Support.
What happens if an order is not injected?
Expand for further information
If there is ever an issue with an order and the order cannot be injected into Square, then that issue will surface in the Otter tablet and appear as a NOT in POS.
This should not be expected often, but if it occurs, the order can be manually entered into Square and then you can click on the “Manually added to POS” option on the Otter tablet.
If orders are auto-accepted in Otter, does the order need to be acknowledged in the POS?
Expand for further information
If orders are on auto-accept then the order will be imported into the POS at the time of acceptance and the order will automatically print at the appropriate time without any action from the store. To appear in the reporting, the ticket needs to be assigned a payment type and closed out.
What if an order is canceled by the customer?
Expand for further information
Order cancellations are not reflected through the integration. If an order is canceled, the cancellation will be surfaced in the Otter tablet, after which the order should be manually canceled in Square.
To enable accurate reporting, canceled orders should be actioned upon within the point of sale.
How do scheduled orders work?
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Orders will automatically be imported into Square from Otter 30 minutes before the order is scheduled to be picked up. These orders will surface in the Otter tablet 60 minutes before ready time.
Will it show which delivery partner the order is from?
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Yes, the delivery partner name and delivery partner order ID will be included in the order details once injected into Square.
If Otter loses connection to my point of sale, will my delivery accounts be taken offline?
Expand for further information
No, your orders will continue to be executed within the delivery partners and Otter. However, if the integration is offline for any reason, you should manually enter the orders into Square.
How are tips accounted for?
Expand for further information
Tips collected in the delivery partner platforms will be routed directly to the third party courier and will not surface in your Square POS.
Otter integration can only send tips to Square POS if the restaurant is using its own couriers (restaurant delivery) or when it is a pick-up order type.
How is sales tax accounted for?
Expand for further information
Sales tax is computed within Square based on the tax rules that have previously been set up in Square.
Still need help? Reach out to our team:
| Chat with support by clicking the chat icon in the bottom right corner of the Otter Dashboard. |
+1 (888) 681-8837 Send us a text to the number above for assistance over text message. |
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