Pausing a Storefront

Overview

Pausing a storefront allows you to temporarily or schedule your storefront to appear unavailable on select platforms— to pause orders being placed. 

Typically pausing a storefront is needed during unforeseen or unplanned circumstances (such as surges in direct orders, kitchen equipment malfunctions, or delivery partner issues). 

Pausing a storefront can be done from:

• Otter POS
• Otter Tablet
• Order Manager (web)

Using Special Hours for Planned Pauses/Closure
For longer or planned pauses/store closures, such as a national holiday or scheduled maintenance, using the Special Hours feature may be a better option in these scenarios.

Pausing a Storefront from LATAM Region
If you are located within the LATAM region, please contact Otter Support to pause or unpause orders for your storefronts. 

Pausing a Storefront

Check out the different steps below, depending on your device, on how to pause a storefront.

• Step	Process	Image
  1	From the Otter tablet or POS, tap the Storefronts app from the Home screen.
  2	Select the platforms you’d like to pause by checking the box next to the listed platform  Tap [Pause all].   Select All If pausing all listed platforms, just tap [Pause all] to bulk select all listed.
  3	Select time range for pause.
  4	Select reason for pause. Tap [Pause].
  5	Pausing progress/status will show next to selected platforms.	Pausing Workflow Initiated  Pause Confirmed

• Step	Process	Image
  1	From the Order Manager website, click the home icon in the top right corner.
  2	Click [Pause] next to the desired platform or [Pause all stores] to select all.
  3	Select the time period of pause. Click [Next].
  4	Select reason for pause.
  5	Pausing progress/status will show next to selected platforms.	Pausing Workflow Initiated Pause Confirmed

Unpausing a Storefront

Check out the different steps below, depending on your device, on how to unpause a storefront.

• Step	Process	Image
  1	From the Otter tablet or POS, tap the Storefronts app from the Home screen.
  2	Tap the play icon button listed next to the platform you’d like to unpause.   Select to Unpause All If unpausing all listed platforms, just tap [Unpause all] to bulk select all listed.
  3	Unpausing progress will show next to selected platforms.
  4	Confirmation of unpause notification will show in the bottom left corner.

• Step	Process	Image
  1	From the Order Manager website, click the home icon in the top right corner.
  2	Click [Unpause] next to the desired platform.
  3	Unpausing progress/status will show next to selected platforms.
  4	Confirmation of storefronts open will appear at the top of the pop-out window.

Scheduling a Pause

Check out the steps to schedule a storefront pause, depending on your device, below.

• Step	Process	Image
  1	From the Otter tablet or POS, tap the Storefronts app from the Home screen.
  2	Select the platforms you’d like to pause by checking the box next to the listed platform  Tap [Pause all].
  3	Select time range for pause. For scheduling a pause, select a start time other than “Now.”
  4	Select reason for pause. Tap [Schedule pause].
  5	Scheduled pause confirmation will show for selected storefronts.

• Step	Process	Image
  1	From the Order Manager website, click the home icon in the top right corner.
  2	Click Schedule a Pause].
  3	Select storefronts to schedule pause for by checking the box next to the storefront listed.
  4	Select the time frame for scheduled pause.
  5
  6	Scheduled pause confirmation will show for selected storefronts.

Scheduling a Pause Timeframe
Scheduling a pause is only applicable for times within that day’s operating hours. To schedule a pause for a different date or time, use Special Hours.

Editing a Scheduled Pause

Follow the steps below, depending on your device, to edit a scheduled pause.

• Order Manager Website
  
  From the Order Manager website, you can only cancel a scheduled pause— not edit the scheduled time or reason.
  
  To cancel a scheduled pause from the Order Manager website:
  1. Click the home icon.
  2. Click the X on the scheduled pause notification.
  3. Click [Confirm].

  

• Otter Tablet or POS
  
  From the Otter tablet or POS, you can edit the scheduled pause details or cancel a scheduled pause.
  
  To edit a scheduled pause from an Otter tablet or POS:
  1. From the Storefronts App, click the pencil icon next to the scheduled pause.
  2. Edit scheduled pause details.
  3. Click [Schedule pause].

  

  To cancel a scheduled pause from the Otter tablet or POS, click [Cancel schedule pause].

Pausing History

Pausing history can be viewed from the Otter tablet or POS by tapping the clock icon in the top right corner of the Storefronts app homepage.

Pausing a Storefront from the Otter Business Manager App

The Storefronts feature in the Otter Merchant app gives users the ability to Pause/Unpause Storefronts across multiple locations, similarly to how users do this on the Otter POS Storefronts app.

Follow the steps listed below to access Storefronts & Pause/Unpause channels across multiple locations.

Step	Process	Image
1	Click on the Storefronts tab for all locations included in a multi-location organization. From this view, you can pause/unpause the channels for all location’s within that organization. Use the or the buttons next to the channel to pause/unpause storefronts.
2	Access Specific Location’s Storefronts: If the user only has one location or has filtered for a specific location, the user can pause/unpause the channels for that location. Use the or the buttons next to the channel to pause/unpause storefronts.
3	Storefront Paused Notifications: If a storefront has been paused, the Storefronts feature will show the following information to the user: Name of user who paused storefront Number of times the storefront was paused Time that the user paused the storefront
4	Issues with Pause/Unpause Storefronts: If the user receives an error message with an Action Needed status, they will need to resolve the issue flagged in this error in order to proceed with the pause/unpause action.

Otter Business Manager App Information
For more information about using the features in the Otter Business Manager app, go to the Otter Business Manager App article.

FAQs

• Busy Mode can be used to help manage surges in kitchen operations— it allows you to temporarily add prep time in bulk to multiple platforms.
  
  To enable Busy Mode:
  1. From the Storefronts app on the Otter tablet or POS toggle Busy mode ON.
  2. Select Extra prep time.
  3. Select Busy mode duration (time when Busy Mode will end).
  4. Tap [Enter busy mode].

  

• Yes— For Otter subscriptions including AlwaysOn, you can bulk unpause from the Otter Dashboard.

  From the Otter Dashboard, you will be able to see:

  • Alerts to locations needing attention
  • Source of location pausing event
  • Unpause locations by reason, brand, and delivery provider

   

Updated December 16, 2025 19:12