Importing a Third-party POS Menu

Overview

Otter customers can manage menus for all their locations in one central place— even when using a third-party POS— by using the menu import feature from the Otter Dashboard.

This allows ease in maintaining menus for one or multiple locations.

From the Otter Dashboard, you can:

Import an existing menu from a third-party POS
Auto-sync menu updates
Manage and manually update an imported menu
Add new locations to an imported menu

Third-party POS Menu Import

For customers using a third-party POS integrated with Otter, you can use the menu import option to create a menu within Otter Dashboard. When importing a menu to the Otter Dashboard, Otter starts reading POS menus from all selected locations and merges them into a unified list with corresponding location assignment.

Follow the steps below to import a menu:

Steps to import a third-party POS menu in Otter Dashboard

Step #	Process	Image
1	Click on Apps > Menu from the Otter Dashboard.
2	Click [+ Add menu] button
3	Select the brand to create a menu for. Name that menu, then click [Continue].
4	Choose which third-party POS to import the menu from. Click [Continue].
5	Select the location(s) to assign the menu to. Click [Continue]. Note: Otter will import the POS menu from all selected locations.
6	An overview of the menu will show. Click Review brand menu to see more details for the menu to be imported.
7	To exclude a category or item from a menu, click the trash can icon next to the item. If no action needed, click [Continue].
8	Optional Click [Preview] to review selections. [Preview] Example for Item Assignment: By clicking [Preview] for Item Assignment, you can see each item that will be assigned to which location during the menu import. Click through the items listed on the left-hand side to view their location assignment.	Preview Example for Item Assignment
9	Click [Create menu] to confirm. Menu successfully created in Otter Dashboard!
10	Click [Publish] to complete menu sync and publishing. To review or manage your menu, just click [Manage POS links].

Store Hours & Item Availability:

When a menu is imported from a third-party POS, it does not contain store hours and may not set item availability— be sure to manually set up store hours and check item availability before publishing.

Duplicate Items:

It may look like Otter is duplicating some items or categories when importing a menu— these aren't actually duplicates.

If the same category or item have different rules across different locations, the menu item/category may be appear to be created more than once. This is so Otter can assign the correct configuration of category/item and modifiers to each location.

Keep in mind, you can use the location filter to only view the menu for a specific location.

Importing from Multiple Locations

If there is more than one location, all the menus for the different locations can be imported from the third-party POS and consolidated into a single Otter menu that includes corresponding location menu nuances.

Example:

Menus for Location A, B, and C are imported from a third-party POS to Otter. Those locations have the same menu in the third-party POS but with the following differences:

Location A and B offer the item Cheeseburger. Location C does not.
Location A and C have the Dessert category and the related items: Vanilla Ice Cream, Pistachio Ice Cream, Tiramisu, Cheesecake. Location B does not.
The item Fries is available at all locations but with price differences. Priced at $2 for Location A and B, but $3 at Location C.

The consolidated menu in Otter will contain:

The Cheeseburger item assigned only to Location A and B.
The Dessert category with the related items assigned only to Location A and C.
The Fries item assigned to Location A and B for price of $2 and to Location C for price $3.

Menu Publishing Error Messages

If there are any menu structure errors detected while trying to publish a menu, Otter will notify you by showing an error message. Any errors will need to be resolved before publishing of that menu can successfully occur.

Just follow the prompt on the error message to resolve the issue.

Menu Publishing Error Message Example:

Menu Publish Error Message

Automated Menu Sync & Publish

Enabling the Automatic Menu Sync and Automatic Menu Publish feature allows for stress free menu maintenance.

This will ensure all selected menu changes made from your third-party POS will be automatically updated within Otter.

Auto Menu Sync Settings:

From the menu Settings > Menu Sync, you can enable/disable and configure:

Automatic Menu Updates to sync from your POS
Automatic Menu Publish to publish any menu changes to all or certain delivery platforms

Within the Settings, select the information you'd like to be automatically updated to match your POS menu.

Auto Sync Updating Timeframe

When Auto Sync is turned on, chosen information will update or publish about every 6 hours for selected locations and channels.

FAQs

How do I manually resync or add new locations to my imported menu?

Once in integrated third-party menu has been imported to the Otter Dashboard, you can:

Manually sync updates from an integrated third-party POS to Otter
Add new locations to an imported menu

To learn more on how to manage an exiting imported menu here.

What if there are different menus for different locations?

This feature takes into account when there are differences in menus across locations. Otter merges all the menus into a single menu within the Otter Dashboard and then allows you to filter menus for each location. Find more information under Importing from Multiple Locations.

Why are there duplicate items or categories on my menu in Otter?

Example:

I have location A, B, C.

All those locations have the item fries. Location A and B have sauces as modifier group for fries but location C does not have modifier group sauces for fries. In this case, the same item (fries) has a different menu structure across locations, so Otter will create 2 fries items with the related modifiers structure.

This allows Otter to assign fries with sauces modifier to location A and B menus, then assign fries without sauces modifier to location C.

For POS menus imported before November 20, 2024— How to migrate to updated POS menu experience:

Step #	Process	Image
1	Review current menu and take note of: Price Overrides 86'd items Item tax values Special hours NOTE: If you POS doesn't support the importing of this information, it will need to be manually configured in the new menu within Otter.	Exel File Menu Copy: If you need a copy of your current menu, reach out to the Otter support team— they can download your current menu as an Excel file to share with you.
2	Click on Apps > Menu from the Otter Dashboard.
3	Click [+ Add menu] button
4	Select the brand to create a menu for. Name that menu, then click [Continue].
5	Choose which third-party POS to import the menu from. Click [Continue].
6	Select the location(s) to assign the menu to. Click [Continue]. Note: Otter will import the POS menu from all selected locations.
7	An overview of the menu will show. Click Review brand menu to see more details for the menu to be imported.
8	To exclude a category or item from a menu, click the trash can icon next to the item. If no action needed, click [Continue].
9	Optional Click [Preview] to review selections. [Preview] Example for Item Assignment: By clicking [Preview] for Item Assignment, you can see each item that will be assigned to which location during the menu import. Click through the items listed on the left-hand side to view their location assignment.	Preview Example for Item Assignment
10	Click [Create menu] to confirm. Menu successfully created in Otter Dashboard!
11	* Only if additional locations need added to menu * If all locations were not added during the first menu import, you can do so from the Menu overview page > Menu settings. Follow the steps listed here to add locations to the imported menu.
12	Review menu details. If needed, apply adjustments to: Price Overrides 86'd items Item tax values Menu hours
13	Click [Publish] to complete menu sync and publishing. To review or manage your menu after first import, just click [Manage POS links].

Still need help? Reach out to our team:

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Updated December 18, 2024 21:48