How To Set Delivery or Pickup Date and Time in RestroFood?

The Delivery or Pickup Date and Time feature lets customers choose exactly when they want their order delivered or ready for pickup, instead of leaving the timing open-ended. For restaurant owners, it spreads orders across the day, keeps the kitchen from getting slammed at peak hours, and cuts down on missed deliveries. 

This guide walks through how to configure it in the RestroFood admin panel and what the experience looks like for customers at checkout.

What the Delivery or Pickup Date and Time Feature Does

Customers picking Delivery or Pickup by me at checkout can choose:

• Today Delivery/Pickup – get the order as soon as possible within today’s remaining business hours, picking a specific time slot.
• Schedule Delivery/Pickup – pick a future date, then a time slot within that day’s business hours.

Every available date and time slot is driven by the business hours, break times, and slot length you configure in the admin panel, customers can never select a time outside what you’ve allowed.

Configuring It in the Admin Panel

Step 1: Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.

Step 2: Open RestroFood in the left sidebar, then go to Settings. This opens the RestroFood settings panel with tabs down the left side (General, Location Settings, Delivery Settings, Kitchen Options, Order Received Page, Page Settings, Color Settings, Email Settings, and more).

Step 3: Click Delivery Settings, then select the Delivery/Pickup sub-tab. This tab holds all the scheduling settings.

Step 4: Turn on date/time selection. Set Deliver/Pickup Date/Time Show/Hide to Yes. This is what makes the date/time picker appear at checkout – if it’s off, customers won’t see it at all.

Step 5: Choose what customers can select. Under Set Delivery Options, choose whether customers can pick Delivery/Pickup Both, delivery only, or pickup only.

Step 6: Set the time display format. Use Delivery Time Format to show times in 12-hour or 24-hour format.

Step 7: Set the slot length. Delivery Time Slot controls the interval between selectable times, for example, every 30 minutes. This is what generates the list of times customers scroll through (12:00 pm, 12:30 pm, 1:00 pm, and so on).

Step 8: (Optional) Add a note. Deliver/Pickup Time Option Note lets you add a short instruction or message that displays near the date/time picker at checkout.

Step 9: Set your hours for each day of the week. Further down (or under Delivery Settings depending on your version), the Delivery Time and Day table lists Sunday through Saturday with columns for:

• Holy Day? – check this box to block off a day entirely (holidays or days you’re closed).
• Opening Time and Closing Time – the window customers can choose a slot within.
• Break Start Time and Break End Time – a gap (e.g., between lunch and dinner service) during which no slots are offered.

Fill these in for every day you operate.

Step 10: Save your changes. Click Save Settings at the top right. Your schedule is now live at checkout.

How Customers Select a Delivery or Pickup Time

At checkout, customers see this flow:

• Delivery Type – choose Delivery or Pickup by me.
• Delivery Schedule Type – choose Today Delivery/Pickup or Schedule Delivery/Pickup.
  • If they pick Today Delivery/Pickup, a Deliver/Pickup Time dropdown appears with the remaining time slots for the current day (e.g., 12:00 pm, 12:30 pm, 1:00 pm…), based on your slot length and closing time.
    
    
    
  • If they pick Schedule Delivery/Pickup, a Deliver/Pickup Date dropdown appears first, listing upcoming available dates (holy days and closed days are excluded). After picking a date, they choose a time slot for that day the same way.
    
    
• Delivery Availability Checker – for delivery orders, this section confirms whether the customer’s address/zip code is within your delivery range before they can continue.

If a time slot has already reached its order limit, the customer is asked to pick a different slot rather than being able to double-book it.

Benefits

For customers:

• Pick a time that actually fits their schedule instead of an open-ended wait.
• Know upfront whether delivery is even available to their address, before finishing checkout.

For restaurants:

• Spread orders out instead of getting hit with everything at once.
• Keep the kitchen from taking on more than it can handle during a single slot, since each slot has an order limit.
• Block off breaks and holidays so orders never land during hours you can’t fulfill them.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I turn this feature on?

Go to RestroFood > Settings > Delivery Settings > Delivery/Pickup tab, and set Deliver/Pickup Date/Time Show/Hide to Yes.

Where do customers pick their delivery/pickup time?

At checkout, right after choosing Delivery or Pickup by me and a schedule type (Today or Schedule).

Can I limit how many orders land in one time slot?

Yes, RestroFood limits orders per time slot; once a slot is full, customers are prompted to choose another one.

Can I close specific days or add a break in the schedule?

Yes. Use the Holiday? checkbox in the Delivery Time and Day table to block a day entirely, and the Break Start/End Time columns to block a gap within a day (like between lunch and dinner).

What if a customer needs to change their pickup or delivery time after ordering?

The scheduling feature doesn’t include self-service rescheduling after checkout, the customer would need to contact the restaurant directly.

Wrap-Up

Once Deliver/Pickup Date/Time Show/Hide is on and your Delivery Time and Day schedule is filled in, RestroFood handles the rest, showing customers only the dates and slots you’ve actually made available, and stopping any slot from being overbooked. It’s a short setup on the admin side for a much smoother ordering experience on the customer side.