Switching to Next Order
You sign up. We assign a dedicated onboarding manager. They build your menu, set up your payments, ship your hardware, train your team, and check in weekly for six weeks after you go live. The whole switch takes around 30 days, from sign-up to your first direct order.
Aaron Murray
Next Order Onboarding
Your switch plan
TodayAround 30 days from sign-up to your first direct order.
Your onboarding manager runs every one. You get a message at every milestone, so you always know where you are. From sign-up to your first direct order takes around 30 days, and your manager gives you a date on the kickoff call and holds to it.
| # | Step | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Welcome | You sign. Your manager is assigned. Your kickoff call is booked. |
| 02 | Kickoff call | A 20-minute video call. We confirm the plan and the dates. |
| 03 | Store details, ID checks, payments | Trading hours, identity verification, payments activated on Next Order Payments. |
| 04 | Menu build | Our menu team builds your menu in Next Order. You review it on a call. We adjust. |
| 05 | Hardware | We ship your devices, pre-configured for your venue. Your manager walks you through plug-in setup. |
| 06 | Branded site, loyalty, integrations | Your direct ordering site, loyalty program and all your integrations get configured and tested. |
| 07 | Go-live checklist and test order | Final review. We send a test order through to confirm everything is working. |
| 08 | Go-live, then weekly for six weeks | Your store is live. Your manager checks in weekly for the first six weeks. |
Walk through every step below.
The single person responsible for your switch is assigned the day you sign up. Their name, mobile number and email arrive in a welcome SMS within 30 minutes. You will meet them on a video call inside the first 48 hours.
They run everything between sign-up and go-live, and they do not disappear after. The menu team builds your menu under their direction. The hardware leaves our office under their sign-off. The training session runs with them on the call. The test order goes out from them. Every weekly check-in through your first six weeks live is from them.
You will not be passed sideways. You will not start every conversation by re-explaining what your store is. Your full history is in front of them, and they read it before every call.
Aaron Murray
Onboarding Manager. Australia and New Zealand.
“I know your store before our first call. By the time you're live, I know your menu, your busy hours, and the names of your team.”
Harry Wilson
Onboarding Manager. United Kingdom.
“Most operators I work with are running the kitchen, the bookkeeping and the front of house themselves. I move at their pace, not the other way around.”
Martin Burns
Senior Onboarding Manager. Australia.
“The point of a good onboarding is that on the day you go live, nothing surprises you.”
Search your restaurant and get a credible estimate in seconds. We'll work out the real number on the kickoff call.
Each step uses the same four-line structure. What we do. What you will see. What we need from you. How long it takes you.
01
02
03
What can speed this up
Have your business registration document and a photo ID to hand before you start. The ID check is the form that moves at your pace, so the sooner you complete it, the sooner you're live.
04
Why photos matter
Most operators see noticeably more direct orders when their menu items have photos. If you don't have professional shots, your manager can guide you through phone-camera shots that work well, or arrange professional photography support so your menu looks the way it should from day one.
Channel pricing built in
You can run a different price for in-store, your direct ordering site, and each marketplace. Most operators run a 10 to 20% markup on the marketplaces to absorb the platform commission. We'll set that up with you on the menu review call.
05
What we ask up front
Whether your venue Wi-Fi is 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Some printers don't pair on 5GHz networks, and we'd rather catch that before hardware ships than during setup.
Offline mode is built in
If your internet drops mid-service, the POS keeps taking orders. Payments queue. The kitchen keeps printing. When connectivity comes back, everything syncs. You won't lose orders or close service when the Wi-Fi has a moment.
06
What your guests will see
A clean ordering site at your domain, with your photos, your colours and your prices. Mobile-first. Fast page load. Apple Pay and Google Pay supported. Your loyalty program visible at checkout. No marketplace branding on top of yours.
07
08
Why the check-ins are short
The first three are 5 to 15 minutes. Week four runs longer because we walk through your first-month data together. They are real, not a formality. Your manager pulls your order data, your staff feedback and any support tickets, and we tune anything that's off before it becomes a habit.
Many operators come to us paying for five separate tools. By the morning of go-live, those tools are off and one platform runs everything. Here is what you will have working.
Taking orders
Keeping guests coming back
Running the business
You wake up on go-live day with one login, one menu, one guest database and one set of reports, instead of five tools doing it badly between them.
Switching ordering platforms only works if your existing guests know about the new one. The launch kit is included in your subscription and your manager sends it to you in the days around go-live.
The whole launch kit is included. The job is to make sure the guests who already love you know where to order next.
The six weeks after go-live decide whether the switch was worth it. Each weekly check-in is run by your onboarding manager, with your real data in front of them. We tune anything that is off before it becomes a habit.
Week 1
A 5 to 15-minute check-in by phone or video. Your manager has already pulled your first-week data. We walk through it together: how many direct orders came through, how the marketplace integrations performed, any docket issues, any staff feedback. We tune anything that isn't right.
Week 2
Same format. By now you've seen a quiet shift and a busy shift on the new system. We focus on what surprised you, what to improve, and how to grow direct orders further.
Week 3
We're checking the things that matter: are your staff confident, are voids coming down, are direct orders growing as a share of your total orders. Where they aren't, we adjust.
Week 4
A longer review (around 30 minutes). We pull your first month's data and walk through it properly. Direct orders, marketplace mix, loyalty redemption, repeat guest rate, your busiest hour, your best-selling dish. And where the easy wins are.
Week 5
Finishing touches. By now your daily rhythm on the new system should feel normal. We focus on the leftover items: the report you wish you had, the connection you didn't think you'd need, the staff member who is still asking the same question.
Week 6
Six-week review. The handoff from intensive onboarding to ongoing partnership. Your manager confirms what's working, flags anything still in motion, and books your first quarterly review for around three months out.
Different starting points need different attention. Click through to the specific guide for the deeper read.
From Lightspeed
Lightspeed is a deeper product with more configuration to replicate. The menu structure usually maps cleanly. Guest data and modifiers come across without much rework.
See the Lightspeed switch guideFrom Square
Square's data exports are clean, which makes the menu build faster than most. Your marketplace accounts need to be signed in again on Next Order. No long-term contract to exit.
See the Square switch guideFrom Toast
Toast typically runs on a 2-year contract. We'll help you understand where you are in your contract. The switch itself runs to the same eight steps as any other.
See the Toast switch guideFrom a patchwork of separate tools
You're paying for a separate online ordering tool, a separate loyalty tool, a separate marketing tool, a separate POS. The menu lives in three places and changes need to be made four times. We consolidate all of it.
See the consolidation guideFrom paper or spreadsheets
You're a new venue or you've never had a real POS. Welcome. The switch is faster because there's nothing to bring across. We slow the menu build down to make sure it's right from day one.
See the new-venue guideFrom something else
On a system not listed here? Most are familiar to us. Tell your manager what you are running on the kickoff call and we will adapt the eight steps to your data.
Talk to a switch specialistThe switch is included in your subscription. There are no setup fees, no menu build fees, no training fees, and no per-step charges. Hardware is the only line item that sits outside the subscription, and we will quote it transparently before anything ships.
| Item | What you pay |
|---|---|
| Switch project management | Included |
| Menu build with our menu team | Included |
| Guest data and history import | Included |
| Payments setup on Next Order Payments | Included |
| Marketplace and accounting integrations | Included |
| Branded ordering site setup | Included |
| Loyalty program setup and activation | Included |
| Live staff training, recorded for replay | Included |
| Test order and go-live checklist | Included |
| Launch kit: social media graphics, in-store flyers, counter cards | Included |
| Weekly check-ins for your first six weeks | Included |
| Quarterly reviews thereafter | Included |
| Hardware | Quoted before shipping. Bring your own if compatible. |
| Subscription | Starts on go-live, not on sign-up. See pricing page for plans by region. |
| Card processing | Standard rates for your region. See pricing page. |
What you do not pay
See pricing for plans by region.
A pizza group, 3 sites · Melbourne
Switched from Lightspeed
A four-shift transition window the manager held to. The menu right on day one, and marketplace orders flowing without a hiccup.
Composite profile, drawn from typical switches
Book a switch callA counter-service kitchen, 1 site · Auckland
Switched from Square
One person playing kitchen, boss and bookkeeper. The switch happens around the way the place actually runs, not the other way around.
Composite profile, drawn from typical switches
Book a switch callA neighbourhood pizzeria, 2 sites · London
Switched from Toast
Six weekly check-ins after go-live make the difference. Every small thing gets tuned before it becomes a habit, and direct orders grow week by week.
Composite profile, drawn from typical switches
Book a switch callTiming
Around 30 days from sign-up to your first direct order is typical. Faster is possible. Once we've got your menu source and your ID documents, the rest moves on our timeline. Your manager will give you a clear date on the kickoff call and hold to it.
Integrations
Yes. We connect each marketplace integration in step 6. From go-live, marketplace orders print to the same kitchen ticket as your direct orders. Your menu updates in one place and pushes to all platforms.
Yes. Channel-specific pricing is built in. Most operators run a 10 to 20% markup on the marketplaces to absorb the platform commission, and keep direct prices the same as in-store.
Daily reports get emailed to you every morning, and to your bookkeeper if you want them sent there too. Your bookkeeper can also be added to your account as an admin user with reports-only access, so they can log in directly and pull whatever they need without going through you.
Yes. We have email and SMS marketing built in, with the guest database in the same system. Once you see both running, there is no need to keep paying for two systems doing the same job.
Hardware
Not always. Your manager checks your existing hardware against our compatibility list before anything ships. If your current devices work, you'll save the spend.
Your manager troubleshoots it live. The most common cause is Wi-Fi compatibility. We'll walk you through the fix on the spot, and if a hardware swap is needed, we ship next-day.
The POS keeps taking orders. Payments queue. The kitchen keeps printing. When connectivity comes back, everything syncs. Offline mode is built into every Next Order POS and it works at 7pm Friday.
Yes. Your manager configures and ships any additional hardware on request. Many venues add a second station as direct orders grow.
Data and guests
No. With your permission, we import your guest database and historical sales reports during the switch.
You. Every guest who orders direct from your branded site, joins your loyalty program, or signs up for your email or SMS list, becomes part of your guest database. You can export it any time. We don't sell it.
Month to month. 30 days notice to cancel. No early termination fee.
Staff and guests
Most operators tell us this on the kickoff call. The Next Order POS is designed for it: predictable flows, clear buttons, fewer screens than most alternatives. The live staff training session covers what an experienced team member needs, and the recording stays available for any new hire to watch on their first shift.
The launch kit handles this directly. Social media graphics on day one, the SMS to your loyalty list on day one, flyers and counter cards in week one. Direct orders build through the first six weeks as your existing guests shift habits.
Yes. From your first day on the system. It takes 30 seconds.
Yes. Self-serve from your admin panel. Menu updates push to your direct site and to every marketplace from one place. Trading hours and item availability update instantly.
Support
Your onboarding manager during the switch and through your first six weeks live. Our support team for everything else: 7am to 11pm in your local region for general queries, and 24/7 for anything that stops you trading.
Phone, live chat and email, all in your local region. Most operators use chat for quick questions and phone for anything urgent. Anything that stops you trading is covered 24/7 on every channel.
Our 24/7 support team picks up at any hour for anything that affects your ability to trade.
Support is remote. The hardware setup walkthrough, the staff training and the test-order verification all happen over video. Keeping support remote is what lets us include the full cost of onboarding inside your subscription rather than charging a separate setup fee.
You do not have to decide on a demo. The calculator is free. The operator stories are public. If you want to talk to an operator who switched from where you are, we will introduce you. When you sign, the eight steps start, and your kickoff call lands in your inbox within 48 hours.
Book a switch call
30 minutes. We will talk through your existing setup and your timeline.
Run the savings math
The calculator shows what switching is worth. No email required.
Talk to an operator
We will introduce you to a Next Order operator who switched from where you are now.
Just want to ask a question? Our local support number is on the contact page. 7am to 11pm. Real person, no queue.