WhatsApp ordering for cafes: the usual, reordered in one tap

WhatsApp ordering for a cafe means your regulars order their usual by message, and your own WhatsApp number tells them when it's ready to collect. With Menuthere, a customer who types "reorder" to your cafe's number gets their last order back as a list with a Reorder button. One tap puts the same items in the checkout, already signed in. They pick a pickup time, pay, and get "your order is ready" on WhatsApp when you mark it ready. You pay 0% commission. Replies and updates from your own number are on the Pro plan (US$39 a month), and Meta charges per message on your own WhatsApp Business account.

Create your free ordering pageBook a demo (opens in a new tab)

Why a cafe's WhatsApp is different from a restaurant's

A restaurant's WhatsApp gets new orders: a family deciding on dinner. A cafe's WhatsApp gets the same order every morning: "Hi, the usual please, oat flat white and a croissant, picking up at 8:10." The owner types back "sure!", copies it to the bar, and hopes "the usual" means the same thing to the barista as to the customer.

Menuthere turns that into three taps for the customer and none for you:

The order itself is never typed in the chat. The customer orders on your menu page, so milk, size and syrup choices come through as the menu's options, exactly as the bar needs them. Many cafes keep the menu's milk choice as a required single choice, so an order can't arrive without one.

A regular's morning, step by step

This is an illustrative weekday at a cafe on Pro with prebooking (Lite feature) set to rolling slots. The behavior is what Menuthere does; the names and times are examples.

Two details make this safe for a busy bar. The order link is signed in for 23 hours and works only for the customer it was sent to. Prices are always taken from your live menu at checkout, so last month's price on an old order can't be charged.

Pickup times that match a cafe's pace

Prebooking (Lite and above) has two slot styles. Cafes almost always want Rolling from now:

Rolling slots are for today only and stay inside your opening hours, so a 4:50 PM customer at a cafe that closes at 5:00 sees no slots. For tomorrow's office coffee run, switch to fixed time ranges or take the order normally. More on setting up the menu itself: online ordering for coffee shops.

Which messages a cafe should send, and what they cost

Since 1 July 2025 Meta has charged for WhatsApp Business messages per message, by category and by the country code of the customer's number. Menuthere adds nothing to Meta's charges; they go on your own WhatsApp Business account.

When the customer writes first ("reorder", "hi"), WhatsApp's 24-hour window opens. Inside it, your replies and order updates go as normal chat messages, which Meta counts as service messages: each number gets 1,000 free a month, and Meta charges from the 1,001st. A customer who ordered from your QR code or website without writing to you is outside the window. Reaching them needs an approved template (utility for order updates), charged per message.

Worked example (illustrative): a cafe takes 40 WhatsApp-started pickup orders a day, 26 days a month. Each order uses about four messages from you (reorder reply, ready, completed, and the odd "we're open"). That's about 4,160 messages, all inside the 24-hour window. The first 1,000 are free; Meta charges its service rate for your customers' country on the rest. Turning off Order placed and Order accepted keeps the count down. Put your own numbers into the WhatsApp cost calculator.

In the US: Meta does not deliver marketing templates to US (+1) numbers. WhatsApp can send order updates (utility templates, about US$0.0034 each) but not promotions; use email for offers. See WhatsApp ordering in the USA.

Loyalty without a stamp card in the chat

On Pro, loyalty points turn every completed order into points the customer spends on a later one. A separate Loyalty points earned flow tells them on WhatsApp how many points they earned and their balance. You set the earn rate, the minimum order and how much of a bill points can pay, separately for takeaway and dine-in. For the counter, many cafes keep a paper stamp card as well. The cafe loyalty program page compares the two.

What to know before you switch it on

• WhatsApp ordering on every plan, automation on Pro. On Free and Lite, a customer who orders on your menu can tap Send Order to WhatsApp to send you the finished order from their own phone. The "reorder" reply, the ready message and the waiting list need your own number connected on Pro.
• The flows start switched off. Turn on the ones in the table above, and add We're open again from Global flows.
• The catalog suits pastries, not drinks with choices. A WhatsApp catalog lists dishes with a name, a price and a photo, and a basket sent from it opens your store with those dishes in the cart. Most cafes send the menu link for drinks, where milk and size are picked.
• No in-chat payment. Payment happens on your menu page (card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through your own Stripe account on Lite and above), not inside WhatsApp.
• Your number stays yours. You can link the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app, with one Facebook sign-in.

UK cafe looking for the full ordering system? See the cafe ordering system. Want customers to order at the table instead? See the QR code menu for cafes. A kiosk or juice bar with a tiny menu? Read how juice bars and coffee kiosks take orders on WhatsApp.

Plans for a cafe

Lite and Pro start with a 7-day free trial; a card is needed to start and nothing is charged until it ends. Free needs no card. Compare everything on the pricing page.

Create your free ordering pageBook a demo (opens in a new tab)