Tabs - The Guest Experience
Tabs allow guests to order multiple times throughout their visit, with those orders appearing as one cumulative charge on their bank statement rather than each order being listed separately.
The ability to start a tab is configurable for each location code. To turn Tabs on for a given location code, go to the 'Checkout' section of the location code editor and toggle on the 'Allow Tabs' option.
Once the Tabs feature is enabled, your guests can open tabs when ordering. If you would also like to use the Tabs Sync feature in which servers can add to guests' tabs or start a tab for a guest, please get in touch with support@bbot.menu. In your message, please include the location code(s) for which you'd like to enable the Tabs Sync feature.
Opening a Tab - Checkout View
Once a guest has placed items in their cart and proceeds to the checkout screen, they will see a toggle option to start a tab. If the guest is not logged into a Bbot account with saved payment information, they will also need to enter credit card information (gift cards can not be used to start a tab) at this time to authorize payments and open the tab.
The card will be authorized for the initial amount ordered or the amount specified by the merchant, whichever is higher. After doing so, the guest will click the 'Open Tab' button at the bottom of the checkout screen to finalize the order.
Once a tab is opened, the guest can add to the tab easily by selecting 'Order Again' from the post-checkout screen.
When the guest proceeds to the checkout screen, they'll have the option to add the additional items to their tab. They also have the option to close out the order at the checkout screen if they do not want to add the additional items ordered to their tab.
* Alternative Payment Methods: As noted on the checkout page, orders submitted with Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay cannot be added to a tab, as they authorize a single-use token that will automatically separate checkouts into unique charges.
* Gratuity: The guest will select a tip amount for each order on the tab when the order is being submitted. This ensures staff is still tipped, even if the guest forgets to close the tab.
Post-Checkout View
The post-checkout page will show all of the orders on the tab, including their respective order numbers, statuses, and a dropdown menu that, if selected, will expand to show all the items in the order.
If the guest has any recently closed tabs or completed orders not associated with the current tab, they will show below the current tab.
Manage a Tab / Close a Tab
When a guest is ready to close their tab, they can click the 'Manage Tab' button to close their tab and adjust the final tip amount.
When the guest taps 'Manage Tab', a pop-up with the tab total and the option 'Close Tab' will appear. When the guest closes their tab, and the authorization is finalized, it will show a single charge for the total of the tab.
On this same pop-up, the guest will also be able to edit the tip amount before closing their tab by selecting the '+ Edit Tip' option. Doing so will display default tip percentages, as well as a custom tip option by clicking 'Other'.
If the guest selects a tip amount below the existing total across all orders, they will be prompted with the following message:
If the guest increases the tip by more than 60% of the total tips from the tab, they’ll be prompted with the following message:
All tabs are automatically set to close 3 hours from when they are started, in case a guest forgets to close their tab.
Incremental Authorization
The tabs system also uses Stripe's new feature, Incremental Authorization. This allows for additional authorizations after the tab is started and prevents additional holds on a guest's card. Incremental authorizations help reduce and eliminate the financial institution marking repeated orders as fraudulent and concurrent authorizations totaling more than the total tab amount.
For each additional authorization, there is a .15 charge in addition to the Stripe processing rate. For example, if a guest places three orders on a single tab, there would be a charge of .30 plus the Stripe processing rate. Since there were two additional orders, there would be two charges of .15 for each authorization.
Multiple authorized charges may appear on the guest's bank statement, but they will only be billed for the final amount of the tab.
For questions about tabs or assistance with configuration, please contact our Support Team at support@bbot.menu.