Diwali at 7 pm, all of it
Every family wants thali at the same hour, and nobody could tell them otherwise. The orders land in one half hour, the kitchen cooks in a panic and the last ones go out late.
Pre-booking · festivals and weekends
Plan the rush instead of reacting to it.
Open pre-booking for Diwali, Pongal or just the weekend. Cap each time slot, pick the dishes your kitchen can batch and set a minimum notice. Guests book the slots that are open, and your kitchen cooks what it planned.
- Delivery, pickup and dine-in
- Slots with a maximum number of orders
- Part of the Restaurant plan, 0% commission
Last updated
Pre-booking · Diwali thali weekSaturday · example
Sat 7:00–7:15 · Pickup6/8 booked2 left
Sat 7:15–7:30 · Delivery8/8 bookedFull
Sat 7:30–7:45 · Dine-in3/8 bookedOpen
Sun 12:00–12:15 · Pickup1/8 bookedOpen
Diwali thali week · Fri–Sun
Minimum notice · 4 hours
Quick answer
What is Owncart pre-booking for restaurants?
Pre-booking lets a restaurant take advance orders for festivals and weekends. You create a campaign with start and end dates, the order types allowed (delivery, pickup, dine-in), time slots with a maximum number of orders each, the dishes included and a minimum notice period. Campaign cards appear on your website, full slots can't be booked, and fill stats show which slots are filling.
- At a glance
- Campaign
- A name, a start date and an end date, e.g. Diwali thali week
- Order types
- Delivery, pickup and dine-in, or only some of them
- Slots
- Time slots with a maximum number of orders; a full slot can't be booked
- Dishes
- Only the categories your kitchen can batch, like thali and biryani
- Notice
- A minimum notice period, e.g. 4 hours, so no slot sits too close to prep time
- Price
- Part of the Restaurant plan, ₹10,000 per outlet per year, 0% commission
The problem
Festival orders arrive all at once, and the kitchen pays for it.
The bucket that came too late
A biryani bucket for twelve, ordered forty minutes before pickup. Prep needs hours. Someone has to call a regular back and say no.
Cooking to a guess
With no numbers in advance, the cook batches for last year's Sunday. Too much becomes waste; too little becomes guests sent away.
The notebook at the counter
Pre-orders live in a diary, in WhatsApp chats and in someone's head. Nobody knows how many are promised for 1 pm until someone counts.
Cap the slots, pick the dishes, and let guests book the rush before it arrives. More restaurant problems Owncart fixes →
How it works
How pre-booking works, in six steps
- 1
Create a campaign
Name it (e.g. Diwali thali week) and set start and end dates.
- 2
Choose order types
Allow delivery, pickup and dine-in, or only some of them.
- 3
Set slots and limits
For example 15-minute slots with a maximum of 8 orders each. Full slots can't be booked.
- 4
Pick the dishes
Only the categories your kitchen can batch, like thali and biryani.
- 5
Set rules
Minimum notice, e.g. 4 hours, so no slot is too close to prep time.
- 6
Publish and watch fill
Campaign cards appear on your website; fill stats show which slots are filling.
Fill per slot, campaign by campaign, also sits in your dashboard and reports beside bestsellers and cancellations.
One festival week
One Diwali week, from opening the campaign to the last slot
The campaign does the crowd control. WhatsApp does the telling.
- 1
Tuesday: open the campaign
Name it Diwali thali week, set Friday to Sunday, allow pickup and delivery, and split each evening into 15-minute slots capped at 8 orders with 4 hours' notice. Campaign cards appear on your website.
- 2
Tuesday evening: tell the regulars
Send the pre-booking link through WhatsApp marketing to the guests who ordered thali or biryani before. They land on the campaign page; full slots can't be booked.
- 3
Thursday: read the fill
Fill stats show 7:00–7:15 pm is full and the afternoon has room. A mid-week message promotes the weekend slots that are still open.
- 4
Saturday morning: the kitchen knows its number
Filter the live order board by pre-booking and date, and Saturday is one list, slot by slot. The cook batches thali for the count that's booked, not a guess.
- 5
Saturday 7 pm: slots, not a crowd
Each slot's orders are ready at their time. Pickup guests show an OTP at the counter, delivery goes out with your riders or a partner, and dine-in tables sit down to food that's already on.
Spice Route Kitchenonline
Diwali thali week is open, Friday to Sunday. Slots fill up, so pre-book early.✓✓
Pre-book · Diwali thali weekOpens inside WhatsApp
Pre-booking confirmed: 4 × Diwali Thali · Pickup · Saturday 7:00–7:15 pm · ₹1,160 paid by UPI✓✓
Saturday, 6:50 pm: your order is ready. Show OTP 4821 at the counter.✓✓
Thanks, on my way.✓✓
Watch it
Festival pre-orders without the chaos
The short version of this page, as an 18-second reel.
- A campaign goes live with its dates, its slots and only the dishes the kitchen can batch.
- Guests book the slots that are open. A full slot can't be booked.
- The kitchen cooks to the number booked, slot by slot, instead of to a guess.
Who uses it
Three rushes, booked before they arrive
Thali boxes for the whole street
A Diwali week campaign for pickup and delivery, thali category only, 15-minute slots capped at 8. The kitchen batches thali by slot instead of by panic.
On your board
Diwali thali week · Sat 7:00–7:15 · 8/8 · Full
On the guest's phone
ExampleSees 7:15–7:30 still open and books it
Biryani buckets with four hours' notice
Bulk and party orders need prep time. A 4-hour minimum notice means no bucket for twelve is booked forty minutes before pickup, and weekend orders spread across Friday to Sunday slots.
On your board
Sun 1:00–1:15 · 2 × Biryani bucket · booked Saturday 9 pm
On the guest's phone
ExampleAt 11 am, Sunday 12:30 is inside the notice window, so it can't be booked
Dine-in tables that pre-order
Guests pre-order for a table so the food is ready when they arrive. Dine-in slots keep the brunch rush to the number of plates the kitchen can send out.
On your board
Sun 11:00–11:15 · Dine-in · 4 pre-orders
On the guest's phone
ExampleBooks 11:00, sits down, and the kitchen already has the order
Busy days
Pickup slots for busy days
Festivals are the headline. Ordinary Saturdays are where pre-booking earns its keep.
- A guest picks a day and a time slot that still has room.
- The order lands on your live order board, where a pre-booking filter lists the day's slots.
- At the slot the pickup is ready, and the guest shows an OTP at the counter.
What you control
Every control a festival campaign needs
Campaigns with dates
Switch pre-booking on for Diwali, Pongal, Ramzan, Christmas or just the weekend. Each campaign has a name, a start date and an end date.
Slots with a cap, and a notice period
Split the day into time slots, each with a maximum number of orders. A full slot can't be booked, and a minimum notice (e.g. 4 hours) keeps every slot clear of prep time.
Only the dishes you choose
Pick the categories your kitchen can batch, like thali and biryani. The rest of the menu keeps taking normal orders.
Delivery, pickup or dine-in
Allow all three or only some. Pickup guests collect with an OTP, delivery goes out with your riders or a partner, and dine-in food is ready when the table arrives.
Campaign cards on your website
Published campaigns show as cards on your ordering website, and Website Studio has a pre-booking section you can place on the home page.
Fill stats per slot
See how many orders each slot took against its cap, campaign by campaign, in your reports and on the live order board's pre-booking filter.
What changes
A festival Saturday, today and with pre-booking
| Moment | Today | With Owncart pre-booking |
|---|---|---|
| When orders arrive | All at once, around 7 pm | Spread across slots you cap, booked days ahead |
| How much to cook | A guess from last year | The number booked per slot, in fill stats |
| The late request | A bucket for twelve, forty minutes before pickup | A minimum notice, e.g. 4 hours, so it can't be booked |
| Which dishes | The whole menu, under pressure | Only the categories your kitchen can batch |
| Where bookings live | A notebook and WhatsApp chats | Campaign cards on your website; tickets on the live order board |
| Telling regulars | A forwarded poster | A WhatsApp message to guests who ordered before, with a direct link |
Pre-booking is part of the Restaurant plan, with ordering on WhatsApp, your website, table QR and pickup QR. See pricing →
Works with
Pre-orders flow into the tools you already run
Send the campaign link to past guests; confirmations and ready alerts arrive in the same chat.
Ownchat
Segments and campaigns across WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS and RCS, on one bill with Own Suite.
Petpooja
Menu and availability stay in sync with the POS; orders print as a KOT in the kitchen.
Positeasy
Two-way sync, with festival specials and weekend menus opened for pre-order.
Razorpay
UPI and card payments on pre-orders, as on every other order.
Adloggs
Hire riders on demand for the delivery slots your own riders can't cover.
“We take orders directly on WhatsApp. We've completely eliminated commission charges charged by Swiggy and Zomato.”
Pricing
Pre-booking is part of the Restaurant plan.
Restaurant plan
₹10,000 per outlet / year
Pre-booking campaigns with slots and fill stats, plus 0% commission ordering on WhatsApp, your website, table QR and pickup QR, Petpooja and Positeasy sync, delivery partners and offers.
Start free0% commission. GST extra. Payment gateway fees apply. WhatsApp charges are billed per delivered message, at the rates in our Message Price File, which we share separately. It's never a cut of your sale. Full pricing →
Can guests pre-order for festivals or weekends?
Yes. Pre-booking lets guests order in advance for delivery, pickup or dine-in, in time slots you cap, for example 15-minute slots with a maximum of 8 orders, only for dishes you choose, with a minimum notice such as 4 hours.
What happens when a time slot is full?
It can't be booked. Each slot has a maximum number of orders you set, for example 8, and once it is reached guests can only book the slots that still have room. Fill stats show you which slots filled first.
Can I stop last-minute pre-orders the kitchen can't prepare in time?
Yes. Set a minimum notice period, for example 4 hours. Slots closer than that can't be booked, so a bulk biryani order never lands forty minutes before pickup.
Do I have to open the whole menu for pre-booking?
No. Pick only the categories your kitchen can batch, like thali and biryani. The rest of the menu keeps taking normal orders.
Does pre-booking work for dine-in as well as delivery and pickup?
Yes. A campaign can allow delivery, pickup and dine-in, or only some of them. Dine-in guests pre-order for a table so the food is ready when they arrive.
How do I tell regulars that a festival campaign is open?
Send the campaign to a guest segment through WhatsApp marketing, for example everyone who ordered biryani before, with a direct link to the pre-booking page. Mid-week, promote the weekend slots that are still open. See WhatsApp marketing ideas.
Is pre-booking an extra charge?
No. Pre-booking is part of the Restaurant plan, ₹10,000 per outlet per year with 0% commission, alongside WhatsApp ordering, your website, table QR and pickup QR. GST extra; payment gateway fees apply.
Get started
Open your next festival for pre-booking.
Start free with a photo of your menu, or book a 15-minute demo and we'll set up your first campaign with you.
- 0% commission on every order
- Free digital menu to start
- Set up in Tamil or English