Curbside pickup is worth adding when guests have a practical place to stop, someone can carry orders out without disrupting service, and staff can identify the right guest without a long search. If any of those pieces is uncertain, start with a limited pilot or keep pickup at the counter until you can fix the gap.
The important difference from ordinary pickup is the handoff. A counter order waits for the guest to come inside. A curbside order needs a worker to leave the building, locate a vehicle and return. That extra work lands alongside the orders, calls and guests your team already handles.
Use the scorecard below before changing your ordering page. Then simulate the difficult cases with staff before inviting real guests to use the service.
Map the stopping place and the handoff
Start outside, not in the ordering dashboard. Walk the route from your pickup shelf to the proposed stopping area at a busy time. Note doors, steps, traffic lanes, visibility, lighting and how far a worker must carry a bag. Check whether a driver can stop without blocking other vehicles or people walking.
A space that works at 3 p.m. may be unavailable at 6 p.m. If the only option is a shared lot or a public curb, ask the property manager or appropriate local authority what use is permitted. Do not assume that a nearby space belongs to the restaurant or that a sign alone gives you the right to reserve it.
Give guests a recognizable destination. “Wait outside” is less useful than a named pickup area with a description that matches what a driver can see. If there is no dependable stopping place, consider offering counter pickup instead of asking staff to search the whole lot.
Decide who supplies each part of the plan:
- Owner or manager: confirms permission to use the space and decides which hours are suitable.
- Shift lead: checks the route during service and assigns responsibility for the handoff.
- Front-of-house staff: identify where bags can wait and what happens when several guests arrive together.
- Guest: follows the stopping instructions and provides the agreed arrival details.
Keep completed bags in a designated spot inside, with drinks and other loose items accounted for. The runner should check the order identifier before leaving and again at the handoff. Decide where the runner goes back if the vehicle is not there; an open-ended search can leave the rest of the shift short-handed.
Estimate staff time and peak capacity
Count the whole handoff, not just the walk to the car. A worker may need to read an arrival notice, find and check the bag, carry it outside, confirm the guest and return. If the restaurant uses a phone for arrivals, add the time spent answering it. Ask the shift lead which existing tasks will wait while that happens.
Hypothetical capacity example: Assume one worker can spare 15 minutes in a busy half hour for curbside handoffs. Assume each handoff takes three minutes from arrival notice through the worker's return. The arithmetic ceiling is five handoffs in that half hour: 15 minutes divided by three. That is not a promise of five successful handoffs. Arrivals can bunch together, and a delayed or hard-to-find vehicle can consume the available time.
For that shift, an owner might begin with a limit of three curbside orders per busy half hour, leaving six of the 15 available minutes for uneven arrivals or a longer handoff. If the ordering setup cannot enforce that limit, the team needs another practical way to stop accepting curbside requests when it is full. Otherwise, offer curbside only during quieter hours until a workable limit is in place.
Capacity is a staff-time limit, not a count of parking spaces. Three stopping spaces do not create capacity for three simultaneous handoffs if only one person can run orders. Likewise, five orders scheduled in a half hour can arrive at the same moment. Decide where the next driver waits and when staff will ask a guest to collect inside.
Review operating costs separately from sales. Estimate the extra paid staff time, any signs or equipment, and the cost of exceptions such as remaking food after a long delay. Include fixed and variable costs when comparing quotes or staffing options. An order total is revenue, not the cost of providing curbside service.
Collect arrival details staff can use
Ask for enough information to locate the guest and match the order, but avoid making the driver complete a long form from the parking lot. A useful starting set is an order identifier, the pickup name, an arrival signal and a short vehicle description. Choose a communication method that the shift can actually monitor.
For example, a guest might report the pickup name and “blue sedan, near the pickup sign” through the agreed channel. The runner still checks the order identifier at the window. Color alone is not proof: two similar cars may be waiting, and a guest may arrive in a different vehicle than planned.
Write the instructions in the same order the guest will use them: where to stop, how to report arrival, what details to provide and what to do if there is no response. Tell guests not to send payment details in an arrival message. Provide a fallback, such as calling the restaurant or coming to the counter, that fits your staffing and location.
Before promising curbside through your direct ordering flow, ask the provider what customers can select at checkout, how arrival details reach staff, and whether instructions can be shown at the right point. Also ask whether staff can pause curbside or limit it by time. If a feature is unavailable, decide whether a monitored phone and clear website instructions are practical enough for your volume.
Your restaurant website can be a useful place to explain the stopping location and fallback. For the wider ordering decision, the online ordering buying guide covers questions beyond the curbside handoff.
Score readiness before accepting orders
Use one point for each row that your team can answer yes during the intended service hours. A score of four supports a limited live pilot; three suggests fixing the missing item or restricting hours first. With two or fewer, keep pickup at the counter while you address the gaps. Even with four points, do not start if the stopping location is unsafe or you lack permission to use it.
| Check | Earn one point when | If not ready |
|---|---|---|
| Stopping place | Guests have a permitted, identifiable place to stop and staff have a workable route. | Find another location or use counter pickup. |
| Staff capacity | A shift owner and a realistic peak limit are set, with a way to stop taking excess requests. | Reduce hours or arrange coverage before launch. |
| Arrival information | Guests know how to signal arrival and staff can match the guest to the order. | Choose a monitored channel and write a fallback. |
| Exceptions | Staff know what to do for a late guest, an unclear vehicle and an unavailable runner. | Agree on responses and practice them. |
The table scores operational readiness, not software features. Revisit it for each shift you want to offer: a lunch crew with an open lot may be ready when a dinner crew with fewer available staff is not. Write down who owns each fix and when the team will check it again.
Simulate exceptions, then run a limited pilot
Before taking live curbside orders, walk through a simulation with staff using dummy names and bags. Do not process a real card payment, send a guest message or dispatch a courier. One person plays the guest and another follows the proposed staff instructions. Time the handoff and note where the runner has to guess.
Try at least these situations:
- The guest is late. Decide where the bag waits, who checks food condition and when staff should contact the guest through the agreed channel.
- The vehicle description is unclear. Have the runner request a better location or ask the guest to come to the counter rather than handing the bag to the first plausible car.
- Several arrivals come together. Decide who acknowledges them and what order the team uses for handoffs.
- The runner is pulled away. Assign a backup or pause curbside acceptance rather than leaving arriving guests without a response.
A simulation exposes gaps in the instructions; it cannot show how actual guests will behave or how the service will affect a real rush. For a live pilot, choose limited hours, tell the team the capacity limit and give guests clear instructions before they arrive. Record handoff delays, missed arrival notices and times the runner was unavailable. Review those notes with the shift lead before adding more hours.
If delays regularly exceed what the team can absorb, reduce the limit, change the route or return to counter pickup while you revise the process. A smaller service that staff can manage is more useful than a curbside option guests cannot rely on.
Complete the scorecard for your busiest intended shift, then ask Fleksa about restaurant online ordering, including current US availability and how your proposed curbside workflow would be set up.
Frequently asked questions
Does a restaurant need dedicated curbside spaces?
Not necessarily, but guests need a permitted, identifiable place to stop and staff need a workable route. If neither is dependable during service, counter pickup may be the better choice.
How many curbside orders should a restaurant accept?
Start with the staff time available for handoffs, divide by the expected time per handoff, and set a lower working limit that leaves room for delays. Check whether you can actually enforce the limit before offering it.
What should guests provide when they arrive?
Ask for the pickup name or order identifier, an arrival signal and a useful location or vehicle description. Staff should confirm the order at handoff rather than relying on the vehicle description alone.
