How to Set Up Pre-Orders for Festive Menus and Products

Picture it: it’s the Friday before Christmas, the kitchen’s slammed, the turkey and ham are carved, the mashed potatoes are ready, and table six is still empty. It’s clear they’re not coming, and here’s the kicker: that’s a full table’s worth of food and staff time you won’t get back. And it’s more common than you’d think. According to Restaurants Canada, as many as one in four restaurant reservations end in a no-show. So, how can you stop this from happening, especially during one of your busiest seasons?

Pre-orders are one of the simplest defences, and they help more than just restaurants. Whether you’re filling holiday party tables or selling festive gift baskets, knowing what’s coming weeks in advance means less waste and fewer nasty surprises. And with Canadians still keen to spend over the holidays, it’s well worth getting right. Visa Canada found that holiday retail spending rose 4.4% in 2025, with 88% of that spending happening in-store.

Ready to sleigh December? Dive right into this blog to get your holiday pre-orders sorted, so the only surprises this season are the good kind.

Start with a simple but profitable offer

It’s tempting to offer everything over the holidays, but when it comes to pre-orders, less really is more. December is busy enough as it is, so don’t be tempted to bite off more than you can chew. For a holiday menu, three or four options per course is plenty, and your kitchen will thank you for it (think seasonal favourites). If you run a store, pick a handful of products that people genuinely like to order ahead, like gift baskets, tourtières, butter tarts, shortbread, turkeys and hams, specialty cheeses or personalized gifts.

Before anything goes live, take a few minutes to work out what each option actually costs you, because December has a habit of eating into your margins if you’re not careful. Check your prices against similar restaurants or stores in your area, too, so you know your offer is competitive.

Work your deadlines backwards

The easiest way to set deadlines is to start from your suppliers’ last order dates and work backwards. As a rough guide, you might close pre-orders for holiday party menus two weeks before each booking, turkeys, hams and fresh meat 10 days before pickup, and pies and baked goods a week before. For gift baskets and gift boxes, work from your supplier’s last delivery date and add a few days to pack everything up.

Oh, and give yourself a little wiggle room. December’s hectic for suppliers too, and plenty of them close or cut their hours over the holidays, so check their last delivery dates early and add a couple of days just in case something shows up late. Winter weather can slow deliveries down too, so that buffer’s well worth having. And if you’re taking pickups on December 23 or 24, close those a little earlier than the rest. Trust us, they’ll be your busiest days by a mile.

Once your deadlines are set, make them impossible to miss by putting them on your booking page, in every confirmation message and on a sign by the counter. Open bookings for popular dates early, too. Weekends in early and mid-December are prime time for holiday parties and tend to fill up fast. So, opening pre-orders in early November gives you a good head start.

Spread the word early

You’ve got everything planned, so now you’ve got to shout all about it! Even the best holiday menu won’t fill tables if nobody knows about it. Start promoting your pre-orders as soon as possible, and keep reminding people as each deadline gets closer.

So, what’s the best way to let people know what you’ve got going on? Put your holiday menu or product list on your website and social media, with the booking or ordering link front and centre. In-store, a poster by the counter and a sign out front should do the trick, as well as a small card on every table.

And if you’ve got a customer email list, put it to work! Sending a quick email when pre-orders open, followed by a friendly last-chance reminder a few days before each deadline, is one of the easiest ways to fill your order book. It’s a simple way to get your regulars’ attention without spending anything extra.

Let customers order without calling you

Here’s the thing with phone calls and emails: every pre-order that comes in that way is another job for you to type up or jot down. And when you’re juggling dozens of them in December, it’s all too easy for one to slip through the cracks, or end up with a scribbled note nobody can read. The simplest fix is to let customers book and order themselves, whenever suits them.

This is where Epos Now Booking comes in. Instead of fielding calls mid-service, you can give customers a booking page they can use whenever suits them, through a link on your website, social media or Google listing, or a QR code in your restaurant. Selling holiday food or products? You can take orders online too, with an Epos Now POS system keeping your online and in-store sales in one place.

Whichever way customers order, get everything you need the first time around, so you’re not chasing anyone in December. Make sure every order includes:

• Their name, phone number and email
• The date and time of the booking or pickup
• Each guest’s menu choices, ideally collected by the organizer for group bookings, so you’re not chasing a dozen people
• Any dietary requirements or allergies, noted for each person
• Anything else you should know, like a high chair or a surprise birthday

And once an order comes in, don’t leave customers wondering whether it’s gone through. Send a confirmation by email or text with their order details, booking or pickup time, how much they’ve paid and any balance still owing. Include the deadline for making changes, too. That way, they’ve got everything in writing, and you’re less likely to spend December answering calls from customers checking on their orders.

Take money upfront

If there’s one thing that can help protect your December sales, it’s asking for money upfront. It might feel a little awkward at first, but most customers are used to paying deposits over the holidays and understand why businesses ask for them. And deposits can make a real difference. In one study of over 3.7 million reservations, bookings with a deposit or card hold had a no-show rate of just 0.80%, compared with 2.47% for those without.

When it comes to group bookings, a small deposit per person tends to work well, and it doesn’t need to be much, just enough that people won’t drop out on a whim the day before. Gift baskets and turkeys are a bit different, and many businesses take the full amount when the order goes in, which means there’s nothing to fuss over on pickup day. With booking systems like Epos Now Booking, the deposit’s taken when they book and taken off the final bill automatically, so nobody has to remember to do the math on the night.

Whatever you decide, make your cancellation policy crystal clear before anyone pays, so there are no surprises later. Consumer protection rules are set by each province, so check what applies where you do business. If you run a restaurant in Quebec, for example, there are specific rules on no-show fees, with restaurants now able to charge up to $10 per person. A clear, written policy also helps if a customer disputes a charge with their bank.

Plan for changes

Here’s the reality, though: over the holidays, plans change, and there’s not much you can do about it. Someone drops out of the office party, a group of eight suddenly becomes ten, or a guest remembers they’re vegan the day before. Deciding how you’ll handle it in advance will save you a lot of stress later.

Generally, here’s a good way to approach it: set a final cut-off for changes to numbers and menu choices, usually a few days before the booking, and include it in your confirmation message. Decide whether deposits are transferable if one guest drops out and another joins, and what happens if a group shrinks significantly after the deadline. For product orders, be clear about whether customers can swap items or change their pickup slot, and how late they can do it.

Of course, sometimes something serious comes up, like illness or a family emergency. A little flexibility goes a long way here, and offering to move the booking or turn the deposit into credit for another visit could be a kind gesture, especially for a regular. If someone insists on a refund outside your policy, explain the terms they agreed to and keep a record of every booking and payment, just in case. And if the problem’s on your side, like a faulty product, customers will generally expect their money back.

Get allergens right, especially for gift baskets

There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re selling food you’ve packaged yourself, like a holiday gift basket or a box of homemade shortbread. Prepackaged food sold in Canada generally needs to declare Health Canada’s priority food allergens, which include peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, mustard and sulphites. Rules for food you package and sell yourself can vary, though, so check Health Canada’s guidance on food allergens and your local public health requirements before you start selling.

For holiday menus, make sure every allergy from the pre-order reaches the kitchen in writing, not just in someone’s memory. This can save you time answering questions while also keeping your customers safe.

Put your pre-orders to work

Once your deadlines pass, you’ll have something most businesses only dream of in December: a pretty accurate picture of what’s coming. Now it’s time to put those numbers to good use! Look at how many orders you’ve got coming in each day and use that to work out what needs prepping, how much inventory you’ll need and who’s working when.

Leave room for walk-ins and last-minute customers, though. Your Epos Now reports can show you how busy last December’s peak days were, so you can see how much extra to allow on top of your pre-orders.

Now, make it all come together

Ah, you’ve made it to the final step! But don’t overlook this one; it’s just as important as the rest. After all that planning, you want to make sure everything runs smoothly when your customers arrive.

For holiday menus: make sure your kitchen and front-of-house teams have a sheet for each booking, with every guest’s meal choices and dietary requirements, before service starts. That way, everyone knows what’s been ordered, and there’s less confusion when things get busy.

For pickups: offer pickup time slots so you don’t have everyone showing up at once. Think about how many orders your team can realistically hand over in each slot. For example, if each pickup takes around two minutes, one person at the counter could manage around seven orders in 15 minutes. Label each order with the customer’s name and pickup time, and set up a separate pickup point away from the main counter.

And one last thing! Send customers a reminder a few days before their booking or pickup. Epos Now Booking can do this automatically for bookings, giving customers a chance to check their details and get in touch about any changes while you’ve still got time to adjust.

A calmer holiday season starts now

Pre-orders won’t make December any less busy, but they can make it a whole lot easier (and more enjoyable) to manage. With your bookings, inventory and staff planned, you can spend less time dealing with last-minute surprises and more time growing your business and serving your customers.

And if you’re looking for more ways to make the most of the holiday rush, take a look at our Christmas marketing ideas for a little extra inspiration. After all, the holidays are busy enough without having to worry about missing orders or running out of stock. Get the planning out of the way early, and you might even get a chance to enjoy the season yourself!