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

Picture it: it’s the Friday before Christmas, the kitchen’s flat out, the roast meat's all carved, the Yorkshire puddings are ready, and table six is still empty. It’s clear they’re not coming, but here’s the kicker: that one no-show for a table of four could cost you £200 to £400. And it's not rare. Research from Zonal and CGA has estimated that no-shows cost UK hospitality around £17.6 billion a year. 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 Christmas party tables or selling festive hampers, knowing what’s coming weeks in advance means less waste and fewer nasty surprises.

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

Start with a simple but profitable offer

It’s tempting to offer everything at Christmas, 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 festive menu, three or four options per course is plenty, and your kitchen will thank you for it (think seasonal favourites). If you run a shop, pick a handful of products that people genuinely like to order ahead, like hampers, Christmas cakes, turkeys, speciality cheeses or personalised 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. Not sure where your prices should land? The average festive menu in UK pubs and restaurants hit £36 per person in 2025, so it’s a handy number to check yours against.

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 Christmas party menus two weeks before each booking, turkeys and fresh meat 10 days before collection, and Christmas cakes and baked goods a week before. For hampers 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 bit of wiggle room. December’s hectic for suppliers too, and plenty of them close or cut their hours over Christmas, so check their last delivery dates early and add a couple of days just in case something turns up late. And if you’re taking collections on 23 or 24 December, 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 till. Open bookings for popular dates early, too. According to 2025 data from Dojo reported by The Morning Advertiser, the week starting 8 December accounted for 34% of festive bookings recorded in its dataset. 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 festive 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 festive 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 till 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 venue. Selling festive food or products? Epos Now Online Ordering does a similar job, with orders heading straight into your till.

Whichever way customers order, get everything you need the first time round, 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 collection

• Each guest’s menu choices, ideally collected by the organiser for group bookings, so you’re not chasing a dozen people

• Any dietary requirements or allergies, noted against 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 collection time, how much they've paid and any balance still due. 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 their orders.

Take money upfront

If there’s one thing that can help protect your December takings, it’s asking for money upfront. It might feel a little awkward at first, but most customers are used to paying deposits at Christmas and understand why businesses ask for them. And deposits can make a real difference. As our guide to managing festive bookings and no-shows explains, asking customers to commit financially can help discourage last-minute no-shows and protect your business when tables are left empty.

When it comes to group bookings, a small deposit per head 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. Hampers and turkeys are a bit different, and many businesses take the full amount when the order goes in, which means there’s nothing to faff about with on collection day. With booking systems like Epos Now Booking, the deposit’s taken when they book and knocked off the final bill automatically, so nobody has to remember to do the maths on the night.

Whatever you decide, make your cancellation policy crystal clear before anyone pays, so there are no surprises later. It’s also useful to know that the usual 14-day right to cancel online orders doesn’t normally apply to perishable food, personalised goods or catering for a specific date. Rules can be tricky, though, so have a quick look at the GOV.UK guidance on consumer contracts before you set your policy.

Plan for changes

Here’s the reality, though: at Christmas, 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 collection slot, and how late they can do it.

Of course, sometimes something serious comes up, like illness or a family emergency. A bit of 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 are generally entitled to their money back.

Get allergens right, especially for hampers

There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re selling food you’ve packed yourself, like a festive hamper or a boxed Christmas pudding. If it's packaged before customers choose or order it, and sold by the same business from the premises where it was packed, it may count as prepacked for direct sale (PPDS). Under Natasha's Law, PPDS food needs a label with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with allergens highlighted. Not every hamper will fall into this category, though, so check the Food Standards Agency's guidance to see which rules apply to your products.

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

And one last thing! Send customers a reminder a few days before their booking or collection. 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 Christmas starts now

Pre-orders won’t make December any less busy, but they can make it a whole lot easier (and more pleasurable) to manage. With your bookings, stock 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 festive rush, take a look at our Christmas marketing ideas for a little extra inspiration. After all, Christmas is 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 festive season yourself!