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WHERE : BOM / Items List / Items List

Overview

ITEMS ( more commonly referred to as MENU ITEMS to avoid confusion with INVENTORY ITEMS ) are what you actually make available for sale via your POS APP, WEB APP, E-SHOP, MOB APP.

MENU ITEMS can be anything at all that you are going to sell and ( hopefully ) make a profit on. There are many options and settings you can make that affect the way this works.

Your MENU ITEMS can also be linked back to your INVENTORY ITEMS via RECIPES for STOCK CONTROL and COSTING.

You can organise their SORT ORDER, assign COMMON MODIFIER GROUPS, create complex IF / THEN structures using RELATED MODIFIERS, integrate into weighing scales, add images & descriptions, SKUs, EANs, assign PRODUCTION PRINTERS, TAX RATES, STORES, create date / time based availability, exclude from LOYALTY or GIFT CARDS…

When you are using STOCK CONTROL, VENDOR INVOICES will assign a COST to the INVENTORY ITEM, the RECIPE will apportion a COST to the MENU ITEM and the COMMON / RELATED MODIFIERS.

How you set up your MENU ITEMS will be very dependent on how your staff sell your wares and if you intend to give yourself an online presence enabling your customers to view and buy your goods and services.

This article will look at the options available.

The FAQs section will examine different scenarios for different Channels of Trade.

Think carefully about your ordering process and how you want to be selling in the future, before you start entering MENU ITEMS in your BOM.

Add New Menu Items

BOM - Items List - Items List - Add New Menu Item
BOM – Items List – Items List – Add New Menu Item

Navigate to BOM / Items List / Items List and click <ADD>

Oscar Point of Sale - BOM - Menu Items - Add New
BOM – Menu Items – Add New

NOTE : While you can add RELATED MODIFIERS and RECIPES at the same time, I find it easier to create the MENU ITEM first, save it, then go back in and do all the fancy bits.

  • Name : This would seem very obvious. You do however, need to remember that this is what will appear on receipts, customer displays, promotion screens, mobile and web app.
  • Item Type : I always use Menu Item. It has more available options and actions than Retail Item. Even if I don’t intend to use them, if I choose MENU ITEM now, I am not disappointed later.
  • Category : This is the ITEM CATEGORY that the MENU ITEM will appear under on your APPS. Usually you have already defined these, and can just start typing it or use the pull down. You also have the option to “fast add” a new MENU CATEGORY.
  • UOM : This is the Unit of Measure to be used for this MENU ITEM. It will be the default you have defined in Settings / Units of Measure. Change it if you want something different.
  • Gross Weight :
  • Nett Weight :
  • Don’t Update Weights :
  • Don’t Update Calories :
  • Kcal per 100g :
  • Protein per 100g :
  • Fat per 100g :
  • Carbohydrate per 100g :
  • Price : This will become the Default Price. It will include any taxes if they are defined.
  • Max Retail Price : If you are using OPEN PRICE, you can set an upper halo to help  avoid errors.
  • Open Price : If enabled, when this MENU ITEM is selected, the use is presented with a dialogue to enter a price. In most cases, this is not something you would make available ONLINE.
  • Weightable : If enabled, this MENU ITEM will request a weight. When the POS APP has integrated weighing scales, this weight is automatic. Where there are no integrated scales, this is a manual input.
  • Taxes : This should really be a compulsory field. Select from a rate you have predefined in settings / taxes.
  • Assembly Time : An alternative to using Time Slots. Note that this way does not take into account how many ORDERS you have outstanding, nor the time of day, etc
  • Printers : Will be populated from the chosen MENU CATEGORY. You can always change this default
  • Stores : When you are using multi-store, you can limit availability to selected STORES. Usually you will select “All Stores”
  • Availability : By default, this MENU ITEM is always available. You can change this so that the ITEM is only available to add to an ORDER on certain days and / or times
  • Exclude from Promo : Useful when using SETS of a MENU CATEGORY but you do not want all of the MENU ITEMS to be part of the PROMOTION
  • Can be Paid with Gift Cards : I always tick this one
  • Can be Paid with Loyalty Points : I always tick this one too
  • Loyalty Points Value : Usually 100% because it is easier to create your PROMOTION so that 1 point equates to 1 cent
  • No Manual Discounts : Your CSR will not be allowed to apply a Discount at checkout
  • Alcohol : When enabled and the POS APP setting is also enabled, you cashier will be prompted to confirm the customer is of legal age
  • Tobacco Product : When enabled and the POS APP setting is also enabled, you cashier will be prompted to confirm the customer is of legal age. Also a useful way of preventing a single MENU ITEM from not appearing ONLINE
  • Editable by Admin Only : The logged in user  has to have the admin ROLE to change this MENU ITEM. Means you can have multiple stores and headoffice can control the core range of products, while letting the franchisee still make other changes
  • Image : When you are selling online ( eCART, WEB APP, MOB APP, Uber ) your staff are not there to tell the potential customer how fantastic your MENU ITEM is. Always upload at least 1 beautiful image. Some hints can be found here and here
  • Active : Toggle availability on and off. I prefer to use the STOP function on the POS APP as your cashiers get to know where MENU ITEMS are without looking at them. STOPPING keeps the MENU ITEM on the screen, but does NOT change the position of all the other MENU ITEMS.
  • Printer Icon :
  • Course : Use this to separate MENU ITEMS by COURSE level. Mostly used in a RESTAURANT, but can be used to group similar MENU ITEMS together on a ny PRODUCTION DOCKET
  • SKU : This is an old way of doing things. I have still found it  useful as a way to create reports where you want to monitor MENU ITEMS that appear across different MENU CATEGORIES. SKUs are unique to you
  • UPC : Also called a barcode – but slightly incorrectly. For the sake of this article, please pretend they are the same thing
  • Description : For online, this is just as important as an image. You have 3000 characters to play with. So can be as simple as a tantalising description of your butter chicken or complex build data and specifications

Don’t forget to click <SAVE>

Now is when I will go back into the MENU ITEM LIST and <edit> my new MENU ITEM and <update> things like :

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