Guide
Restaurant POS with online ordering
When your point-of-sale and your online ordering do not talk to each other, you get double entry, mismatched menus, and orders missed during the rush. This guide explains why POS and online ordering should work together, the ways to connect them, the trade-offs of each, and how to add ordering without buying a whole new POS.
By Town · Reviewed July 2026 · ~9 min read
Why POS and online ordering should be connected
Your POS runs the register and the floor. Your online ordering takes orders from the web. When they are separate and unlinked, staff re-key online orders into the POS by hand, menus drift out of sync, and busy shifts drop tickets. Connecting them means online orders flow straight into the kitchen and, ideally, the same menu powers both, so a price change happens once.
The ways to connect them
- All-in-one POS with built-in ordering (like Toast or SpotOn). Tightly integrated, but you buy the whole POS and its hardware.
- Integrations between a separate ordering platform and your existing POS. Flexible, but integrations vary in reliability and depth.
- A tablet that receives orders next to your POS. Simple and reliable, online orders print and route without a deep integration.
The trade-offs
An all-in-one POS gives the deepest connection but the highest cost and lock-in. Integrations preserve your current POS but depend on how well the two systems talk. A receiving tablet is the simplest and most reliable path for many independents, orders come in clean without ripping out your register or paying for a full new POS.
You do not always need a new POS
If your register works and your real goal is more direct online orders, you often do not need to replace the POS at all. Town takes orders on your own branded site and routes them to a tablet in your kitchen, printed and confirmed, so online ordering runs cleanly alongside your existing setup, with no marketplace commission and no per-terminal software fee. See Online Ordering and the Tablet setup setup guide.
Key takeaways
- Disconnected POS and ordering cause double entry, menu drift, and dropped tickets.
- Three ways to connect: all-in-one POS, integrations, or a receiving tablet.
- All-in-one is deepest but costliest; integrations depend on reliability; a tablet is simple and reliable.
- You often do not need a new POS to add online ordering.
- Town routes direct orders to a kitchen tablet alongside your existing register, no commission or per-terminal fee.