Can AI take food orders from Instagram DMs? What it can and can't do

What an AI front desk can do with an order in a DM

Take SF Burger Shop, a demo business owned by Bob. A customer sends a DM at 8:30pm, mid rush: a Classic Burger, fries and a chocolate shake for pickup. Nobody is at the phone. The DM still gets answered.

Here is what a well built AI front desk does with that message. DM DESK works this way today.

• Says it is an automated assistant in the first reply, so the customer knows who they are talking to.
• Answers from Bob's real menu and prices: Classic Burger $10.00, Fries $4.50, Chocolate Shake $6.00.
• Asks for any required choice the menu lists, like a size, then reads the order back with the choices made.
• States the total before tax: $20.50 for this order. Tax and anything else your checkout adds show up at checkout.
• Sends the customer to Bob's own checkout to pay.
• Replies in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic or Tagalog, any hour, including when you are busy on the line.

How the customer pays: always on your own checkout

The customer never pays inside the DM. The AI builds the order, then hands it to the checkout you already use. What that looks like depends on your system.

• Square: a Square checkout link holding the order, with pickup. The customer reviews it and pays there.
• Square Online: a filled cart on your own Square Online site. This works when the chat runs on that site. In a DM, the customer gets your Square checkout link instead, when Square is connected. Without Square connected, it sends your Square Online link with the order written out to enter there.
• Toast: a link to your Toast ordering page, with the order written out in the message. The order does not carry over, so the customer enters the same items there and pays.
• DoorDash: in a DM, a link to your DoorDash store with the order written out, using a menu you upload. On your website chat the button reads "Open DoorDash to order". Pickup or delivery, fees and taxes are all chosen and shown on DoorDash.

What it can't do, or shouldn't

Most problems with AI ordering come from promises the bot has no way to keep. These are the lines to hold, whatever tool you use.

• Take payment in the DM. No card numbers in chat, ever. Payment happens on your checkout.
• Say the order is placed. Until the customer pays at checkout, nothing is placed. DM DESK never says an order is confirmed, placed or paid.
• Answer allergy questions on its own. It says it can't make that call for an allergy, adds that the kitchen handles common allergens, and connects the customer with your team.
• Invent prices or items. Prices come from your menu. If a customer asks for something that isn't on it, the AI says it couldn't add it instead of guessing.
• Take voice orders on Instagram. Voice ordering is website chat only. If a customer sends a voice note or a photo with no text in a DM, DM DESK can't hear or see it. It asks them to type what they need and alerts you.

What to set up first

An AI front desk is only as good as what you give it. Get these right before any customer sees it.

• An accurate menu with prices and options. Sizes, add ons and required choices each need their own price. A missing option is an order the AI can't build.
• Your hours, so it can tell a late night customer when you open next.
• A checkout: your Square connection, your Square Online site, your Toast ordering page, or your DoorDash store.
• Your FAQs and policies: pickup, parking, catering, what to do about a wrong order.
• Who gets alerts, and how fast someone on your team will answer a handoff.

How handoffs work

Some messages need a person. DM DESK hands allergy questions, complaints, sensitive topics and any "can I talk to a person" to you. You get an alert by email and in the app.

Staff can take over any chat. Before anyone replies, the AI keeps answering other questions and tells the customer the owner has been notified. Once someone on your team takes over, sends a reply with Reply directly, or types a reply straight on Instagram, the AI stays quiet on that chat until you hand it back. If you set a wait under "Resume AI after a takeover" in Your agent, Voice and handoffs, it also picks the chat back up when a customer message goes unanswered that long.

On Instagram, the AI doesn't ask for a phone number or email for a general follow up. The customer's handle is how your team replies. So if a customer asks something you haven't covered, like a catering quote for 40, the chat goes to Bob and Bob answers in the same thread.

A handoff doesn't erase the order. If a customer asks about nuts halfway through, the order stays in the chat for whoever picks it up. No checkout link goes out until your team replies, unless the customer chooses to order anyway. Then the reply asks them to call first.

A checklist before you turn it on

• Every menu item has the right price, and every option has its price too.
• Items you no longer sell are off the menu you give the AI.
• Your hours are current, including holidays.
• Your checkout link works, and you have placed a test order through it yourself.
• You know what the customer sees at checkout: tax, pickup time, any fees.
• Allergy and ingredient questions go to a person, every time.
• Someone gets alerts and knows how to take over a chat.
• Customers are told in the first reply that they are talking to an automated assistant.

Is it worth it for a small restaurant?

If your DMs are mostly "are you open" and "how much is the double", an AI front desk answers those from your real info at any hour. If people already try to order by DM, it turns those messages into orders on your checkout instead of threads you answer later.

If you want to see how DM DESK handles your menu, book a free setup call. You can set it up yourself, or with us on a free 30 minute setup call.