How Square restaurants turn DMs into checkout orders

What it can do, and what it can't

Plenty of restaurants already get orders by DM. Someone asks for two burgers and a shake, and a person on your team has to read it, type it into Square and send something back. With Square connected, DM DESK does that part in the chat.

• It can answer from the menu it imports from your Square account: items, sizes, add ons and prices.
• It can take the whole order, ask for any required choice like a size, and read the order back with the total before tax.
• It can send a Square checkout link with every item already in it, set for pickup. A note like "no onions" goes on that item.
• It can make a new link each time the customer changes the order, so the link always matches the chat.
• If the chat runs on your own Square Online site, it fills the cart on that site instead, and the customer pays there.
• It can't take payment in the chat. The customer pays on Square's checkout page.
• It can't say an order is placed or confirmed. Nothing is placed until the customer pays on Square.
• It can't set up delivery. The Square link is for pickup.
• It can't add an item that isn't on your menu, and it can't answer allergy questions on its own.

How a DM becomes a Square order, step by step

Here is the full path, from the first message to the payment.

1. A customer sends your Instagram account a DM, or opens the chat on your website.
2. DM DESK tells the customer it is an AI assistant, in the opening message on website chat or in its first reply in a DM, and answers from your Square menu, prices and hours.
3. The customer orders. DM DESK asks for any choice your menu requires, then lists every item and the total before tax.
4. DM DESK creates a Square checkout link that holds the order, with each item and its choices, set for pickup.
5. In an Instagram DM the link arrives in the message, under the line "Your order is in this link, tap to review and pay:". In website chat the customer taps Review order.
6. The customer checks the order on Square's checkout page and pays there. The payment goes to your own Square account.
7. In DM DESK, the Leads and orders tab of your Inbox shows whether each checkout link was paid.

Setup, in six steps

You can do this yourself from your DM DESK dashboard, or with us on a free 30 minute setup call. We review your setup before it answers customers.

1. Sign up for DM DESK and pick a plan.
2. On the Channels page, tap Connect Square. Square opens its own page, you sign in, and you approve DM DESK. There are no keys to copy.
3. DM DESK imports your Square menu and books chat orders to the first active location in your Square account. If you have more than one location, you can change it on the Channels page.
4. Read through the imported menu. After you change your menu in Square, tap Refresh menu from Square in Your agent, under Menu and ordering.
5. In Menu and ordering, choose whether Square's checkout asks customers for a tip. It is off unless you turn it on.
6. Connect your Instagram account, add the chat to your website, or both. Then send a test order yourself and open the link to check the items on Square's page.

What gets handed to a person

Some messages need you, not a link. DM DESK hands these to your team, with an alert by email and in the app:

• Allergy questions. It says it can't make that call for an allergy and connects the customer with your team. The order stays in the chat for whoever picks it up.
• Complaints, sensitive topics, and anyone who asks for a person.
• Photos and voice notes in a DM. It can't see or hear them, so it asks the customer to type what they need and alerts you.
• A checkout link that won't build. The customer is told the online checkout isn't loading and to use your ordering page or call, and you get an alert.
• Questions you haven't covered, like a catering order for 40.

You or your staff can take over any chat from the inbox. If you use Toast instead of Square, see how Toast restaurants take orders from Instagram DMs.