In this article, we're going to review best practices in creating a Rental Item menu.
The Rental menu is priced à la carte with each item priced individually.
For this Rental Menu style, you'll create Items for each option within each section. Then also create an Item for each section title with no price assigned to list as a header, and then add all of the items to a Menu.
If you offer other menus in a similar style, the same process used for this package can easily be applied to those as well.
Your menus may use different terminology in the title or throughout. When creating menus, it's important to review and reference Tripleseat's Menu, Item, and Packages terms below.
Item: an individual *thing* to sell to guests, often consumable, but does not have to be
- Examples of an item in TS include
- Chicken Parmesan
- Additional Bartender for 2 hours
- Wireless Microphone
Item Group: a way for users to organize Items within a Package
- These are often meal courses (Appetizers, Entrees, Desserts)
Modifier Group: a container for a set of Modifiers for an Item
- For Chicken Parm, the modifier group could be Pasta Choice
- For Wireless Microphone, the modifier group could be Microphone Type
Modifier: an available choice or feature for an Item, organized within a Modifier Group
- For Chicken Parm (Item) > Pasta Choice (Modifier Group) > modifiers could be:
- Ziti
- Penne
- Angel Hair
- For Wireless Mic (Item) > Microphone Type (Modifier Group) > modifiers could be:
- Handheld
- Headset
- Clip
Package: a collection of Items offered together at a set price, often priced per person
- Example: Gold Plated Dinner Package > $75 per person
- Guest might select 2 apps, 3 entrees, and 1 dessert within this package
Minimum / Maximum Selections: for Modifier Groups and Item Groups, these are the parameters around how menu mods (within an Item) or items (within a Package) a guest can select
- If no min or max is indicated, guests will not be limited in the number of choices
- Regardless of min or max in settings, TS Users will be able to select any number of mods or items within a doc template
Menu: a way to organize offerings - these offerings can be Items, Packages, or a combination of both.
- Examples of Menus might be:
- Corporate Group Dinner Menu > could include packages, like:
- Gold Plated Dinner Package for $75 pp
- Silver Plated Dinner Package for $65 pp
- Continental Breakfast Buffet Menu > could include items, like:
- Assorted Muffins
- Fruit Bowls
- Breakfast Sandwiches
- Corporate Group Dinner Menu > could include packages, like:
In addition to this article, you can view guides and videos by going to Settings > Menus. The guides are available at the top of the page.
Now, let's build a typical Rental Item menu step by step.
As stated above, the Rental menu is priced à la carte with each item priced individually.
For this Rental Menu style, you'll create Items for each option within each section. Then also create an Item for each section title with no price assigned to list as a header, and then add all of the items to a Menu.
First, you're going to make all of the options within the sections into ITEMS. To do this, go to Settings > Menus.
You'll then go to the Items tab
Start with the first section's title: Audio Visual Equipment. You'll add this as an item without pricing to use as a header.
Add the Display Name and optional Internal Name, check the Location(s) where it is available, set the Price to zero, set the Category to A/V or the menu item category that the items would fall under, and add the Description. Then click Update.
Now, for each item, you'll add the Display Name and optional Internal Name, check the Location(s) where it is available, set each item's Price accordingly, set the Category to A/V or the menu item category that the items would fall under, and add the Description. Then click Update. Repeat this for each Item in that section.
Now repeat that process of creating section titles as Items with zero pricing and the options for each section as Items with appropriate pricing.
Next, you'll create a Menu and add all of the Items to it.
Go to the Menus tab.
Click +New Menu button toward the right of the screen
Fill out the required and appropriate fields and Save.
After saving the Menu, click Items & Packages.
Then click +Add Items.
You'll now add all of the Items to the Rental Menu. For this type of Menu that consists of all Items, be sure to add the Items in the order you want them to appear on the Tripleseat user's front end or rearrange them accordingly by dragging and dropping.
This is how your Menu should look on the front end after adding to your booking documents.
Here is how the Rental selections will look on viewable documents.
Reporting
Your Menu Item reports will show the quantities and totals, along with typical reporting options such as date ranges, grouping, sorting, and choice of columns of information.