Now you can take walk-up payments on your iPhone, find preorders at pickup, and turn in-person customers into subscribers for future drops. Available on the latest Hotplate iOS app.
Pop-up Mode includes two tools
Take Walk-ups with Tap to Pay - charge walk-up customers directly from your iPhone, no card reader needed
Pull up Pickup orders with quick order lookup - quickly pull up an order by scanning a QR code or searching
Why Pop-up Mode
Many Hotplate chefs take both pre-orders and (in-person) walk-up orders at markets and events. Pop-up Mode brings those together in one place -- same app, same payout, same customer list.
When a walk-up customer taps their card and enters their phone number for a receipt, they'll automatically be subscribed to future drop texts -- and earn loyalty points, if you've enabled them.
No extra equipment required. Tap to Pay works straight from your Hotplate iPhone app.
Enable Pop-up Mode
Setup takes less than a minute and only needs to be done once
Download the latest version of the Hotplate iOS app
You'll see an announcement when you log in. Tap Enable Pop-up Mode
The next screen will prompt you to accept the permissions required for Pop-up Mode:
Camera access is required for scanning QR codes
Location access is required for accepting payments
Connect Stripe account — your Stripe account must be connected before taking payments
Connect Apple account — accept Apple's terms for how to use Tap to Pay on iPhone
Accessing Pop-up Mode
After setup, you can open Pop-up Mode any time from the Orders tab:
Update and open your Hotplate iOS app
Go to the Orders tab
Tap ⠇in the top right corner
Tap Pop-up mode
You'll see two tabs at the bottom of the screen: Walk-up (left) for Tap to Pay, and Pickup (right) for quick order lookup.
2 hours before pickups, you can also click Launch Pop-up Mode on the orders tab.
Walk-up: Take in-person payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone
At the top, search for an item or switch between List and Grid view.
1. Build your order
Tap an item to add it to the cart. Tap again to add another one.
Need to charge a flat amount instead? Tap Custom Amount in the top right corner, enter the dollar amount, and proceed to checkout.
Tap Checkout.
Tip: to streamline walk-up ordering, favorite items in your list. Tap and hold down on an item until "Add to favorites" appears. On List view, you can also swipe right on the item row until the black star appears.
2. Review the cart
On the checkout screen, you'll see a summary of all items and quantities.
Tap + or − to adjust quantities
Swipe left on an item row to remove it entirely
Tap % (top right) to apply a tax rate
Tap the trash can (top right) to clear the entire cart
Tap Back (top left) to return and add more items
When everything looks right, tap Tap to Pay on iPhone.
3. Tip
The customer can leave a tip before they tap their card. They'll see three preset amounts based on the tip percentages you've configured under Settings → Checkout, plus a custom amount option and a "No tip, thanks" button.
4. Tap
Your customer holds their card horizontally — or their device — at the top of your iPhone, over the Contactless Symbol, for a few seconds.
When you see the Done checkmark and hear the chime, the card read is complete and the transaction is being processed.
Tap to Pay accepts any contactless card, as well as digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
5. Receipt & subscribe
The customer will then have two ways to get their receipt:
Enter phone number. The customer types in their number to get their receipt by text. A checkbox is pre-checked to subscribe them to your future drop notifications. If you have a loyalty program enabled, they'll also see how many points they're earning on this order.
Scan a QR code. If the customer prefers not to enter their phone number, they can scan a QR code on screen to pull up their receipt directly on their phone.
Loyalty points
Even if a customer skips the phone number step, their loyalty points are still tracked to the card they used. If they return later with the same card and enter their phone number, they'll receive points from their previous visits retroactively.
Returning customers
If a customer has previously linked their phone number to their payment method, Hotplate will recognize their card on future visits and automatically text them their receipt -- no need to re-enter their number.
Pickup: The fastest way to pull up your preorders
Quick Order Lookup lets you pull up pre-orders fast when you're in front of customers. Tap the Pickup tab at the bottom right of Pop-up Mode to open it.
Scan a code — Ask your customer to go to their order confirmation page and tap View QR Code. Point your camera at the code to instantly pull it up, then tap Mark Done.
Search instead — Tap the Search orders bar at the bottom of the screen and type in the customer's name or order number to find their order.
Viewing your Walk-up (Tap to Pay) orders
Walk-up orders are created automatically and marked done right away.
On your Orders tab, you'll see the ticket with Walk-up customer as the name and an order number beginning with T-.
On your Payouts tab, Tap to Pay transactions appear in your Transaction History.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the fees on Walk-up (Tap to Pay) orders?
There is no Hotplate fee for Tap to Pay transactions.
The only fee is Stripe's standard payment processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
By default, Hotplate chefs are set up to cover the payment processing fee, but can also pass it onto the customer under Settings > Checkout.
Do I need a card reader or any extra equipment?
No! Tap to Pay works straight from the Hotplate iPhone app.
Card readers and terminals are not required or compatible at this time.
How do I favorite items?
Tap and hold down on an item, then tap "Add to favorites." On List view, you can also swipe right on the item row.
What types of payments can I accept with Tap to Pay?
Customers can tap a contactless card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover) or pay with a mobile wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay).
Can I apply a discount to a Tap to Pay order?
Not yet, but you can tap Custom Amount to enter any amount you'd like to charge.
Is there an offline mode?
No. A cellular connection is required to use Tap to Pay.
Is Tap to Pay secure?
Yes. Tap to Pay on iPhone uses the built-in security and privacy features of iPhone to help protect your business and your customers' data. Apple doesn't store card numbers on Apple servers, so merchants and customers can trust that their data stays theirs.*
*Apple's standard Tap to Pay privacy terms apply.