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How to check your orders for an upcoming delivery day
Open the "My Orders" tab of your Shef Dashboard.
Click on a delivery date to view your order summary for that day. This page includes a breakdown of the total numbers of each dish ordered. Use this to help you plan for getting your ingredients.
In the "Labels" section, choose either "Dymo" or "Inkjet or Laser Printer" from the drop-down menu, and then click "Generate Document" to download a PDF file with the labels you will print for your upcoming orders.
Customer badges on order breakdown page
The badges that you see next to your customer's name on your order breakdown page represent the following:
Bronze: First time ordering from you
Silver: One or two previous orders
Gold: They have placed three or more orders from you before
Order notifications
You can set your order text notification settings in the "My Profile" page of your Shef Dashboard. You can choose to receive a text every time a new order is placed, to never receive texts when customers place orders on your menu, or to get a text when the first order is placed for an upcoming delivery day so you know you will have orders on an upcoming delivery day. You can also choose whether or not to receive a text anytime an order is canceled.
You will also receive a summary email right after your order cut-off time with a list of all of your orders. Make sure to always check your final list of orders from the "My Orders" section of your dash before you start preparing your orders for an upcoming delivery day just in case a text or email didn't come through properly.
Example of an order notification text:
Understanding 'M' and 'S' orders
The following information applies to all shefs who are using Shef hubs or drop-off locations (most of the Bay Area, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle).
There are 2 different kinds of Shef orders: ‘M’ orders and ‘S’ orders. You can see both ‘M’ and 'S' orders in the "My Orders" page of your Shef Dashboard, and on each dish label. You will see the letter 'M' or 'S' at the end of the GoID number for each order.
‘S’ orders are single-shef orders, which is a normal order between one shef and one customer. When you see 'S', think single. These dishes are all going to one single customer, who only ordered food from you.
‘M’ orders are multi-shef orders. When you see ‘M’, think mix and match! The ‘M’ indicates that the customer has picked out dishes from 2 or more shefs. You will pack these orders a little differently, and our hub team will handle the logistics of making sure each dish gets to the correct customer.
Most of your orders will be 'S' orders. Whenever you are preparing and packaging your orders, remember to double check which type of orders you have from your "My Orders" page.
Click here for instructions for how to pack both types of orders.
Why do we have 2 different types of orders?
We know that the way customers order food on Shef does not always match with how most shefs would like to cook. We used to see that having at least 10-15 dishes on your menu would increase the chances of receiving orders. Shefs gave us the feedback that offering this big of a menu with so many different ingredients and dishes to prepare can be hard to manage.
We also heard from customers that they would be more likely to order through Shef more often if they could mix and match dishes from different shefs into one order. In Fall 2022, we introduced a new ‘multi-shef’ order feature that addresses this request.
Giving customers the option to mix-and-match dishes should allow you to specialize in the dishes you truly love to cook, which would enable you to be more efficient with your ingredients and cooking process. In addition, because you can pack all 'M' orders together, whether they are for the same customer or not, it should also decrease the total number of bags and water bottles needed and make transport easier.
This feature improves the likelihood that a customer places an order. For shefs, this could mean selling more dishes, a higher volume of orders and earnings.
The differences between 'M' and 'S' orders for shefs
Dropping off your orders:
You will drop off all 'M' and 'S' orders together, using your normal drop-off process. Your drop-off location and hours do not change.
Canceling or rescheduling orders:
‘M’ orders can ONLY be canceled. These orders cannot be rescheduled because they involve dishes from multiple shefs. 'S' orders can be rescheduled as well as canceled.
Payment and tips for orders:
For every order, you will receive payments via Stripe and 100% of tips are always paid to shefs. For 'M' orders (multiple shefs), tips are distributed to each shef according to the value of their dishes in the order. For example: If the customer tips 20% of the order total, each shef will receive 20% of the value of their dishes.
Order FAQs
How far in advance can customers order from me?
Customers will be able to view your menu and place orders within 3 weeks of your next delivery day. If you do not have an upcoming delivery day within 3 weeks, your menu will not be visible to customers on the Shef website.How am I notified of my orders?
You will receive an email and/or text notification each time you receive a new order from a customer. You will also receive a summary email right after your order cut-off time with a list of all of your orders. In the My Profile page of your Shef Dashboard, you can set your preferences for order cutoff times, how you will be notified about new orders, and the total number of orders you can receive on a single day.What are my delivery options?
Delivery options vary by your individual location. You can see your current delivery options on the My Profile page of your Shef Dashboard.What days of the week can I choose for delivery days?
You can see all current options for delivery days on the My Availability page of your Shef Dashboard. You will only be able to choose delivery days that are currently available in your city.