The following information applies to all shefs who are using customer pick-up for Shef orders.
A limited number of shefs in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Dallas, DC, and Houston can choose to use customer pick-up for all Shef orders. If you choose the 'Customer will pick up' option, customers will pick up orders from you directly, using the address and time windows you specify in your Shef Dashboard.
Please note: we are phasing out this fulfillment option, due to the much larger customer base allowed by door-to-door delivery. Customers strongly prefer delivery over pick-up!
How to offer customer pick-up
For shefs who have this option available, you can get started with customer pick-up simply by changing the settings in your Shef Dashboard! Please follow these instructions:
Select the ‘Customer will pick up’ option in the ‘My Profile’ page of your Shef Dashboard.
Input the address where you would like customers to pick up their orders. You might use the address where you cook, or another public location (e.g. library) of your choice.
Select all time windows you would like to offer for customer pick-up. 3:00-5:00 pm is most popular with customers.
Set your availability for orders in the My Availability page of your Shef Dashboard. You can select any day of the week.
Customers will see a logo on your Shef menu page indicating that you are offering pick-up only.
How will delivery day work?
Here's an overview of how delivery day for customer pick-up will work:
Prepare your food and cool down to 41F (refrigerated temperature) for safe transport. Because you are responsible for ensuring your food reaches the customer at a safe temperature (41F), we recommend using insulated bags to package your orders. You can purchase insulated bags using this link, or from any other supplier. We also recommend using frozen water bottles or ice packs as needed.
Label each delivery bag clearly with the customer name for delivery drivers. We highly recommend printing Shef order labels from your Dashboard, because these labels include reheating instructions for customers. You can purchase more Avery labels using this link.
On delivery day, customers will come to pick up each order during the time window they have selected.
Shef will continue to process your payments on a rolling basis through Stripe, as usual. For the time being, Shef will not take any part of the price of the order.
FAQs
Can I offer both pick-up and delivery?
No, for now, you can only choose one of these three options. We strongly recommend using door-to-door delivery, because this gives you a much larger customer base - most customers strongly prefer delivery over pick-up! Shefs using our new door-to-door delivery option in DC earned 5x more in October, compared to shefs using self delivery and pick-up!
How should I package the orders?
Prepare your food and cool down to 41F (refrigerated temperature) for safe transport. Because you are responsible for ensuring your food reaches the customer at a safe temperature (41F), we recommend using insulated bags to package your orders. You can purchase insulated bags using this link, or from any other supplier. We also recommend using frozen water bottles or ice packs as needed.
Label each delivery bag clearly with the customer name for delivery drivers. We highly recommend printing Shef order labels from your Dashboard, because these labels include reheating instructions for customers. You can purchase more Avery labels using this link.
Do I need to take food to a drop-off location?
No, customers will pick up their orders directly from the address you specify in your Shef Dashboard.
How will payments work?
Shef will continue to use Stripe to process and deposit your payments for each order directly to your bank account. For the time being, Shef will not take any part of the price of the order - you will keep 100% of the order subtotal and 100% of your tips.
What if there is an issue with an order?
Our Support team will communicate directly with your customers to resolve.
Why can't I see this option in my Dashboard?
We are phasing out this fulfillment option, due to the much stronger popularity of delivery with customers.
What if customer pick-up does not work for me?
If you would like to switch to another fulfillment option, you can change the settings in your Shef Dashboard at any time! Please note: this change will only apply to future orders. Please plan to fulfill any existing orders as they were originally scheduled.