Which online shop fits your sales? Solmio online shops

You sell at the counter, but some customers would like to buy in advance. Food and drink vouchers for an event, coffee for an exhibitor's stand, a dish ordered from the table or a gift card bought online are all online sales. They just work differently. This guide explains which Solmio online shop fits which kind of selling and what getting started takes.

All shops share the same base

Solmio online shops sell your till products. Price and VAT come from the till, so you don't need a separate online price list. When a price changes in the till, it changes online too.

A paid online order is recorded for the point of sale you have chosen. The sale shows in the same reports as till sales, and your accounting gets one complete picture.

The shops are managed in the Solmio portal. On the same page you set the shop's logo, colours and the look of order confirmations, so the customer sees your company's brand. Online payments are connected once on the Integrations page, and customers see the shop only after you publish it.

Choose the shop by how you sell

Voucher shop: sell in advance, redeem at the till

The voucher shop suits events, fairs and anyone selling food and drink vouchers, perks or gift cards in advance. The customer pays online and gets an eVoucher by email. The voucher can be saved to Apple or Google Wallet, and the till reads it from the QR code.

Consumers and businesses have their own entrances and their own products. A consumer pays straight away. A business can order on invoice when invoicing is allowed for it. You can choose whether the business is invoiced for the whole order or only for the vouchers used.

Several products can go on one shared voucher or on separate vouchers. A shared voucher suits a group whose purchases one person handles. Separate vouchers are handy when participants eat at different times or at different points. Vouchers are valid during the event or for a period you set.

Redemption is recorded at the till, so the same single-use voucher can't be used twice. You see redemptions in the eVoucher report as quantities and euros.

Catering shop: exhibitors order for their stands

The catering shop is made for fairs and events where exhibitors order coffee and catering for their own stand. You set the halls, stands and delivery windows for the event. The customer picks the right place and time from them, so the information travels with the order.

Ordering times can be limited for the whole event and for a single product. When the deadline passes, the product can no longer be ordered. The kitchen sees the ordered quantities and the waiter their own work queue in the portal.

A business customer can order on invoice when invoicing is allowed, and paying by card works without logging in. Invoices for completed orders are sent as a combined invoice from the portal's Invoicing page.

QR self-service: order from the table or the counter

In QR self-service the customer scans a code, browses the selection in the phone's browser and pays for the order themselves. No app is needed. The customer can search for items, filter by allergens and make the choices the restaurant allows for a dish. The price updates with the choices.

The order goes to the point of sale only after a successful payment. The kitchen sees it in the same view as orders from the till and the online shop. The customer follows the order's progress on their phone.

Getting started means putting together a selection, linking it to a point of sale and creating QR spots. Spots can be created as a series, for example tables 1–20, and the codes printed in one go. Read more in the guide QR ordering in a restaurant.

Product shop: sizes, colours and the right stock

The product shop is made for companies that sell physical products both in a shop and online. Different sizes and colours of the same product show to the customer as one product with selectors.

The quantity available online is calculated from the point of sale's stock in Solmio, so sales in the shop also show in the online stock. At checkout the stock is checked fresh, and the products are reserved for the customer while they pay. That way the same last item isn't sold to two online buyers.

The customer chooses home delivery or pickup from the shop of their choice. When you mark the order as shipped or ready for pickup, the customer gets an email and a tracking code. The same basket can hold both physical products and gift cards delivered by email. A business customer can order on invoice.

If you already sell online on another platform, also see the guide on connecting an online shop and a physical store.

Booking and gift cards for service businesses

Barbers and hairdressers, beauty salons, nail and lash studios, massage and other service businesses have a booking system that works with the same till. Services are based on till products, so the price on the booking page is the same as at the till.

The customer books a time on your company's own branded booking page and gets a confirmation by email. They can move or cancel the time themselves within the limit the company sets, and you get a notice about the freed-up slot. Booking doesn't take an advance payment; the customer pays for the visit at the till.

Gift cards are sold through the voucher shop. The customer pays online and gets the gift card by email, and the till reads it from the QR code.

What getting started takes

• Till products with the right prices and VAT rates. The online shop uses them directly.
• A point of sale that online sales are recorded for.
• Online payments through Viva or Paytrail, if the customer pays online.
• Invoicing permissions for business customers who order on invoice.
• Logo and colours for the shop's look and order confirmations.
• A test order before publishing. You see the same confirmation and receipt as the customer.

The portal's Help section shows step-by-step instructions for exactly the shops you have in use. You can write a product description and create a first product image with Solmio Ailo if the online shop's texts or images are missing.

Let's look at your sales channels together

Many companies need more than one shop: vouchers for a summer event, QR ordering for the terrace and catering that businesses order on invoice. All of them work in the same portal with the same products and reports.

See Solmio online shop or tell us how you sell now, and we'll look together at which shops fit you.