Why a fixed combo is not always enough
A fixed combo is simple: a burger, fries and a drink at one price. It works until guests want to swap. One wants a mojito instead of a soft drink, another wants two pastries and no drink, a third wants a breakfast box with any three items from a list. Cafes, juice bars, bakeries and breakfast places in the Gulf live on exactly these choices, and building a separate combo for every mix fills the menu with near copies. A build your own combo keeps one product on the menu and lets the guest fill it step by step, with your prices and your rules.
How it works in Wink You
A build your own combo has a Base price and one or more steps. Each step is a question such as Choose your coffee or Pick two sides. In each step the guest picks from the items you list, between a fewest and a most number of picks, and any item can add an Extra price on top of the base. The same combo works on the POS and on the QR Digital Menu.
Set it up step by step
- In the sidebar open Menu Setup, then Combo Meals, and click New Combo.
- Type the name, then under Combo type pick Build your own.
- Enter the Base price. It can be 0 when the items the guest picks carry the whole price.
- Under Steps, name the step and set Fewest picks and Most picks.
- Choose Options for the picked item: Don't ask, Ask, normal prices, or Ask, free in this combo. This decides whether the guest is asked for choices like milk or size inside the combo, and whether those choices cost extra.
- Click Add an item for each item in the step and type its Extra price. An extra of 0 shows as Included.
- When Most picks is more than 1, you can turn on Allow the same item more than once, so a guest can take two of the same pastry.
- Click Add step for the next step, then save.
What the guest and the cashier see
On the QR Digital Menu and the POS the combo is shown From the cheapest meal it can make, so a base price of 0 never reads as free. With repeat picks on, each item shows a minus, a count and a plus. With it off, a tap picks an item and a second tap removes it, and each item can be picked once per step. A step can even offer items from a hidden category, for example a Combo sides category you keep off the main menu: guests pick those items inside the combo, but never see them on the menu on their own.
If something the guest picked is sold out, switched off, or outside its category hours at the moment they place the order, the QR menu names the item and the combo, takes that combo out of the cart and keeps the rest of the order. The guest can place the rest straight away, or add the combo again with other picks. Nobody is charged for food the kitchen cannot make.
How the kitchen, stock and reports see it
Each item picked is its own line for the kitchen, stock and reports, so two of the same croissant count as two. On kitchen station screens each part goes to the station that makes it: in a breakfast combo the croissant shows on the pastry screen and the espresso on the bar screen, each with the combo name under it. The combo is ready only when every part is ready. The bill and the receipt still show the combo once, at the combo price.
Three combo ideas for a Gulf menu
- Breakfast box for a cafe: Base price set to the box, step one Choose your hot drink (one pick, karak and filter coffee included, a flat white adding an extra), step two Pick two pastries (two picks, repeat picks on so a guest can take two croissants).
- Juice bar duo: Base price 0, step one Pick two juices (two picks), with each juice carrying its own extra price, so the combo price is simply the sum of what the guest chose and the menu shows From the cheapest pair.
- Family grill box: step one Choose the main (one pick), step two Choose three sides (three picks from a hidden Combo sides category), step three Choose drinks (up to four picks). The kitchen receives every side as its own line, so nothing is missed in a large order.
A good rule of thumb: keep each step to one clear question, keep the number of steps low, and use the Extra price for the premium choices rather than a higher base. Guests on a phone decide faster when the default choices are Included and only the upgrades cost more.
Rules worth knowing
- Only a build your own combo can have a Base price of 0. A fixed items combo needs a combo price above 0.
- When all your branches use the same currency, a combo has one price for every branch. A branch in another currency gets its own combo price.
- Combo items earn no product or category stamp on a stamp card. Only an item sold on its own does.
- At the till a part cannot be changed or voided on its own: change or void the whole combo.
- Only a Business Admin can create or change combos.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a combo where the customer chooses the items?
Create a new combo under Menu Setup, Combo Meals, pick Build your own as the Combo type, then add steps and the items for each step.
Can a guest pick the same item twice?
Yes, when the step allows more than one pick and Allow the same item more than once is on.
Can some choices cost more than others?
Yes. Give the item an Extra price in the step. A premium juice can add to the base while a standard one stays Included.
Does the kitchen see one line or every item?
Every item, each with the combo name under it, and each station sees only the parts it makes.
Combos work across the POS and the QR menu: see winkyou.com/products/point-of-sale and winkyou.com/products/qr-menu. For the basics of combos, watch winkyou.com/support/menu-and-products/how-to-create-a-combo-meal and winkyou.com/support/qr-digital-menu/how-customers-order-a-combo-meal.
