A pickup window is the slot when customers come to collect. Get it right and the evening flows; get it wrong and you spend ninety minutes apologising at the door. This article walks through the three knobs that matter — window length, prep runway, and wave size — and the defaults we recommend.
The three knobs
- Order start & order end — when the menu opens for orders and when ordering closes. Closing well before pickup gives you prep time.
- Pickup window — the slot when the food is ready and customers come to collect.
- Wave size — informally, the number of orders you're happy to hand off in one sitting. Most home chefs find 6–8 per 30-minute slot comfortable.
A sensible Saturday lunch
Try this as a starting point and adjust:
- Order start: Wednesday 9am
- Order end: Friday 9pm (gives Saturday morning to prep without last-minute orders)
- Pickup window: Saturday 12:00 – 1:30pm
The “all at 6pm” problem
If every customer rocks up at the start of the window, you have a queue and a cold middle of the wave. The fix is split your pickup into two narrower windows — say 12:00–12:30 and 1:00–1:30 — and let customers choose at checkout. They spread out naturally.
Customers who've already ordered keep their original window. Only new orders see the updated one — which means changing your pickup time on a live menu is safe.