Welcome to TPP Order! This guide will help you get started with our new ordering platform.

What is TPP Order?

TPP Order is a modern eCommerce solution designed specifically for catering and party planning businesses. Our platform makes it easy for your customers to browse menus, create orders, and complete purchases online.

Key Features

Customer-Friendly Ordering 

Your customers can easily browse your menu, customize their orders, and complete purchases online at their convenience

Getting Started

The pre-requisite to setting up your store is having a TPP Pay account setup on your account. If you do not currently have a Merchant ID, please reach out to our T PP Pay team via payments@totalpartyplanner.com.

Step 1: Access Your Platform

Your TPP Order platform is now live and ready to use. Use your current login credentials to access the TPP platform as you normally would. 

To access TPP Order, select TPPpay from the top toolbar. 

The first visual is a store registration confirmation. Verify the information and click Register Account. 

Begin with the Settings menu option on the left toolbar. 

One special consideration is the ordering link for your website to direct traffic to your designated store. It is the ‘Website Ordering Domain’ under the Company setting. Add this link to YOUR business website.

Review both the Event Settings and Store Settings options, choosing the appropriate options for your company. 

Event Settings

Click here to watch the Event Settings video tutorial.

Default Event Status: What status will be applied to orders once they become an event on the calendar.

Default Tax Location: The default tax location for pickup orders and delivery orders if specific tax codes are not set for delivery by postal code (below). 

Default Service Style: The default service style for pickup and delivery orders once they become an event on the calendar. 

Venue: The default venue for pickup orders. Typically, this will be the company address. If that does not exist in the system, add that as a venue.

Tax Location by Postal Code: For point of destination taxing, set a tax rate for specific postal codes being delivered to. 

Add Zip Codes by a radius using the + Lookup Postal Codes or one at a time using the + Add Single Postal Code buttons. 

By Range, anything in the blue radius on the map will be assigned a tax code in bulk. Select a radius and click Next.  

For each postal code found, assign tax locations. As a shortcut, use the Quick Assign to assign a chosen tax location to anything selected in the grid.

Review the data, make any individual changes, and click Confirm.

 

As mentioned, simply adding postal codes one at a time is also an option.

Store Settings

Click here to watch the TPP Order: Store Settings video tutorial 

Store Link 

Under Store Settings, a special consideration is the Store Link for your website to direct traffic to your designated store. This is the link for YOUR business website, whether that is a button or link. 

Company Details 

Update logo, name, address, phone number and email here. 

There are 2 different email fields, one is used for general order information on the website and order confirmation. This is how your client will contact you. The other is the notification email, the email address(es) that will receive an order placed notification. Multiple email addresses are allowed for notification. 

 Notifications will ALSO go to the notification area of the events application. 

 Online Ordering 

• Accept Orders: Toggling this off will allow users to view the store but not checkout. 

When not accepting orders, the closed message will be shown as a banner. 

 

• Accept Orders From Email: Not in front of TPP? No problem. When this feature is ON, recipients of the notification email can review and accept orders directly from the email. 

• Order Min/Max: Set any minimum or maximum dollars to complete an order. This is for the entire order and not individual store items. 

• Disable Special Notes: Turn this toggle ON if you do not want your clients to be able to put special items for specific menu items before adding them to the cart. 

• Minimum Lead Time: How much time do you need to prepare orders for pickup or delivery. The smallest lead time is 1 hour. There is no max, but you will need to use hours for days, ex: 72 hours = 3 days. 

• Store Hours and Calendar: Set the store times that pickup and deliveries can be made. Your clients will not be able to designate pickup and delivery times outside of these timeframes. 

• Holiday Dates: Setting special dates in this section will override the standard store hours for those days. 

 Delivery 

Click here to watch the TPP Order: Delivery Settings video tutorial 

• Offer Delivery?: If you do not offer delivery services, toggle this to OFF. 

• Delivery Fee: 

• Toggle ON if you charge a fee. 

• Determine a fee based model or flat rate. For Flat rate, it’s a simple dollar amount in the field. For Distance based, set the fee by mileage. Additionally for the distance-based fee model, if the actual mileage falls outside of the set parameters, the Default Fee will be applied.

 

 

Gratuity 

• Default Gratuity Selection: Choose an appropriate gratuity scale by typing in the percentage amounts. Ex: 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%. Set the default applied at checkout by selecting the star icon for that percentage. NOTE: if the preference is to NOT apply gratuity, simply type 0% in the first box and select it as the default.

Step 2: Build and Review Your Store Menu

Once the settings are setup, build the store menu. Take some time to review how your menu appears to customers. Make sure all items, descriptions, and pricing are accurate. 

Use the Menu Management option from the main toolbar or Manage Menu selection from the left navigation bar. 

 Managing the menu is as simple as clicking the + Items button. 

Search for items in your existing Events database. 

     Helpful Hint: Use the filter box on the right to narrow down by a specific category. 

Once an item is selected, there are a few things we want to verify and update. 

• Store Category: The category was designed to be very flexible on your store. By default, the assigned category will be the one that was assigned when setting up the menu item. Alternatively select a different category (that already exists on the store) OR create a brand-new category. The choice is yours. 

• Portions and Pricing: Check which portions should be shown on your store. Not all portions that exist for a menu item have to be part of eCommerce. 

Helpful Hint: Change the order of the portions by using the drag and drop (six-dot icon) to the left of the checkbox. 

• Default?: Toggle ON which portion will be the default when a shopper selects the item from the store. 

Once an item is added, click the item on the storefront to update pictures, delete the item or toggle availability. 

• Available: If an item is OFF for availability, it will no longer show on the store (but not deleted). 

• Delete: Use the trash can icon to completely remove the item from the store. It will remain in your Events database. 

Multiple views of the menu make it easy to see everything at a glance.

 

Step 3: Menu Item Option Groups 

TPP Order now supports customizable option groups on menu items, allowing customers to make required or optional selections (such as sauce choices or add-on proteins) with automatic pricing and portion-based scaling. 

 

 Updated Menu Management Screen 

The Menu Management screen has been redesigned for easier use. A list view is now the default, though other views remain accessible. Select any menu item to open the updated item detail screen, which now displays: 

• Basic item information and picture on the left 

• Portions along the top 

• Option Groups — a new section below the portions 

 

Setting Up Option Groups 

Navigate to Menu Management from the main toolbar or the left navigation bar, then select the menu item you want to customize. 

 

Adding a Group 

Click Add Group and configure the following fields: 

• Group Name: Give the group a descriptive name (e.g., “Sauce Toppings” or “Protein Side”). 

• Required: Toggle ON if the customer must make a selection. Set the minimum and maximum number of selections allowed (e.g., minimum 1, maximum 1 for a single sauce choice). 

• Portion-Based Scaling: Toggle ON to automatically scale option pricing based on the selected portion size. For example, if a pan portion is 9x a single piece, a $3.00 upcharge for meat sauce becomes $27.00 for a pan. 

 

Click Add Group to save the group. Repeat to create as many groups as needed. Groups can be a mix of required and optional. 

Adding Options Within a Group 

Once a group is created, add the individual selectable options by clicking into the group. For each option, configure: 

• Option Name: The name displayed to the customer (e.g., “Marinara Sauce”, “Meat Sauce”, “Spicy Vodka Sauce”). 

• Upcharge: Enter a dollar amount if the option carries an additional cost or leave at $0.00 for no upcharge. 

• Scale Factor: Set the multiplier relative to the base portion. For example, a scale factor of 9 for a pan means the upcharge is multiplied by 9 for that portion size. 

Click Save after configuring each option. 

 

 

 

Customer Experience 

When a customer selects a menu item that has option groups, the options are displayed before the item can be added to the cart: 

• Required groups must be completed before the item can be added to the cart. 

• Optional groups can be skipped. 

• The Add to Cart button price updates dynamically as selections are made. 

• If the customer changes the portion size (e.g., from a single piece to a full pan), portion-based scaling is applied automatically and all option prices update accordingly. 

• The cart summary displays each selected option alongside the item and reflects the total price. 

 Helpful Hint: Items without option groups continue to work exactly as before — customers simply select a portion, add a special note if desired, and add to cart. 

 

Step 4: Test the Ordering Process 

We recommend placing a test order to familiarize yourself with the customer experience: 

• Browse your menu 

• Add items to the cart 

• Proceed through checkout 

• Review the confirmation process 

Use the custom store link mentioned in Step 1 to review what your store looks like to your clients. 

Ex: https://ordering-prd.ecommerce.fullsteamsoftware.com/tpp/tpp/tpp-sample 

Your store should look something like this: 

Before adding items to the shopping cart, your clients will have the opportunity to select a portion (if multiple sizes offered) and add a special note. 

Clicking the shopping cart icon in the upper right hand corner displays a summary of the order before checkout. 

Step 5: Share with Customers 

Once you’re comfortable with the platform, you can begin sharing your ordering link with customers. As a reminder, this link is under Settings: Store Settings. 

 

Step 6: Order Management 

Receive and manage all orders through your dashboard. You’ll get notifications for new orders and can track order status. 

Any orders in a Pending status can be reviewed and either Accepted or Declined. Please note that if you do Decline an order that a manual refund must be performed. 

Once accepted, orders will process as events on your TPP calendar and managed with all other details for the day, week, month, etc. 

 Menu Customization 

Update your menu items, pricing, and availability as needed to reflect your current offering

Support & Feedback

As a pilot customer, your feedback is invaluable to us! We’re continuously improving T PP Order based on your input.

How to Reach Us

If you have questions, encounter issues, or have suggestions for improvement:

• Email: tpporder@totalparty.com
• Response Time: We typically respond within 24 hours

What We Want to Hear About

• Features you’d like to see added
• Any challenges or confusion in the ordering process
• Ideas for improving the customer experience
• Technical issues or bugs

Frequently Asked Questions 

Q: Can I update my menu myself? 

A: Yes! You have full control to update items, pricing, and availability. 

Q: How do I receive order notifications? 

A: You’ll receive email notifications for each new order. 

Q: Is there a fee for using TPP Order? 

A: As a pilot customer, please refer to your specific agreement for pricing details. 

Thank you for being part of our pilot program! Your partnership helps us build a better product for the entire catering and party planning industry.