Clover online ordering: a plain guide for restaurant owners

Clover Online Ordering is Clover’s own tool for taking pickup, curbside and delivery orders online. It builds an ordering page from your Clover menu and sends orders straight to your POS. Clover says there are no setup or subscription fees for it beyond the card-not-present transaction fee on each online order.

For many Clover restaurants it is the quickest way to start taking orders online. This guide covers what it does, what it costs, how to set it up, and what owners often add on top.

What Clover Online Ordering does

Based on Clover’s own blog posts, Clover Online Ordering gives you:

• An ordering web page powered by Clover and filled with your existing Clover menu. You can link it from your website or use it on its own.
• Ordering in the Clover app for guests, when you turn on Clover services in the Online Ordering Hub.
• Pickup and curbside orders, plus scheduled orders for later.
• Delivery dispatched through DoorDash couriers.
• QR code ordering and payment for guests in your restaurant.
• Order with Google, where guests order from Google Search or Maps and Clover handles the order and payment.

Orders and payments run through Clover, so online sales show up in the same reports as in-store sales.

What Clover Online Ordering costs

Here is what Clover’s own pages say, as of Nov 2026:

Cost	What Clover says
Setup fee	None
Subscription fee for online ordering	None
Per-order processing	The card-not-present transaction fee on each online order
Delivery	A flat fee per delivery charged by DoorDash and invoiced monthly; you can pass all, some or none to guests
Takeout through Order with Google	No extra cost to you or guests

Clover’s blog posts list the DoorDash delivery fee as a flat $6.99 per order, but those posts are not dated. DoorDash’s own Drive On-Demand page lists $6.99 to $10.99 per delivery as of Nov 2026. Check the current rate in your Clover dashboard before you turn delivery on.

Your card-not-present rate is the big one. Online orders are charged at a different rate than cards tapped in the store. The exact rate depends on your Clover plan and agreement, so look it up on your statement or ask your Clover provider. You also need a Clover software plan that supports online ordering; confirm this with Clover or your reseller.

Example: what 300 online orders a month cost

Say you take 300 pickup orders a month at $30 each, or $9,000. Your card-not-present rate is on your statement. As an example only, a rate of 3% plus 10 cents per order would come to about $300 for the month. Swap in your own rate.

Compare that with app fees: the same $9,000 as delivery on a 25% app plan is $2,250. See delivery app fees for restaurants for every plan.

How to set up Clover Online Ordering, step by step

Clover’s blog points owners to the Online Ordering Hub in the Clover dashboard. Menu labels can change, but the flow looks like this:

1. Open your Clover dashboard on a computer and find Online Ordering (under Business Operations in Settings, or Account & Setup).
2. Pick your channels. Selecting Clover services sets up the Clover ordering website and the Clover app for you.
3. Set order types. Turn on pickup, curbside, scheduled orders and delivery as you need.
4. Set hours and prep time. Online hours can differ from dine-in hours. Give the kitchen a realistic default prep time.
5. Clean up the menu (see the next section). This is where most of the effort goes.
6. Place a test order with a real card on your phone. Check that it prints in the kitchen with the right options.
7. Share the link. Add it to your website, Google Business Profile, Instagram bio, receipts and bags.

Optional: add DoorDash delivery or the DoorDash app

There are two different DoorDash connections, and owners mix them up:

• Delivery for your own Clover orders. In the Online Ordering page, turn on delivery and complete the DoorDash sign-up. DoorDash sets up an account for deliveries, and you pay per delivery.
• Listing on the DoorDash app. DoorDash’s help center says to open Settings, then Business Operations, then Online Ordering, and select DoorDash on the Sign Up tab. You need an active DoorDash partnership first. Menu prices sync from Clover, and orders print from your POS. Setup usually takes about 24 hours. Marketplace commissions apply to these orders.

Get your menu ready for online orders

A menu that works at the counter often confuses guests online. Before you go live:

• Item names a stranger understands. “Chef’s Special #4” means nothing online.
• One-line descriptions with main ingredients and spice level.
• Photos of your top sellers, taken in good light.
• Modifiers that make sense. Required choices (size, spice) set as required; extras optional.
• Online availability. Hide items you can’t make for takeout or that travel badly.
• Category order. Put best sellers and mains first, drinks and extras last.
• Sold-out habits. Train staff to mark items out of stock in Clover right away.

What Clover Online Ordering does well

• It is already in your POS. No extra tablet, and orders land in Clover with the right items.
• It is quick to start. Your Clover menu fills the ordering page.
• Low fixed cost. Clover says there are no setup or subscription fees beyond processing.
• Delivery without a marketplace commission. You pay a flat courier fee instead of a percentage.

For a restaurant that just needs pickup orders working this week, it is a sensible first step.

What owners often add on top

Clover’s ordering page is focused on taking the order. Owners who want online orders to grow usually add:

1. A full restaurant website with your story, photos, hours, catering and events. See restaurant website must-haves.
2. Reservations with deposits for big groups and easy date closures.
3. Marketing to past guests: email, text and WhatsApp, timed for slow days.
4. Rewards and referral links so guests come back.
5. Review requests after good orders.
6. Catering and group orders with quotes, deposits and kitchen planning.
7. Phone coverage for calls the team can’t pick up.

Clover’s App Market and Clover’s BentoBox (now part of Clover and sold to Clover POS customers) are two routes. Independent platforms that sit on top of Clover are another. Our best restaurant website builders guide compares them.

Common Clover online ordering problems and fixes

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Orders don’t print	Printer not set for online order type	Check order type printer settings, then test
Guests order items you’re out of	Stock not marked in Clover	Make marking sold-out part of the line check
Kitchen gets slammed online	Prep time too short at peak	Raise prep time during rush or pause online orders
Few orders	Link hard to find	Put it on Google, your site header and every bag

For more on that last row, read how to get more online orders.

How WhatsTable helps

WhatsTable is built for Clover restaurants. It builds your website with you and runs online ordering that goes into Clover and prints in the kitchen. Guests pay with Apple Pay or card, the money lands in your own Clover account, and nothing is added to their bill. Reservations, the Maya AI phone host, catering, rewards, review requests and campaigns you approve all work from the same place.

WhatsTable costs $0 a month plus 5% to 10% of sales through WhatsTable; walk-ins are free. See how it works with Clover.