When staff mark a dish or topping as sold out in the POS, it is hidden on the pizzeria's online ordering site within a minute. It returns on its own when restocked or at the next opening, so nobody orders what the kitchen can't make.
Typical results
Under 1 min
From sold out in the POS to hidden online
≈2 hrs/wk
Staff time on cancellation calls saved
100%
Sold-out items restored at the next opening
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
On a busy Friday night the pizzeria runs out of a topping or a dough size, and someone has to remember to update the online menu as well as the POS. Usually nobody does. Orders keep arriving for items the kitchen can't make, staff call customers to cancel or swap, and paid orders end up refunded.
Before and after
Refunds for sold-out items per week
−70%Minutes from sold out to hidden online
−98%Staff hours per week on cancellation calls
−80%The automation
A Make scenario watches the item list in the POS. When staff tap sold out on a dish or topping, the matching item on the online ordering site is set to unavailable within a minute, so customers can no longer add it to a cart. When the item is marked available again, or when the shop opens the next morning, it reappears online automatically. Each change is logged in Google Sheets with the time it happened.
How it works
- 01
Staff mark an item sold out
A cook or cashier taps sold out on a dish or topping in the POS, exactly as they do today.
- 02
Change picked up
The automation watches the POS item list and sees the availability change within a minute.
- 03
Hidden on the ordering site
The matching dish or topping is switched to unavailable on the online menu, so it can't be added to a cart.
- 04
Restored when it's back
When staff mark it available again, or at opening the next morning, the item reappears online on its own.
- 05
Sold-out log
Every change is written to a Google Sheets log with the time, so the owner sees which items run out and when.
Starts from
- POS sold-out toggle
- Daily opening time
Delivers
- Item hidden on order site
- Item restored when back
- Sold-out log in Sheets
The impact
The online menu matches the kitchen within a minute of every change. Refunds for sold-out items fall by about 70%, from roughly 20 a week to 6, and staff spend about 2 fewer hours a week calling customers to cancel. The log also shows which items tend to run out first.
Questions about this automation
Which POS and ordering systems does it work with?
It works with any POS that exposes item availability through an API or webhook, and any ordering site that lets items be switched on and off, including Shopify and WooCommerce menus. Items are matched by SKU or by a mapping table kept in Google Sheets, so names don't have to match exactly.
What if only one topping runs out, not a whole pizza?
Toppings and modifiers are synced the same way as dishes. If mushrooms run out, the topping is hidden from every pizza that offers it, while the pizzas themselves stay on the menu. Dishes that need the missing ingredient as a base can be linked to it in the mapping table so they hide too.
How much setup does the sync need?
Simple automations like this are usually live within days. The main setup work is the item mapping between the POS and the online menu, and choosing the restore rule, such as reopening every item at 11 AM. After a short test on a quiet evening, the sync runs on its own.