I’ve read https://www.wp-pizza.com/topic/force-registration-before-ordering/ and want to comment on what you say there.

As a consumer I have to agree with you – it is, indeed, annoying to register for a single order. However, as an owner of a cafe, I’d like to point out a couple of things.

First and foremost, I can not verify whether any order is a prank or someone has actually ordered an item. You can imagine the expenses I can run into, if anyone is able to order any amount of food and is able to send it at any random location around the city. It’s not only dangerous for my employees, but it’s also possible to spoof the identity of regular customers, who will receive food without ordering any, which will have a negative effect on our reputation.

So the only solution to this problem is to have a database of phone numbers, check each order against the user provided phone number (have they ordered in the past?), and then call them to verify this is them calling and not someone else, spoofing their identity. Which, in effect, means that I process orders slower (time is money for me and my customers) and have to add the expenses of each real and prank call to current and future orders.

All of this can be easily evaded by users taking a minute to register and I calling them – only once – on their phone number, to verify their registration. This makes even more sense, considering that most users will order multiple times from the same location.

And something else to consider – without a doubt, you’ve created an excellent plugin – but it is not consumers that will download and use your plugin (they couldn’t care less about its functionality – they just want their food), it’s the actual small business owners. They use your plugin exactly because they are small business owners – they can’t afford a custom solution. But if they have to call an IT specialist to integrate registration, because they have no idea how to do it themselves, then surely you realize that your plugin suddenly becomes considerably more expensive. I’m sure you can provide a registration solution, even if it costs a few bucks.

At the end of my rant, let me suggest a feature – many businesses have small kitchens or have less employees, which means that ordering in advance can save a lot of waiting for their customers (less employees = cheaper food). You already have that functionality, but it would be great if there are fields to specify when the order should be ready (time), and whether (and which) table should be reserved for the customer, once they arrive.

That said, keep up the good work, your plugin is excellent!