Gérer les créneaux de retrait : réduire l'attente et fidéliser vos clients

The line in front of a food truck is a double-edged sword. It signals that you're popular — but past 10 minutes of waiting, it discourages new customers and frustrates regulars. With online ordering, you have a powerful tool to spread out demand. You just need to calibrate your pickup time slots correctly.

1. Why pickup time slots change everything

Without time slots, every order from the service arrives in the same flow as counter orders. The result: a spike between 12pm and 12:30pm where you're taking payment, preparing, and handing out orders all at once. Delays pile up, quality drops, and unhappy customers don't come back.

With time slots, you artificially spread out the load:

• A customer picks "12:15pm" when ordering online
• You prepare their order so it's ready at that exact time
• They arrive, their order is waiting — no need to queue

It's the same principle as booking a doctor's appointment: by smoothing out customer arrivals, you gain peace of mind and they gain comfort.

2. What slot duration should you choose?

The duration of a time slot depends on your average prep time and your production capacity.

• 5 minutes — for simple formats (sandwiches, wraps) where each order takes less than 3 minutes to prepare
• 10 minutes — the most common format, suited to most food trucks (burgers, tacos, kebabs)
• 15 minutes — for hot dishes made to order (pizza, fried food, wok) where prep takes over 8 minutes

3. How many orders per time slot?

This is the central question. Capacity per slot is your main lever to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Calculate it like this:

1. How many dishes can you prepare in N minutes with your current team?
2. What's the average order size (in number of dishes per order)?
3. Divide (1) by (2) — that's your capacity in orders per slot.

Example: you can put out 20 dishes in 10 minutes, and your average basket is 2 dishes. Capacity = 10 orders per 10-minute slot. With 6 slots between 12pm and 1pm, you can handle 60 online orders per service — without ever exceeding your pace.

4. Show available time slots in real time

A good time-slot system must show the customer real-time availability:

• Available — the customer can select this slot
• Almost full — a warning that creates urgency
• Full — greyed out, not selectable

Showing a "full" slot is a good thing: it signals that you're popular, and pushes the customer to order earlier to get their preferred slot. It's a natural loyalty mechanism.

5. Common mistakes to avoid

Opening too many slots at once

If you offer 8 slots of 10 minutes with 20 orders each, you're allowing 160 orders in a one-hour service. That's unrealistic for a solo food truck. It's better to limit yourself to 4–5 slots and show "full" on the last ones than to promise impossible wait times.

Not distinguishing online orders from counter orders

Online time slots must be calibrated with counter orders in mind. If you expect 30% of your sales at the counter, reduce your online slot capacity accordingly.

Opening slots too far in advance

A customer who orders 3 hours ahead risks forgetting or changing their mind. "Short-window" slots (ordering up to 45 minutes before pickup) reduce no-shows and cancellations.

6. Time slots as a communication tool

Available time slots are also a marketing signal. A customer who sees your 12:00pm and 12:10pm slots already full at 11:30am understands that you're in high demand. They book their 12:30pm slot so they don't miss the service.

By enabling push notifications on your PWA, you can even alert your subscribed customers when you open tomorrow's orders: "Slots for tomorrow lunch are open — book before they fill up."

Summary

• Choose a slot duration ≥ your maximum prep time
• Start with a conservative capacity per slot (70% of your max)
• Show full slots — it's a signal of popularity
• Calibrate online capacity with the counter in mind
• Close orders 30–45 minutes before pickup to reduce no-shows