I have worked with business coaches who have taught me how to set good and sensible boundaries with payment terms. So, I have a different perspective on payment expectation for customers. I always get paid upfront. I do, however, want to provide other payment options if customers prefer another payment method like Venmo or Zelle.

We use Google Forms for cash/check at pickup orders. We used this before Hotplate and kept it as an option for cash customers. A few customers said we'd lose their business if they were forced to pay online. Most of our no-shows and cancelations come from the cash-at-pickup orders, so we'd prefer them to pay online with Hotplate, but we also don't want to lose their business, so we keep the Google Forms option. Perhaps defaulting pay-at-pickup orders can be penalized within a future Hotplate loyalty rewards program somehow? Such as, losing all their accrued points?

Yep, I agree. I have a few people who prefer to pay cash and it deters them from using my storefront since it's payment up-front. Having an option for walk-up payment doesn't help me with inventory tracking or prep, and if I have to manually write down my upcoming orders then it kind of defeats the purpose. Taking texts for orders and manually entering them myself is not ideal but I make it work, although I also worry about missing orders. And I'd also love it so my stats can be accurately reflected. Your post is over a year old and there's still no tag applied that it's even under review. Hopefully one day... Everything else about Hotplate is great, and there really isn't another option like it.

yes!