Modifiers are sub choices or modifications of a product. Modifiers inherit the properties of the parent item they are assigned to. For instance, a modifier is not taxed or routed separately from its parent item, and cannot be ordered independently from that item.
Modifiers must live inside a modifier group in order to be visible on the POS. Please view the article on Creating a Modifier Group.
In TRAY you can also use Products as modifiers, conveniently referred to as "Product Modifiers". Product modifiers differ from true modifiers in that they can be routed, and taxed separately from the parent item.
(A few examples of what modifiers can do):
They can change or remove the toppings on your sandwich, specify the cook time on your steak, mandate a side choice with your meal, change the dressing that comes with your salad, or add extra items for an up-charge, etc.
Creating Modifiers
We will use a ham and cheese sandwich as our example item. There are two modifier groups that we will apply to this product: "Cheese" and "Sandwich Toppings." We will create the modifiers for these groups.
There are 2 ways to create modifiers. The first way you can use the Create New Modifier button to manually add modifiers one at a time.
Let's create the modifiers for the Cheese modifier group. When you click on the Create New Modifier button, you will see the screen below to enter the various configurations for your modifier
| Field | Description |
| Name | The modifier name |
| Print Name | The name for the modifier that appears on order chits and KDS interfaces |
| Price | The base price of the modifier |
| Calorie Count | The total calorie count of the modifier as displayed on a kiosk |
| Send as item | Legacy Setting |
| Description | The description of the modifier. This would display on a kiosk. |
| PLU/GTIN | A unique identifier that can be used for enterprise management, as well as external integrations |
| Cook Times | If the settings "hold orders based on cook time" is enabled in the site settings tab, this will delay the fire time to the KDS based on the total cook times of the items on a check. For modifiers, this will add to the cook time of the parent item. |
| Category (API) | The menu category, chosen from the list of available categories. This field is only represented in the Data API for mapping to third party platforms. |
| Image | The image for the modifier as displayed on the POS |
Once you have filled in the necessary fields, click the Sub Modifier(s) tab. Here you can assign modifier groups to the modifier, otherwise known as a Sub-Modifier Group.
NOTE: If the modifier exists in any modifier groups, that modifier group will be removed from the dropdown below. This is a safety measure built into the system to prevent 'Loops' from being created. In short, a modifier cannot be a modifier of itself.
The second way to create modifiers is to use the Bulk Add button to add modifiers in bulk. (if there is a modifier group selected, this will add the modifiers directly to that group, this it typically not recommended if your modifiers require additional configurations)
Let's create the modifiers for Sandwich Toppings. Since we need to create multiple modifiers for this group, we will use the Bulk Add feature. Select the modifier group "sandwich toppings" and press Bulk Add. The Add Modifiers in Bulk screen will appear. Enter your modifiers in the format given on the right side of the screen with the name of the modifier, and comma, and then the price. When you're done adding the modifiers, hit save.
If you did not create your modifiers in a group, you can easily add those modifiers to a group by clicking on the All Modifiers tab to view your newly created modifiers. If you created them in the modifier group, you will also see them listed here. To assign the new modifiers to the Sandwich Toppings modifier group, select the modifiers and then click on the Assign Modifier Group button. Chose the Sandwich Toppings modifier group, then hit save. The modifiers will now be visible whenever you click on the Sandwich Toppings modifier group.
Bulk Editing Modifiers
In our example, all of these ingredients (modifiers) come on the sandwich by default except for Mustard. Select the checkbox at the top to select all modifiers in the group, but deselect the Mustard modifier. Then click on the pencil icon to set the modifier properties in bulk. This can also be done to any modifiers in the All Modifiers list
Change Default Available to Yes and Show sub-modifiers to Nested and then click Save.
To finish this group, click on Mustard again and just change the Show sub-modifiers tab to nested and click save. The Sandwich Toppings modifier group is now customized the way we want it to look and perform on the POS.
Before the Sandwich Toppings are applied to the ham and cheese sandwich product, let's set up the Cheese modifier group. Repeat the process to create modifiers, but this time we will only set up two options for this group: Extra Cheese and No Cheese.
Note: the Extra Cheese option is a $0.99 upcharge and therefore will need to have the price input in the correct format. Example Below.
Assigning Modifier Groups to a Product
Now that the modifier groups are created. They need to be assigned to a product.
Go into the main menu screen to find the product: Ham & Cheese Sandwich. Click on the product to open up product edit window
From here, click on the Modifiers tab. Then, select the dropdown box and then select the Cheese and Sandwich Toppings modifier groups. When you see the Modifier Groups box populated with your selections, hit save.
You will now see the modifier groups available underneath the Ham & Cheese Sandwich. You can even click the drop down arrows to view the available modifiers for the groups.
Now that the modifier groups are assigned, we will take a look at how the behavior displays on the POS.
Modifier Groups on the POS
Sign in as a staff member on the POS. Then select the Sandwich Menu to view the Ham & Cheese Sandwich menu item.
Tap on the menu item to simultaneously add the product to your order as well as open up the available modifier groups that were created. They will appear in the same order as they were in HQ.
With the Cheese modifiers, if you select the No Cheese modifier you will see the the modification indicated under the menu item on the ticket. If you select the Extra Cheese modifier then you will see the modification indicated under the menu item as well as the price adjusted for the upcharge on the ticket. To deselect any modifier simply tap on the selected modifier again.
With the Sandwich Toppings modifiers, you will see the default ingredients already selected. This modifier group has no minimum or maximum amount of selections available. You can add any extra modifier options, or remove them all entirely.
When you are done selecting the modifiers in each group, hit Save and Back to add another menu item or hit Send & Pay to complete the order.