Running out of something mid-service: marking items sold out on the till, the kiosk and online
11 November 2026
It's 12:15 and the last banana bread has just gone to table four. Nobody has told the counter. In the next ten minutes someone will order it at the till, someone else will tap it on the kiosk, and one of you will have to say sorry.
"Sold out" (or "86", if that's what your kitchen calls it) is a small thing, but it only works if every place that sells the item knows at the same moment. Here's how it works in Servatto, including the parts that need a caveat.
Marking it sold out
You can do it from three places:
- On the Register: press and hold the item tile, then Mark sold out (86). To sell it again, press and hold and choose Back on sale.
- In the Back Office: Menu, then Items, and tap the item's switch.
- In the Manager app: Items tab, swipe left or press and hold the item. There's also a Sold out button on Home where you can pick an item, tick one or more shops, and mark it sold out at all of them in one go.
When your menu is kept in Servatto, a sold-out item is sold out at that shop on every till, on the kiosk and on online ordering. You don't repeat it on each device.
"For how long?"
In the Back Office you choose how long it stays off:
- Rest of today, which means back on at 5:00 am the next trading day, on the shop's own clock (including across daylight saving)
- 4 hours
- Until I turn it back on
Marking something sold out on the till, with a swipe in the Manager app or with the Home Sold out button keeps it off until someone turns it back on. The timed choices are in the Back Office.
Banana bread that's gone for the day is "rest of today". Oat milk that's late from the supplier is "until I turn it back on". It's your call, item by item.
The same applies to a single size or a modifier. If you're out of oat milk, mark the oat milk, not every flat white. Servatto also has a Sold out list that shows everything currently sold out at each shop and when it's due back.
Several shops
Sold out is set per shop, so marking it at the café that's run out leaves the other alone. In the Manager app you tick the shops you mean, and nothing is ticked on "All shops" until you pick, so it never guesses.
On the kiosk
By default, sold-out items are left off the kiosk menu. If you'd rather, the kiosk settings can show them greyed out and marked Sold out instead. The kiosk refreshes its menu about every five minutes while nobody is ordering, and it only refreshes when the cart is empty.
That raises an awkward case: a customer has already put the last banana bread in their basket when you mark it sold out. Servatto normally checks the order again when the customer taps Pay, before any payment is taken. If something in it has since sold out, the customer sees "Sorry, X just sold out. We've taken it out of your order", the item leaves the basket, and they can pay for the rest. Nothing is charged for the refused order.
Delivery apps: separate, and in beta
The Manager app can also mark items sold out on delivery apps connected through your own Otter account, and pause a delivery storefront for a set time, or until you resume it. Otter is an unofficial beta connection, it needs your own Otter account and subscription, and it can be interrupted or blocked. Keep Otter's own tablet or website handy as a fallback.
In the app, an item that lives on the delivery menu and an item on the till menu are separate entries, so don't assume one tap on the till covers delivery. Check the delivery side shows what you expect before the rush.
If your menu is kept elsewhere
If your menu is still read from your connected payment account, the till and the Manager app mark items sold out there for you. The till may ask you to reconnect once to allow it. The Back Office switch only works once the menu runs from Servatto, and it tells you so rather than doing nothing.
Needs the internet
Marking something sold out on the Register needs a connection. If it can't reach the server, the till says "Could not change [item]", so check the connection and try again.
A short checklist for a busy shop
- Pick the three items that run out most often and practise marking them sold out and back on before a busy Saturday.
- Decide who does it during service, and make sure they know the press-and-hold on the till. In the Manager app it needs a manager sign-in.
- In the Back Office, use "rest of today" for the daily sell-outs so nobody has to remember to turn them back on.
- If you use delivery through Otter, test that side separately.
Servatto's Register, Back Office and Manager have no monthly fee, so this is available to try without a Kitchen or Kiosk subscription: servatto.com. Questions: [email protected].
Servatto publishes this post and sells the software described in it.