Clover Online Ordering & Kiosks: Filling the Gaps in Clover’s Native Tools

If you run Clover, you already have a way to take orders online — it's baked into the POS. But "has online ordering" and "has online ordering that grows the business" are two different things. It's a common story: an operator switches on Clover's native tools, watches a few orders trickle in, and quietly wonders why the whole experience feels so bare.

This guide breaks down what Clover's native online ordering and kiosks actually do, where the real gaps are, and how to close them — without ripping out the POS you already trust for the register.

What Clover's native online ordering actually gives you

Clover ships a functional online ordering setup that covers the basics. Depending on your plan, you typically get:

• A hosted ordering page tied to your Clover menu and inventory
• Pickup and, on some plans, delivery order types that flow to your Clover devices
• Online payments through Clover's processing
• A QR code you can print for table or counter ordering

For a small shop that just needs to accept a pickup order, that's often enough to get started. The problem is that "enough to get started" is where the native experience tends to stop.

Where the gaps show up

The limits usually aren't one dealbreaker — they're a stack of small frictions that quietly cap your online revenue.

The storefront barely looks like your brand

Native Clover ordering pages are template-driven and hard to shape. Your logo sits on top, but the layout, flow, and feel are Clover's, not yours. For a brand that has spent years on its look inside the four walls, the online front door can feel generic.

Upsells and merchandising are thin

This is the big one. The native cart is essentially a list — pick item, add, check out. There's little room for the modifier prompts, combo nudges, and "make it a meal" logic that reliably lift check size. Every order that goes out without a suggested add-on is margin left on the table.

Fees and third-party dependence

Native ordering is included on certain Clover plans, but many operators still lean on marketplace apps and third-party channels to actually drive volume — and those typically carry commissions in the high-teens to 30% range per order. The more your online business grows, the more that math hurts.

Loyalty and marketing live somewhere else

Repeat business is where restaurants win, but native online ordering rarely connects cleanly to a loyalty program, a customer list you own, or automated marketing. Guests order once and disappear.

Clover kiosks: convenient, but intentionally simple

Clover's kiosk hardware lets guests self-order at the counter, which is genuinely useful for cutting lines and freeing up staff. But the native kiosk UX is built to be simple, not to sell. The same gaps apply — limited branding, limited upsell choreography, and a menu that treats every item the same.

That matters because the entire financial case for kiosks rests on merchandising. Well-designed self-ordering typically lifts average order value by roughly 15-30%, because a screen never forgets to ask about the side, the size, or the second scoop. A kiosk that just mirrors your menu list captures a fraction of that upside.

The register's job is to close the transaction. The ordering experience's job is to grow it. Native POS tools are excellent at the first and rarely built for the second.

The fix: add an upgrade layer, don't replace your POS

Here's the reframe that saves a lot of operators from a painful migration. You don't have to abandon Clover to fix the ordering experience. Clover is a capable POS — let it keep running your register, inventory, and payments. What you're missing is a growth layer that sits on top.

That's exactly the lane INFI is built for. The idea is simple: your POS runs the register, INFI runs your growth. INFI layers on top of the POS you already use — Clover included — and upgrades the guest-facing pieces without touching the system your staff already knows.

Concretely, an upgrade layer closes the gaps like this:

• Branded, commission-free online ordering — a storefront that looks like your restaurant, not a template, and doesn't hand a cut of every order to a middleman.
• Self-ordering kiosks built to merchandise — modifier prompts, combos, and upsells choreographed to lift check size, not just take the order.
• Loyalty and marketing you own — every order builds a guest list and feeds repeat visits, instead of vanishing after one purchase.
• A branded mobile app and digital menu boards — one consistent brand from the counter screen to the phone.

Because it's a layer and not a rip-and-replace, you keep Clover's strengths and add the parts it was never designed to do.

Clover native vs. an upgrade layer

Capability	Clover native	INFI upgrade layer
Runs your register & payments	Yes	Leaves it to Clover
Branded ordering storefront	Template-limited	Fully branded
Upsells & combo merchandising	Minimal	Built to lift check size
Commission-free online orders	Varies / third-party fees	Commission-free
Kiosks tuned to sell	Basic self-order	Merchandising-first
Owned loyalty & marketing	Separate / limited	Built in

Does the upside actually show up?

The merchandising case isn't theoretical. On INFI, PJ's Coffee saw a 45% lift in average order value, Juice Press added about 15% per order, and Oak View Group venues doubled basket size once the ordering experience was built to sell rather than just transact. More than 1,800 restaurants now run on the platform, which raised a $12M Series A and was founded by Lucas Liu, Ph.D., a former restaurant operator who built INFI to reduce labor strain and elevate the guest experience without erasing what makes each brand distinct.

How to decide

If Clover's native ordering is quietly working and you're a low-volume shop, the built-in tools may be all you need for now. But if any of the following are true, an upgrade layer usually pays for itself fast:

• Your online storefront doesn't look or feel like your brand
• Average check online is lower than in-store because upsells are missing
• Commissions on third-party channels are eating your margin
• You have no owned guest list or loyalty tied to online orders
• Your kiosks take orders but don't grow them

INFI keeps Clover doing what it does well and upgrades everything your guests actually touch — ordering, kiosks, loyalty, and the brand experience around them. If you want to see what a growth layer looks like on top of your current setup, book a demo and we'll walk through it with your own menu. Reach us anytime at 888-857-9831 or support@infi.us.